CLEVELAND — The crumbling, overgrown homes dot Cleveland’s neighborhoods and frustrate people living nearby.
But now the city hopes a tool aimed at holding property owners accountable will help alleviate a problem that’s been a thorn in the side of housing inspectors for decades.
“We do know that 85% of our case filings result in a no-show for court,” said Cleveland Director of Building and Housing Salley Martin O’Toole. “They don’t show up for their arraignment.”
She said in the meantime often nothing happens to fix the homes or penalize owners.
“We’ve had many of them dragging on for years,” said O’Toole. “We haven’t been able to get resolution.”
In hundreds of cases, city hall estimates property owners haven’t been served notice of the violations.
That’s the legal process of letting someone know there’s a complaint against them.
Until that service happens, Housing Court Judge Moná Scott said property owners cannot be prosecuted.
“That’s everybody, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” said Scott.
Next door to Christopher Wallace’s home in the city’s Collinwood neighborhood, a wad of housing court summonses are wedged between the doorknob and frame.
“Me looking outside my house and seeing this house, it’s definitely a drag,” said Wallace.
Neighbors said the house has been empty for years.
A fading notice to vacate posted on the front door is dated May 2017.
Junk is piled on the front porch, broken glass litters the backyard and metal siding is partially stripped off the side.
“Somebody needs to either fix it up, or tear it down,” said Wallace. “One of the two.”
Court records show a long list of pending code violations and penalties against the home’s owner.
But for more than six years, city records show no one from the ownership company has shown up in court to answer those charges.
Across town, it’s a familiar frustration for Randi Zubin.
“So they cite them to go to court, they don’t show up at court, they give them six more months or four more months to come back to court, they don’t show up, so it’s an endless cycle,” said Zubin.
A cycle she and her Tremont neighbors have been caught in since fire tore through her neighbor’s home in August 2020.
More than three years later, the house sits burned out. The charred wood is only covered by a thin sheet of housewrap.
“People come over and go, ‘Wow, that hasn’t been take care of?” said Zubin. “I mean, it’s an eyesore. It’s a bad mark for Tremont.”
So, what keeps the city from getting property owners into court?
O’Toole said there are as many reasons owners can’t be served as there are deteriorating homes.
She said owners may have died, live in another state or even another country.
Now, she hopes the city’s “Residents First” ordinance will bring new hope for getting these properties turned around.
“It should be an alarm for property owners who are not doing the right thing,” said O’Toole. “The City of Cleveland is ready for you.”
Among other things, Residents First requires landlords who don’t live in the area to designate a local agent in charge. That’s someone who lives locally who will be legally responsible if there are problems with the property.
The new law also allows the city to give civil tickets that don’t require someone to show up to court.
“We could charge you every day that you have the offense,” said O’Toole. “We can just keep re-issuing tickets. And if you fail to pay them, they’re liened up against your property.”
The director said unpaid civil fines could be added to a property tax bill. Failing to pay could result in foreclosure against the home.
It’s a potential answer to a problem that even Scott, the housing court judge, called frustrating.
“I live around those properties,” said Scott. “I see those properties. I live in Cleveland. It matters to the person who lives to the left, to the right, in front of this property, behind the property. You know, this impacts a street.”
