Landlords

The city also said eviction task force members identified a common source of problems that contribute to evictions, which is that many low-income tenants don’t have bank accounts or electronic payment methods.

This meant that tenants who pay in cash or money order have struggled to prove their rent was paid.

The new city legislation shifts the burden of proof in court to landlords to prove that rent was not paid, if they did not provide a receipt to their tenants.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, evictions were too common in Dayton, considering the city’s eviction rate was almost twice the national average, said Debra Lavey, a member of the task force and a senior attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality.

Ohio’s unemployment rate has surged, as many businesses closed and workers were laid off due to COVID19,

and the hardest hit by this pandemic are low-income renters, who have little savings and whose housing costs consume much of their paychecks, she said.

Late fees make it harder for tenants to catch up on their rent and remain in place, Lavey said.

“The city’s new late fee ordinance is a good step forward in reducing the rent burden on tenants,” she said.

Reasonable late fees will help, but the community also needs broad-based rental assistance, funding for legal representation for tenants and mediation programs, and legal changes that require landlords to accept late rental payments, she said.

Whaley said she expects the task force to provide additional recommendations about helpful changes in city and state policy in the near future.