Can that number of people even be processed by the courts, and then enforced, in that timeframe?
This is just supply and demand though, rents will hopefully be on the way down as a result of this.
There's a pretty strong upward trend and very low vacancy rates. This will obviously create some vacancy, but I think we're talking about some of the upward pressure being removed, but not necessarily rents falling.
They likely can raise the rents for new tenants, because tenants in process of being evicted (formally or not) may rent a new unit with a longer overlap than usual before relinquishing the new unit, and often there are lengthy repairs necessary on units where the most recent tenant was evicted, keeping that unit off the market for even longer. 'Cash for keys' can often get the unit rentable faster, the departing tenant will leave on a schedule and hopefully take better care during the move, or at least allow for inspection prior to moving out to allow for scheduling of necessary repairs and maintenance.
And guess the condition tenants like this leave the apartment