By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Nearly all Wood County residents who face eviction can’t afford an attorney to represent their side in court.
“That fits with national data,” said Justin Rex, a BGSU political science professor, who spoke to Bowling Green City Council on Monday about how the city can help.
Statistics gathered by BGSU show that 96% of local residents facing eviction have no access to an attorney. That compares to 10% of landlords.
Rex suggested that Bowling Green consider legislation adopted by the cities of Toledo and Cleveland, that gives tenants a right to counsel.
“We tend to think of it as a large city, urban problem,” but evictions happen in all sizes of communities, Rex said.
Another solution the city may want to consider is an eviction diversion program involving landlord-tenant mediation, Rex said.
Rex, who serves on the Continuum of Care in Wood County, which looks at local homelessness, said it is difficult to track local eviction statistics.
Going back to 2000, there were an average of 313 eviction filings a year – with 138 households actually being evicted.
The numbers grew from 2009 to 2016, when the eviction filings jumped to 538 a year, with 315 actual evictions.
Though a national moratorium was enacted earlier during the COVID pandemic, there were loopholes that allowed landlords to evict tenants, Rex said.
During the moratorium, 163 evictions were filed in Wood County, and 59 in Bowling Green. During that period, 36 households were actually evicted, according to Rex.
“These are formal evictions,” he said. “We know that’s about half of what takes place.”
There are ways some landlords can manage their properties that result in evictions, without the actual legal process, Rex said. For example, some refuse to make vital repairs, raise rents by exorbitant amounts, or even take extreme action like removing an exterior door – in hopes of getting tenants to leave, he said.
Evictions, Rex said, are not always a consequence of poverty. Sometimes, evictions are the cause of job loss and mental stress that then result in poverty conditions, he said.
