LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: tenants

  • Robert Newman: Eviction courts are terrifying, heartbreaking places now

    Robert Newman: Eviction courts are terrifying, heartbreaking places now

    by Robert Newman

    The most terrifying places these days are the eviction courts in Hamilton and Butler counties. 

    Go see them in the Butler County Government Building in Hamilton, and in Jail Building (Justice Center), Room B, 1000 Sycamore St. in Cincinnati. You will see, as I did, single mothers of small children pleading vainly for more time to find another place to stay, only to hear the magistrate issue a writ of possession enabling the marshals to put the families on the street in three or four days. The mother’s head sinks. She is hurried away from the podium by the deputy as the next case is called.

    Some tenants present the court with the Centers for Disease Control eviction moratorium declaration, which purports to postpone evictions until Dec. 31. If the tenant does not send the landlord a copy of the declaration, it is considered invalid, and the eviction proceeds.

    Some tenants have sought rent assistance, but the government agency refused to provide it because the landlord is requiring late fees in addition to the rent. And the eviction proceeds. Many tenants are finding out that there is no more rent assistance.

    Nearly all of the evictions are for nonpayment of rent, and the pleas of tenants that partial payments of rent be accepted are declined by the landlords. The evictions proceed.

    There are few lawyers representing tenants. The Legal Aid lawyers are overwhelmed, and there are few private lawyers volunteering for The Volunteer Lawyers for the Poor.  A tenant going to eviction court without a lawyer is doomed.

    Come the new year in January, and there will be a disaster for tenants. Governments must act now. The CDC temporary moratorium must be continued. Congress must provide additional rent assistance. The city of Cincinnati, commendably, has provided additional funding to Legal Aid to provide more tenants with lawyers. Butler County should do the same. 

    More emergency housing aid must be provided short term. And longer term, Congress and the Biden administration has to dramatically increase the funding for Section 8 vouchers, which enable tenants to pay 30% of their income for rent and enables them to seek housing on the private market – the landlord receiving the balance of the rent from the government. According to the 2019 American Housing Survey, more than half of all renters are paying 30% or more of their income on rent. These families are constantly living on the brink of eviction.

    Now is the time for Sen. Rob Portman, Representatives Steve Chabot, Warren Davidson and Brad Wenstrup to come to the aid of their countrymen and women. First, come to eviction court and see firsthand what is happening.

     It will break your heart.

  • Utility rights for tenants

    Utility rights for tenants

    Loveland, Ohio – As the first winter storm approaches and you worry more about staying warm, you don’t have to be a homeowner to have rights when it comes to electric and natural gas service. Tenants also have options for energy assistance if they directly pay their own utility bills.

    Here are several resources that can guide you on what to do if you or your landlord is facing service disconnection:

    Whether you’re a tenant or otherwise, you can always contact the PUCO for help if you are facing disconnection.

    Help your hometown newspaper publish more stories like this that keep everyone safe and warm

  • Advocates urge at-risk tenants to apply for eviction moratorium

    Advocates urge at-risk tenants to apply for eviction moratorium

    By Ohio Capital Journal Staff

    Advocates from the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio are advising tenants facing eviction to act immediately to get protection under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new eviction moratorium.

    The CDC recently issued the first ever nationwide order temporarily banning the eviction of tenants who are unable to pay rent in order to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, a news release this week from COHHIO said. While the moratorium applies to many cases where people have fallen behind on their rent payments, tenants must follow specific steps in order to qualify, it emphasized.

    “This so-called moratorium is not automatic. Tenants need to submit a declaration demonstrating that they are eligible for the moratorium to cover them,” said COHHIO Executive Director Bill Faith. “If you’re behind on rent, don’t wait. See if local emergency rental assistance is available in your community, and file a declaration to make sure you don’t get evicted during this public health crisis.”

    Tenants earning less $99,000/year, or $198,000/year for joint tax filers, who are unable to pay full or partial rent due to a loss of income or extraordinary medical expenses are eligible for the CDC’s eviction moratorium, the release said. However, they must file a form certifying that they have tried to obtain government assistance to pay rent and will likely have to move in with another household or become homeless if they are evicted, it noted.

    Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, noted that tenants still have to pay rent each month and could still get evicted when the order expires.

    “The very least the government ought to do in the middle of a global pandemic is assure each of us that we’re not going to lose our homes,” she said. “The CDC moratorium keeps people in their homes today, but the rent is still due and the debt that renters owe will build each month until the moratorium expires on Dec. 31. And at that point all the back rent and late fees will be due.”

    The release also noted that several communities have allocated funds to help at-risk residents pay the rent during this crisis, but assistance is limited and not available in many areas.

    “Furthermore, demand for emergency rental assistance will soon outstrip local resources as the pandemic-induced recession continues into the winter,” the release said, noting that neither U.S. Congress nor the Ohio General Assembly have created an emergency rental assistance program.

    Carlie Boos, executive director of the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, said the CDC moratorium highlights the need for the state and federal governments to provide emergency rental assistance.

    “Allowing tenants to fall deeper and deeper into debt not only ruins Ohioans’ future – it puts the entire housing market at risk,” she said. “Our state and federal leaders must prioritize emergency rental assistance to stabilize both vulnerable families and our vulnerable economy.”

    The release advised that tenants who are behind on rent should immediately seek rental assistance and send a declaration form to their landlord, and the court if they have already received an eviction notice.