Landlords & Tenants

Rental Rights and Fair Housing information for landlords, tenants, community members
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A free educational program for property owners, managers, tenants, & other interested citizens

Wednesday, January 23rd

6PM to 8PM

831 College Ave, Lancaster, OH 43130-1081 

Presenters:

Spencer Wells, Tenant Outreach Director, Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio (COHHIO)

Topics to be covered

  • how do rental rights strengthen our community?
  • what are the rights and duties of landlords and tenants?
  • what are the protected classes under the fair housing acts?
  • what about reasonable accommodations and modifications for persons with disabilities?
  • what are the protections for households headed by women, or who have children under 18


 

What happened?
Eight hearty souls turned out at the Ag Center in Lancaster on a chilly, snow night to share information on rental rights and fair housing.  Holly Mattei and James Mako from Fairfield Regional Planning and Mary Jo Smith, FH officer for the city of Lancaster added great local information.

What did participants learn?
This was a smart bunch of participants.  Pretest average was 5.285 correct (out of 6); but they got better!  The post test average was 6 correct of 6 questions, showing a .715 point improvement after the session.

Questions and discussion
  • Lots of discussion about how landlords can maintain consistency in every phase of the rental process.  One of the participants "MOM" is designated to answer the phone and present the property to each caller in exactly the same way!
  • Along these lines a participant asked:  "Can I keep showing the unit?"  Consensus answer is:  "yes, as long as you are consistent.  Don't stop when you find someone you 'like'.  Either set a cut off time so that all applicants have the same chance or advise applicants that the first one to complete the process (references, fees, signed rental agreement) will be the successful applicant."  Nice clear rules of procedure prevent confusion (and maybe charges) later.  Another participant suggested:  create a wait list for unsuccessful applicants who are otherwise qualified.
  • Bedbugs:  Discussion covered what is a landlord duty?  how can landlords head off the problem?  Provisions for HCV tenants.

Presented by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission.

Funding for this workshop is provided under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development


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