Eviction cases in Toledo reached a six-year high as municipal funding for tenant legal help shrank. The reduction leaves fewer low-income renters with legal representation during their court hearings.
Landlords filed 646 eviction cases in September, according to Toledo Municipal Court. That total marked the highest monthly number of filings in the last six years.
Unlike in a criminal trial, the court does not supply free counsel for eviction hearings. Legal Aid of Western Ohio has offered free legal assistance to people in need for 70 years. The group launched its Right to Counsel project in 2022 to assist tenants.
The city council initially backed the effort with $250,000 each year. Taylor Burns, supervising attorney with the firm, said leaders hoped that money would rise over time.
“The idea was that funding would increase every year until every household under 200% of the federal poverty line and facing an eviction in Toledo would have the right to an attorney. Unfortunately, those funding increases never came,” Burns said.
Officials cut the initial $250,000 allocation down to $67,000 in April. Attorneys still accept select housing clients using separate grants. Staff cannot match their past caseloads.
The project previously helped around 250 families annually, according to Burns. The team has handled only 98 cases this year.
Burns said turned-away tenants frequently attend court hearings without representation. Some tenants do not appear at all.
Missing a hearing can trigger a default eviction, Burns said. That outcome creates further obstacles to finding future housing, according to Burns.
Packed hallways fill the courthouse. Renters must make difficult financial choices between daily necessities and monthly shelter costs, Burns said.
“Our clients are making a lot of tough decisions about where they’re putting their money. So sometimes they’re buying their kids school supplies and they fall behind on rent, or they’re paying for food and falling behind on rent.”
Program staff do not know if the city will finance Right to Counsel next year. Burns noted conversations with council members who want to identify revenue sources.
Other regional nonprofit law groups handle some housing work. Right to Counsel was the only Toledo effort focused strictly on evictions, according to Burns.
An eviction hearing is a civil court proceeding where a property owner asks a judge to remove a tenant. Civil courts handle lease disputes between private parties rather than criminal charges.
The municipal court continues to process pending tenant actions filed by local landlords.
