Court considers new rules to blunt the impact of Akron’s high eviction rate

Akron municipal judges are set to adopt new rules requiring more of landlords who evict tenants while giving tenants the chance to seal such cases, which can bar them from finding an apartment in the future, even if they won the eviction case or a judge tossed it out.

News Story (Ohio)

Doug Livingston
Akron Beacon Journal
December 25, 2019
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Tags: Housing: Landlord-Tenant

Organizations mentioned/involved: Community Legal Aid (Central Northeast Ohio)

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DETAILS

Recognizing Fair Housing’s advocacy around challenges for renters, Akron Municipal Court invited Green-Hull, as well as Community Legal Aid and the legal clinic at the University of Akron, to train magistrates and judges in May on the public policy impact of evictions. From that experience, Green-Hull and judges launched discussions with Akron’s Eviction Task Force, culminating in the proposed transparency requirements for landlords.

Nonprofit partners on the legal side pushed for changes on sealing eviction cases. Under the proposed changes, a judge who dismisses an eviction case or rules in the tenant’s favor could directly seal the court entry.

The landlord could also apply to have eviction cases sealed for a specific tenant once every three years. And if the judge grants the eviction, tenants could apply for the matter to be sealed if “extenuating circumstances led to the eviction” and three years have passed with no new evictions judgments against them.