CLEVELAND, OH -- County Executive Armond Budish announced a plan Wednesday to provide low-income renters more choices in where they want to live in Cuyahoga County, drawing praise from affordable and fair housing advocates.
His legislation — soon-to-be introduced to County Council — would prohibit landlords from refusing housing to renters based on their source of income and would financially reward landlords who accept low-income housing vouchers.
That’s important, Budish said, to protect families who pay their rent through Section 8, public assistance, social security, or court ordered payments. Roughly 229,000 Ohio households use some sort of federal housing vouchers.
“The tenant could pass every background and credit check required. It’d still be denied simply based on their source of payment,” Budish said during a media briefing Wednesday. “Anyone with governmental or private sources of payment should be protected from discrimination when applying to rent a house or an apartment in Cuyahoga County.”
The announcement was immediately applauded by affordable and fair housing advocates.
Michael Lepley, senior research associate for the Fair Housing Center for Rights and Research, said he was “shocked and delighted” by the news. With over 16,000 county households using some form of housing voucher, he predicted the legislation could have a huge impact on area families who have money to spend on rent but not enough options for who will accept it.
“It’s a real struggle for people who participate in the housing voucher program,” Lepley said. “They get denied over and over and over again, and they have a limited amount of time when they can get leased up or they lose their voucher.”
That happened to mother-of-three Denisha Jamieson when she tried to move to Cleveland to escape an abusive partner in 2019. She said she submitted applications for over 40 apartments in Euclid, Cleveland Heights, Garfield Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Maple Heights, Shaker Heights, Beachwood, Brooklyn Heights, University Heights, Lakewood, Rocky River, Parma, Brecksville and Independence.
All were denied after landlords realized she was using a Section 8 voucher.
“I had the money to move in and said I was willing to pay an extra security deposit. They denied me still,” Jamieson, 43, said.
Even after receiving an extension, she couldn’t find a landlord willing to rent to her and her children and lost the voucher. Ultimately, she said she was forced to move to Maryland to find housing, but wants to return to Cleveland.
“I still need help,” she said. “I want to get back on the Section 8 program for me and my babies, and to live a lifestyle where we don’t have to run from my abuser.”
Her story is not uncommon, Lepley said.
The Fair Housing Center has long been pushing for source-of-income legislation in the county, especially after a 2017 test study in which a Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) participant was denied a lease 91 percent of the time.
That test, according to Lepley and his team, showed “that housing providers effectively lock HCVP participants in their current neighborhoods and maintain racial segregation in Cuyahoga County.” At the time, just shy of 90 percent of HCVP participants were African American, it said.
The new legislation, which Budish said is expected to help 1,400 families over a three-year period, would give renters more flexibility in where they want to live. It also would incentivize landlords to accept tenants using Section 8 housing vouchers by providing them subsidies for the security deposit or up to two months of rent, he said.
Renters who believe they’re still being discriminated against could file a complaint with the county’s Human Rights Commission.
“Residents should be able to choose where they want to live without having to worry if their source of payment will prevent them from being able to make that choice,” Budish said.
County Council would have to approve of the legislation before it takes effect.
Cleveland City Council is currently considering comparable legislation designed to prevent evictions and give renters who have federally subsidized housing vouchers more options. Akron City Council passed a similar law earlier this year.
More information about the program is expected in coming months.
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