On April 16, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther gave his 鈥淪tate of the City鈥� address and formally announced the Division of Housing Stability, which will be part of the Department of Development.
The division鈥檚 main goal is to help fix a range of issues related to housing in Columbus.
鈥淭his expansion of the Department of Development will serve to prevent evictions, improve housing quality and ensure fair treatment for renters. We鈥檒l employ a fair housing coordinator to protect renters from exploitation, advance our homelessness prevention programs, streamline our efforts to bolster tenants鈥� rights and guarantee access to legal counsel at eviction court for low-income households with minors,鈥� Ginther said in his address.
Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO) often works with the Department of Development in order to help low-income tenants who need legal support. LASCO provides assistance to people facing eviction, poor living conditions, discrimination based on protected class, housing subsidies and other disputes between landlords and tenants.
Officials say this new division will increase the strength of this partnership.
鈥淲e have really had them as a peer to help us make our lawsuits more substantial in order to create greater accountability, and then they are also a great partner and a sounding board for us as we flush out a lot of these policy changes,鈥� said Hannah Jones, deputy director of community development for the City of Columbus' Department of Development.
This spring, LASCO received a grant of almost $1.5 million meant to support low-income tenants with minors who were facing charges in eviction court.
鈥淩ent has gone up significantly over the past five years and wages just have not kept pace with that, so we do see a lot of individuals who are struggling because the rent is simply more than they can afford,鈥� said Melissa Benson, senior managing attorney at LASCO.
Benson believes landlords have too much power in the current system and she hopes the department will work to correct this.
鈥淚t is my hope that the department will be a resource for furthering tenants' knowledge and hoping to restore some of that power imbalance back to tenants,鈥� Benson said.
Last August, the city of Columbus issued a study, done by the consulting firm Stout, that determined that for every dollar put towards eviction prevention services, the city saves four dollars. It costs the city more to use safety net services after someone is evicted than to help keep them housed.
The study helped build a case for the importance of programming done to protect tenants and housing stability.
鈥淭hat just helps us articulate why it's a sound investment for our community. It's comparable to many conversations we have about investing in homelessness prevention or investing in housing in general,鈥� Jones said about the study.
The division鈥檚 work is already underway, although its official first day is June 23.
