Label
Council Members Komives and Gadus
Title
Enacting Chapter 1768 of the Toledo Municipal Code, Tenants' Right to Counsel in Eviction Proceedings; authorizing the appropriation and expenditure of $250,000 from the unappropriated balance of the General Fund; authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Legal Aid of Western Ohio; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
WHEREAS, housing is a human right and the access to safe, secure and accessible housing is essential to achieving equal access to all other fundamental needs; and
WHEREAS, evictions create significant costs for state and local government related to shelter funding, education funding, health care provided in hospitals instead of community-based providers, transportation costs for homeless youth, and foster care; and
WHEREAS, studies have shown that many tenants have defenses to the eviction that they are not able to assert (either at all of successfully) without assistance of counsel; and
WHEREAS, evictions have significant, well-documented, and long-lasting effects on the lives of individuals and families, including poorer physical and mental health, increased risk of homelessness, increased risk of employment loss, loss of personal property, damage to credit standing, and relocation into sub-standard housing; and
WHEREAS, evictions and the subsequent housing instability and displacement damage the lives of children by negatively impacting their mental and physical health, decreasing school attendance rates, impeding academic performance, increasing instances of school discipline, and increasing the likelihood of out of home placement; and
WHEREAS, providing a right to counsel to tenants in eviction cases is a proven means of preventing the disruptive displacement of families and the resulting social, economic and public health costs of such displacement; and
WHEREAS, Toledo City Council believes that interests in civil cases can be s...
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