Housing Research, Evaluation & Outcomes

Supportive Housing Research & Evaluation

The Cuyahoga County Housing First Initiative, launched in 2002, represents an ambitious community-wide strategy in Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County to develop 1,000 units of permanent housing with services for some of Cuyahoga County's most vulnerable residents - disabled persons who have experienced extended periods of homelessness. With leadership from Enterprise Community Partners, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland and city and county official and others, significant progress has been made toward this goal. Nearly 500 units had been developed, according to the June report.

In December 2007, as the number of foreclosure filings in Cuyahoga County continued to rise, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland commissioned research by Policy Matters Ohio to assess the impact of the crisis on renter families. Although renters comprise more than one-third of Cuyahoga County households, they are an often overlooked casualty of foreclosure.

The resulting report, Collateral Damage: Renters in the Foreclosure Crisis was released by Policy Matters Ohio in June 2008. Among findings specific to Cuyahoga County:

• An estimated 3,918 foreclosure filings were rental units in 2007, an increase of 29% from the previous year. Rental foreclosure filings grew at a higher rate than owner-occupied foreclosure filings. Rental foreclosure filings represented nearly 30% of all residential property foreclosure filings in 2007.

• More than 35% of foreclosure filings in Cleveland (2,586) and East Cleveland (175) affected rental units. The majority of inner-ring suburbs experienced increases in rental foreclosure filings including: Cleveland Heights (149), Euclid (148), Maple Heights (123), Garfield Heights (85), Parma (67), Shaker Heights (54), South Euclid (43), and Lakewood (42).

• Record numbers of tenants are using the First Call for Help (2-1-1) and Cleveland Tenants Organization (CTO) for help dealing with foreclosure-related issues.

• Tenants receive little to no notice about their rental property being in foreclosure. The purchaser often evicts tenants immediately, which hurts families financially and can dramatically disrupt their lives. The Cleveland Housing Court notes a near doubling in eviction filings against renters because of foreclosure filings.

• Families displaced by a rental foreclosure can face high costs including lost and new security deposits, increased new rent, moving and storage costs, and property costs. Based on interviews and intake sheets from the CTO, the average cost for a family is more than $2,500. Based on the estimated number of rental units, it is possible that renter families experienced $10 million in losses because of foreclosure filings.

Report recommendations:

• Enacting state and federal laws that allow a renters’ tenancy to survive the foreclosure process.

• Mandating a proper notice of foreclosure to renters of 90 days or more.

• Establishing a revolving, no- or low-interest loan fund to help renters with the new costs associated with moving.

• Encouraging banks to offer financial incentives rather than evictions.