Housing Court Insider
Preventing evictions is all about making the right connections, says Valentina Pass, Chief Social Worker for Cleveland Housing Court.
“When I receive a referral for social services from a Mediator, Staff Attorney or Magistrate, my goal is to help the tenant stay in their home,” she says. “Housing Court has a strong mediation team, but sometimes at the hearings, they’re unable to come to an agreement. When assisting the tenant, I will contact the landlord, attorney or property manager to see if they will work with the tenant if I assist the tenant with applying for Emergency Rental Assistance.”
And she refers tenants to resources such as Cleveland’s Department of Aging, Veterans Affairs, Volunteers of America, Frontline, and Right to Counsel.
“WHAT I’M SEEING IS A LOT OF PEOPLE DO QUALIFY FOR RIGHT TO COUNSEL, IT’S JUST THEM FOLLOWING UP WITH RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN ORDER FOR THEM TO TAKE ON THE CASE,” PASS SAID.
It’s not so easy, she says. “Just think of all the stuff people have going on: You’re being evicted, you have children, you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to navigate getting a new place or if you can work out some kind of deal with the landlord to stay in the place.”
Landlords are busy too, Pass says. “A lot of landlords don’t want to deal with tenants that have not paid their rent in a year or more, they just want the person out. When I speak with a landlord or property manager, I explain that it’s hard to find affordable housing to rent, and an eviction on the tenant’s record will make it even harder. I advise landlords that you might get another individual with the same characteristics in your place, and you’ll be here all over again. So if I can help them with applying for Emergency Rental Assistance and they get approved, you’re going to get 12 months of back rent and two to three months in advance, to get that person time to get caught up, and then going forward, they’ll be right back on track and able to pay their rent.”
Money is available, she says. “A lot of people don’t know that there are a lot of funds out there, it’s just getting that application in, and the waiting process.”
Some landlords say rental assistance programs take too long, Pass says. “When they say that, how I come back is, ‘Yes, it does take a long time, but you’ve got to consider, we’re still kind of in a pandemic.’”
But stick with it, she advises landlords. “So if you want to get paid, this is the route to go, because if you try to sue them afterward, you’re not going to get that money anyway. So if you can be patient and allow that time … to go through the process, if they attach their documents that they’re being evicted, the application gets expedited. So you might not have to wait three or four months to get paid, it might be sooner.”
