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Cleveland City Council passes 'pay-to-stay' eviction defense for tenants who come up with back rent

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Nick Castele
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91福利
An eviction notice posted at a Cleveland apartment building in 2020.

Cleveland City Council has passed a protection for tenants facing eviction commonly known as 鈥減ay-to-stay鈥 legislation.

Under the ordinance, tenants can defend themselves against eviction proceedings in housing court by showing that they offered to pay back rent, reasonable late fees and court costs, but that the landlord refused to accept payment.

The protection is not automatic. Instead, it provides renters with what鈥檚 known as an 鈥渁ffirmative defense.鈥 Tenants would still have to argue their case in court, or obtain an attorney to do so, leaving the final decision to a judge.

鈥淭oday, we took a big step toward housing justice and promoting equity in the city of Cleveland,鈥 Mayor Justin Bibb said in a news release after council approved the measure at its regular meeting Wednesday. 鈥淎nd we won鈥檛 stop here.鈥

The Bibb administration and council plan an educational campaign to help tenants and landlords understand the ordinance, according to the news release.

鈥淭he reason for the ordinance is to try to mitigate our ongoing housing crisis that has been exacerbated by COVID-19, and also support tenants who want to tender late rent to avoid eviction and stay in their rental properties,鈥 council attorney Jennifer O鈥橪eary told the body at a hearing Tuesday morning.

The measure establishes in Cleveland's codes a defense that tenants are able to offer under state law, O鈥橪eary said.

Council also amended the legislation to define 鈥渞easonable late fees鈥 as $25 or 5% of one month鈥檚 rent, whichever is larger. Another amendment specifies that rental assistance 鈥 such as federal pandemic eviction relief dollars 鈥 is an acceptable form of payment.

That amendment could give tenants time to hold off an eviction while they wait for rental aid payments to come through, Molly Martin of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless told council. It can take about 45 days after an application, on average, for rental assistance to arrive, she said.

Many tenants do not show up for their eviction hearings, Martin said. But spreading the word about tenants鈥 rights could help more renters exercise those rights in court, she said.

鈥淲hat renters don鈥檛 know can鈥檛 help them,鈥 Martin said. 鈥淲e think that actually having more tenants鈥 rights, that will educate renters about what rights are available to them in the court, would increase their likelihood to find the back rent to then pay it.鈥

Cleveland Building and Housing Director Sally Martin, who said about half of the city鈥檚 housing units are rentals, called the legislation 鈥渁 shot across the bow to show that we are pro-tenants and protecting tenants鈥 rights.鈥

Such protections have passed in other Ohio cities, including , Dayton and Euclid. In July, a Hamilton County judge wrote that , contradicting magistrates .

Cleveland has sought in recent years to provide more assistance to renters. The city is helping to fund an initiative that provides legal representation to tenants facing eviction. The city鈥檚 that enable residents to attend virtual hearings without having to travel Downtown.

Updated: August 11, 2022 at 6:16 PM EDT
An earlier version of this story included Martin's comment to city council that the average wait time for emergency rental assistance was 60 days. Martin later clarified that the average wait time is in fact 45 days.
Updated: August 11, 2022 at 10:58 AM EDT
This story has been updated following Cleveland City Council's passage of the 鈥減ay-to-stay鈥 legislation.
Nick Castele was a senior reporter covering politics and government for 91福利. He worked as a reporter for Ideastream from 2012-2022.