Rising rents and dwindling federal rental assistance are making the affordable housing crisis in Columbus worse for renters, while benefiting landlords.
A Harper’s magazine article on the eviction crisis in Columbus highlighted problems facing tenants that do not get a lot of attention. The article “The Eviction Experts,” authored by Mya Frazier, was published in February.
"There was an extensive amount of federal rental assistance that was funneled to local landlords to stop evictions during the moratoriums and during the pandemic,” Frazier said. "But despite that money, thousands of tenants were evicted anyway. And there were no efforts around that massive influx of money to put any conditions on landlords to stop rent increases or limit late fees."
Frazier wrote “In 2016, Columbus had more total evictions than all but six American cities.” She spent a lot of time at eviction court in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic monitoring the day-to-day eviction process. Frazier found that advocates for landlords dominate the scene.
“It's big box approach to batching evictions on the local court dockets,” Frazier said. “It's an incredibly efficient process. And saves its landlord clients a lot of time. And no other law firm files more evictions in Columbus than Willis law.”
Tenants can seek out free Legal Aid assistance, but staffing remains insufficient.
“They have expanded since 2017 when a local legal aid attorney, after spending 15 months volunteering there, opened a full-time clinic,” Frazier said. “But the need is so great, and the clinic can't help everyone.
Frazier wrote that by mid-2021, more than $129 million of federal money in rental assistance helped ease the rate of evictions temporarily. But, the money mostly went to landlords.
"Tenants have very few, very little opportunity to explain their financial struggles, or why they couldn't make rent to local magistrates,” Frazier said. “And they're often left to negotiate the right to stay housed, with very skilled landlords or attorneys who aren't representing their best interest."
Frazier reported that in 2023, evictions in Columbus exceeded 24,000 filings for the year, which was a massive increase. She blamed that in part to rising rents and the influx of investors in the Columbus property market.
"Tenants often come in confused, not sure about how to get help, and there's little chance for them to get the help they need before the legal process takes over and results in them losing shelter," Frazier said.
Frazier also points to high-tech innovations in property management that can speed up the process between an overdue rent payment and a court procedure. Experienced law firms can get an eviction in less time.
“And because of how familiar they are with the court, they've kind of achieved the level of procedural dominance over the court's daily routines,” Frazier said. “And that leaves tenants often very vulnerable. And it's very difficult for tenants to secure their legal rights within that process.”
Frazier found the laws in Ohio also favor landlords far more than tenants.
“There was a law that passed in the Statehouse that prevented any local municipality from instituting any rent control,” Frazier said.
