PHOTO & STORY COURTESY OF THE NORTHEAST COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS (NEOCH)
Last month, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) and a group of 80 organizations delivered a letter to Governor DeWine calling for a statewide residential eviction moratorium. Since then, over 700 people have signed the letter, 100 of whom are at risk of eviction at this very moment. On April 1, Gov. Mike DeWine issued 90-day eviction and foreclosure protections for commercial businesses. Now, the governor should provide similar supports for Ohio residential renters.
Minimizing evictions in Ohio during this period is critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19. Yesterday, national housing expert Matthew Desmond and The Eviction Lab released its COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard, giving Ohio a failing score of 0.08/5. The Scorecard evaluates on a number of emergency measures in the eviction process, from filing initiation, the enforcement of eviction orders, to providing tenant protections like requiring landlords to accept late payments and prohibiting them from charging late fees during the moratorium period. Even if a moratorium were granted across Ohio, tenant protections are necessary to prevent an eviction tsunami later this summer.
Here are some of the stories of people facing eviction across Ohio right now, which you can listen to here. Each individual is willing to share their story publicly.
Joy lives in Bedford Heights with her 7 year old daughter. She was laid off in March due to COVID-19 closures. She’s paid rent on time for the place she’s lived for 15 years, but without child care and no word from the unemployment office, she’s bracing herself for an eviction hearing next month.
Angela from Mansfield is staying in a motel after getting evicted for being 3 days late on rent while she was in the hospital. She’s finding it difficult to find a new place to live while the state is shut down and as she recovers from surgery complications.
Stephen, who lives with his family in Springfield, was laid off in January and received an eviction notice back in March. The hearing was delayed until May, but he’s struggling to make arrangements during the pandemic with no income and no apartment showings available.
Vieda, a gig worker in Cleveland, lost 70% of her income since the demand for Uber/Lyft plummeted. She’s unable to pay April or May rent, and she’s nervous that her landlord might not be patient while she waits to start a new job, which might get delayed since she’s been feeling sick.
Many Ohioans have experienced a substantial loss of income as a result of layoffs and the loss of wages related to COVID-19, hampering their ability to keep up with rent and leaving them vulnerable to eviction. During a time when many Ohioans are already experiencing a homelessness crisis, the COVID-19 outbreak has made it clear that our state cannot afford to compound the problem by not offering tenant protections for renters impacted by the pandemic.