If you are a tenant in need of legal representation in eviction court or other legal assistance, find your nearest legal aid office here. If you need help with paying your rent, please call 211 or use this link to get connected with local resources.

September rent will be due again in a week and Ohioans will see their first month without the extra unemployment insurance benefits provided through the CARES Act. While the numbers have come down from earlier peaks, 503,000 Ohioans were unemployed in July and over 600,000 renters in the state report having little or no confidence in their ability to pay their next month’s rent.

GOPC does not provide direct legal or cash assistance to tenants facing eviction, however, we are supportive of measures that would protect renters negatively affected by the pandemic. The need for emergency rent assistance is great; experts estimate between 29 million and 40 million renters nationwide could be at risk of eviction by the end of the year, a crises which could impact approximately 33% of all renters in Ohio.

Action can come from the federal, state, or local levels. Many of Ohio’s neighboring states have set up programs to help keep renters housed through this pandemic, largely using federal CARES Act funds.

• Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed legislation on May 29, allocating $175 million of the state’s federal CARES Act funding for a COVID-19 Relief Mortgage and Rental Assistance Program. Administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, the program is accepting applications from residents making 100% of the Area Median Income (AMI) who have suffered a COVID hardship.

• Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order on June 26, creating the Eviction Diversion Program. The program provides a process for renters to get fast rental assistance or establish a manageable payment plant to keep Michiganders in their homes, while also providing rent assistance starting July 16.  Michigan State Housing Development Authority oversees the $50 million program, seeded with state CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund money.

• The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority oversees their COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program. The $40 million program was created using CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund money, and is expected to help 19,000 families. The program provides assistance of up to $500 a month for four months to renters who have experienced a loss of income due to COVID-19, and requires a landlord’s agreement to participate.

For more information on housing assistance programs nationwide, visit the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s tracker.

Landlords with small portfolios rely on rental income to complete mortgage and loan payments, and expected levels of rent nonpayment can easily translate to a spike in mortgage defaults. There are additional concerns nationally about the effects that an increase in foreclosure and distress sales could have on a dwindling supply of naturally occurring affordable housing. This unprecedented threat to the rental market has resulted in a diverse group of Ohio stakeholders coming together to advocate for rent assistance, seen in recent guest articles and letters, including from the Ohio REALTORS.

Early this month, Rep. Leland and Rep. Brent introduced the Eviction Crisis Response Act, which would allocate $270 million from the state’s rainy-day fund for a rent assistance program. Additionally, cities and counties are stepping up across the state to expand legal access for tenants and distribute emergency rent assistance through locally-funded and administered programs. Keeping families housed is the right strategy for the health and economic vitality of the state. GOPC backs these and other efforts to support Ohio renters who have been adversely impacted by the pandemic.