How does repeated rejection exhaust applicants and affect them in the long term?

It's very difficult for many of the people in Evicted to find a place to live. One only has to look at Pam and Ned to see how hard it can be. They have drug problems, a lengthy rap sheet, and a bad eviction record behind them. Worse still, from the point of view of prospective landlords, they have children. Under such circumstances, it's not surprising they find it so hard to get a roof over their heads.
The broken housing market that forms the subject of the book is one in which demand greatly exceeds supply. This makes it a seller's market in which poor tenants are at a distinct disadvantage. Landlords can afford to be more choosy when it comes to deciding who their tenants are. People with prior convictions, drug problems, past evictions, or families with children are increasingly likely to be rejected when applying for accommodation.
The constant knock-backs have a damaging effect on the well-being of those caught up in a failing system. They find themselves trapped, unable to escape the endless downward spiral of poverty, eviction, and homelessness. In the short-term, it disrupts children's education. Families can't set down roots, and so they don't feel as if they belong anywhere. This is what happens to Arleen; she reckons she's rented twenty different houses in almost as many years. A constant round of evictions means that she, like so many others, just can't win for losing. Even if you can find work, most of your paycheck will go to the rent. And without a stable home environment, it's almost impossible to escape poverty through education. So Arleen and countless others remain trapped in the vicious cycle without a realistic means of escape.