Some Cleveland council members mull local eviction moratorium; Housing Court and mayor’s office question where authority exists
Eric Heisig, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Some Cleveland City Council members are considering a local eviction moratorium to provide a safety net for tenants amid concerns that a federal ban on evictions for nonpayment during the coronavirus pandemic could soon come to an end.
The prospect of extending the moratorium, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first enacted in September, within the city limits has support from housing advocates and Cleveland Housing Court Judge W. Moná Scott.
To them, the moratorium has been a key tool in preventing mass evictions during the pandemic-induced recession that began in early 2020 and would give an outside agency running a city-funded rental assistance program time to catch up on applications.