CINCINNATI —  In Summer 2024 alone, there were 3,622 eviction filings in Cincinnati according to the Princeton University Eviction Lab. 

“What’s really important about the work that we are leading on, that I am very, very passionate about, is how do we keep a roof over someone’s head?” Cincinnati Councilwoman Meeka Owens said.

Councilwoman Owens said that homelessness prevention is a top priority for the city. 

“What I am hopeful and optimistic about is that what we’re doing in an innovative way is working, “Owens said. 

In comparison to other states, the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts said that Ohio eviction laws are much stricter and provide tenants with less protection. 

“We’re in Ohio having to figure this out county by county, jurisdiction by jurisdiction,” HCCC’s Pavan Parikh said. 

The city’s response: applying for funding from various sources, including $1.4 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Eviction Protection Grant Program. Those dollars would provide tenants with legal representation in eviction proceedings.  

“So we’re trying to add private and public funds to the city dollars so that we can develop this sustainable model,” Cincinnati City Manager’s Office Director of Human Services Deanna White said. 

Representation is just one of the workstream’s of the city’s Access to Counsel project. Below is a breakdown of the City of Cincinnati’s implementation plan.

Workstream 1: Helping tenants who receive a 3-day notice to leave the premises (Provided by the United Way of Greater Cincinnati)

Workstream 2: Helping tenants who have an eviction court date with full legal representation (Provided by the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati) 

Workstream 3: Helping tenants who have an eviction court date and were not able to obtain an attorney get same day limited legal representation (Provided by Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Help Center) 

(ON DECK) Workstream 4: Facilitating mediation between landlords and tenants

The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Help Center’s Nick Zingarelli said the pilot project has already shown success with changing the outcomes of those cases. 

“19 of them were dismissed either by agreement or by taking the case to trial. So that’s an 82% dismissal rate based upon fully adjudicated cases,” he said. 

Although much of their work is still in the early stages, Councilwoman Owens said that their work is far from over. 

“Doing this work around eviction prevention and homelessness prevention, we’ve allocated over $8 million, and we’re going to keep making sure that we’re putting money in the right places,” she said.  

 The City of Cincinnati is also bringing in the advisory firm, STOUT, to assist with data collection, cost implementation, and identifying solutions to combat the eviction crisis. Stout has done similar work in various cities, including Cleveland and Columbus. 

The city expects to know by November if they’ll receive the HUD funding.