FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Alison Goebel, PhD
Executive Director
agoebel@greaterohio.org | 614-224-0187
GOPC’s new working paper, Local Interventions for Eviction Prevention, profiles initiatives from around Ohio to provide ideas and templates for communities that need housing stabilization programming.
Columbus, OH (November 5, 2020) – The Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) has released Local Interventions for Eviction Prevention and Why They Are Needed, a guide for laying the groundwork to support Ohio renters and prevent evictions related to the COVID-19 crisis.
In the early months of the pandemic, a patchwork of local and federal responses cushioned renters from the worst impacts of the economic fallout. These include a sweeping order from the CDC, which temporarily halts evictions nationwide through the end of the calendar year. However, without additional state, federal, or local intervention, communities that rely exclusively on the CDC moratoriums are merely postponing the wave of mass evictions to the new year. As troubling the moratorium puts at risk large numbers of small and local landlords, who could lose the capital necessary to maintain housing market solvency.
A combination of evictions and landlord bankruptcy could devastate hundreds of neighborhoods, but there are actions that communities can take now. Most importantly, communities can use locally-allocated federal money for direct renter assistance programs and to increase legal access for renters facing eviction. There are also a number of non-monetary policies that local communities can enact to complement rent assistance programs and bolster efforts to avoid renter displacement. Many communities around the state have already acted to help renters and landlords avoid eviction; these are highlighted in community spotlights throughout the working paper.
Prioritizing investments and programming to stabilize families, ensure fiscal sustainability of housing providers, and mitigate the worst effects of the crisis will require cooperation between local governments, nonprofits, philanthropy, and private sector leaders. To access the working paper, please click here.
About the Greater Ohio Policy Center
Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization with a mission to improve Ohio’s communities through smart growth strategies and research. Our vision is a revitalized Ohio. We undertake original research and analysis, develop pragmatic policy recommendations and advocacy strategies, and deploy our convening power to meet the needs of Ohio’s local change-makers. We operate statewide.
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