How did the author get to know many of the people in the book?

Mathew Desmond is the author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. His book details stories of eviction through the perspective of not only tenants, but also landlords as well. While most people see poverty as a cause of eviction, Desmond believes that “eviction is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty in America.”
According to Desmond, he got to know the tenants detailed in his book by living among them in a poverty-stricken rooming house and a trailer park in Milwaukee. Desmond spent time with families and attended eviction court with them. Eventually, he gained the trust of the families and was able to obtain their stories on the harsh realities of being evicted. In addition to the tenants, Desmond also won the trust of the landlords and was allowed to include their points of view on eviction.