Exploring ways to start a Greater Cleveland tenants union that is powerful enough to tackle issues such as fair housing and excessive fees landlords charge will be among the topics at Saturday’s Housing Justice Summit.
The event organized by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 19 at the Pivot Center, 2937 W. 25th St., Cleveland. The summit is free, but attendees are asked to register by clicking this link.
The Cleveland area has been without a tenants organization since the Cleveland Tenants Organization, which had operated for more than 40 years, was defunded in 2018. Last year, Cleveland City Council announced a plan to spend up to $1 million to help renters understand their rights, organize to fight neglectful landlords and tap into services to pay rent and avoid evictions.
“We’re talking about building a bonafide tenants union where people can come together to collectively leverage their power, whether that is around legislation or whether that is just showing up in solidarity [to support other tenants].”
Josiah Quarles, NEOCH’S director of organizing and advocacy.
Representatives from tenants unions from other Ohio cities, including Dayton and Athens, are scheduled to attend to discuss their work, said Josiah Quarles, NEOCH’S director of organizing and advocacy. He said Greater Cleveland needs a tenants union that is more than just a resource center. The area needs a tenants union that can lobby to get bills passed against such things as high-priced application and other rental fees. They’re called junk fees because the charges themselves or their inflated prices often aren’t based on the services rendered.
“We’re talking about building a bonafide tenants union where people can come together to collectively leverage their power, whether that is around legislation or whether that is just showing up in solidarity [to support other tenants],” he said.
In addition to building a tenants union, other sessions will focus on such topics as Community Mobilization and Intervention and Civic Engagement in the Trump Era. The summit will also explore affordable housing options. Representatives from the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Boston will discuss the nonprofit’s involvement in a Community Land Trust.
Community Land Trust could keep housing permanently affordable
Such trusts often aim to create housing that is permanently affordable. The Boston trust’s efforts include creating 240 units of affordable housing, more than 100 of which are permanently affordable. Affordable housing often uses public subsidies that only require units to remain within the reach of low- or moderate-income families for a specified time period. The trust has also created green spaces and other public areas as well as developed commercial properties, including those for small businesses.
“A Community Land Trust can be a vessel for transformational work and really intentional development centered around community needs,” Quarles said.
He said the goal of this year’s summit is to not only be educational but action-provoking. Quarles said last year’s discussion of fair chance housing legislation, which limits landlords from refusing to rent to people with criminal records, is an example. He has been among those lobbying to get a fair chance housing bill introduced in Cuyahoga County.
“We need some guardrails,” he said. “You could have stolen a candy bar when you were 18, and you’re now 75 and a landlord can deny you housing.”
