LWVOHIO ACTION Alert

LWVO ACTION ALERT: Support H.B. 9 - Rental Property Forclosure
   
The League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWVO) supports HB 9, a bill designed to provide transparency to tenants in three situations:  prior to renting in a building about to be foreclosed, when renting month-to-month before a foreclosure, and tenant notification when foreclosure occurs.  Support is necessary to insure the bill's passage in the House. 
League support is based on League principles that no person or group should suffer legal, economic or administrative discrimination and our national urban policy in that it is intended to stabilize neighborhoods.
 
Background: Rental properties and their tenants are significantly impacted by the foreclosure crisis.  Renters, who are estimated to be as much as 40% of those facing evictions, are often caught off-guard and evicted without notice when a landlord's property goes into foreclosure.   The key measures in this bill would require that a landlord do the following:
  • Provide written notice to each tenant at least 21 days before the date of sale on a foreclosed property.  
  • Provide written notice to each tenant within 60 days after notification by the court that a foreclosure action has been filed, if the rental agreement is entered into before the foreclosure action is initiated.
  • Convert the lease to a month-to-month agreement when the sale is approved. 
This is a simple measure to aid tenants and help to prevent homelessness at a time when homelessness and all of its attendant costs are on the rise. 
 
Action Needed: House Bill 9 was voted out of the House Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities Committee prior to the legislature's spring break.  HB 9 is likely to come to the floor for a full vote very soon, probably next week.  Call or e-mail your representative now to urge support for this bill.  Contact information for Ohio House members is available at www.house.state.oh.us. 
 
The LWVO urges members of the Ohio House to support HB 9.  Talking points include:
  • 1) No person or group should suffer legal, economic or administrative discrimination;
  • 2) HB 9 will help stabilize neighborhoods.
  • 3) HB 9 will help prevent homelessness at a time when homelessness and all of its attendant costs are on the rise.
 
HELP LWVO TRACK YOUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS: We want to know how responsive members are to action alerts and how many calls are made to the Ohio Senate. If you take the action suggested, please let the state office know. Drop us an e-mail at HYPERLINK "mailto:leg@lwvohio.org" leg@lwvohio.org .
 
The League of Women Voters of Ohio, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.