Call To Action: It's time for Cleveland to join other Ohio cities by passing Pay to Stay protections
With the CDC eviction moratorium coming to an end, renters in Cleveland are still left vulnerable, with many waiting on emergency rental assistance to come through. Having a Pay to Stay ordinance on the books would mean renters behind on their rent are granted the right to stay in their homes if they come up with the rent and late fees before the eviction is granted by the court.
Over the last 12 months, Yellow Springs, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, Cincinnati, Lakewood, and Euclid have all passed Pay to Stay legislation to provide a basic stable housing right for renters in their communities.
We know that 1 in 7 evictions lead to homelessness and even more evictions lead to doubling or tripling up with family or friends, which is harmful to families with children. Pay to Stay legislation ensures fairness and recognizes that evictions harm communities, especially black and brown households in Cleveland. Most renters are unrepresented in eviction court, so Pay to Stay gives courts and the community something tangible to turn to during the process. What renters don't know can't help them.
Below is a copy of the letter you can send to Cleveland City Council (click the button above to send easily via Action Network).
Dear Council President Kelley & Councilmembers,
I am writing to urge you to pass a Pay to Stay ordinance in the City of Cleveland. Under current law, landlords are not required to accept late payments from renters who are late. While most landlords work with their renters, there are renters who still get evicted even if they do attempt to make their landlord whole. The economic impacts of covid-19 will be with us for a long time, and many households may need time to arrange finances or funding from an emergency rental assistance program, unemployment, or other family or community support. Once they can secure the rent, they should be able to have the landlord accept it.
Pay to Stay is fair legislation because landlords are made whole. Renters must pay full rent and late fees in order for pay to stay to be used as a defense in court. Plus, Pay to Stay is only a defense against evictions filed for nonpayment. Landlords can still file evictions for other reasons.
Pay to Stay solidifies a landlord's best practice and models something that the majority of landlords are already doing, which is resolving issues outside of housing court. In Cleveland, nearly 1 of 5 properties are owned by people who don’t live and operate in that same community. There’s a trend in Northeast Ohio of out-of-state landlords not being as willing to work with renters who are late. Balancing the playing field between landlords and renters provides family stability as well as housing stability - something that's so important to prevent homelessness.
Besides providing neighborhood stability, Pay to Stay also serves as a tangible policy step to addressing racism as a public health crisis, since we know that 4 of 5 evictions in Cleveland include households with single black moms and their children. We know that 9 of 10 renters are not represented in court. What people don’t know can’t help them, and giving renters protections on the books is an empowering way to educate renters in our community in the long term.
Over the last 12 months, Yellow Springs, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, Cincinnati, Lakewood, and Euclid have all passed Pay to Stay legislation to provide a a basic stable housing right for renters in their communities. Having a Pay to Stay ordinance on the books would mean renters behind on their rent are granted the right to stay in their homes if they come up with the rent and late fees before the eviction is granted by the court. I hope that you will move swiftly to join other cities across the state and Northeast Ohio by passing Pay to Stay. Cleveland is now the poorest big city in the country. Evictions should be used as a last resort given the impact it has on children and the entire community - and Pay to Stay is just one small step to honoring housing as a basic right.