It’s been one month since the governor’s Stay at Home order went into effect and 40 days since restaurants and bars in Ohio were closed to dine-in customers.
Some local advocates are worried that the cumulative impact of large parts of the economy being shut down for such a long time – combined with a lack of understanding about the current state of eviction law in Ohio – will lead to a dramatic spike in evictions this summer.
Hearings at the Franklin County Municipal Court have been suspended since March 16, but there has been no moratorium on eviction filings. That means when the court reopens – currently scheduled for June 1 – landlords will be free to take their tenants to court for rent that went unpaid in March or April.
Community Mediation Services of Central Ohio (CMS) is an organization that works to prevent evictions through impartial, third-party mediation. Based on the interactions of CMS staff and volunteers with renters, it’s clear that there are many misconceptions about what the closing of the court actually means.
“Tenants need to understand they must still pay their rent and if they need to be late, they should reach out to their landlords to make special arrangements,” said CMS Executive Director Shelley Whalen in a recent press release. “Otherwise, many could end up with a eviction filed against them …owing their landlord significant amounts of back rent, late fees and court costs that will be very difficult for them to repay when the court reopens.”
“The fear of course in the community is if tenants wait until June to reach out for assistance, many of them could end up being so far behind their landlord will want to move forward with evicting them from their current housing, which would undoubtedly make our local homelessness rate soar,” she added.
Many organizations are pressing the state to build on an April 1 executive order that provided some eviction protection for commercial renters, and to expand it to cover residential tenants as well.
The Rental Housing Information Network in Ohio (RHINO) published an opinion piece on the subject, and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has started a Faces of Eviction campaign to bring attention to the issue.
The lack of a state-wide moratorium on eviction filings is one of the reasons cited for Ohio’s poor rating – the state scored a .58 out of 5 – in the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard published by the national organization Eviction Lab.
For more information and resources concerning evictions in Columbus, see columbuslegalaid.org or communitymediation.com.