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Fair Housing Center’s Landlord-Tenant Mediation Program
By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor
In the midst of a
pandemic, a landlord-tenant mediation program may seem
particularly suited to the times, since so many jobs have
been eliminated and so few dollars are available for rent.
In fact, landlord-tenants
disputes are as old as rental arrangements and leases and
the Toledo Fair Housing’s Landlord-Tenant Mediation program,
while new to the area, actually was conceived well before
COVID-19 began to place so many renters in jeopardy.
Marie Flannery, CEO of the
Fair Housing Center, arrived in Toledo with a solid
background in such mediation practices and immediately saw
the need to introduce the program to the area. “There is a
huge need for this service in the community,” she says,
noting the benefits she witnessed in her previous position.
Flannery sought funding
for the program shortly after assuming her leadership
position and found a receptive audience with the Lucas
County Commissioners and at the Toledo Community Foundation.
The funding provided by those groups has enabled the Fair
Housing Center to bring two mediators on board to deal with
the rising number of requests for such services.
“Half the people [in Lucas
County] rent,” said Commissioner Pete Gerken when the
program was introduced several months ago. “It’s a
relationship between strangers.”
“When tenants are scared,
they stop talking to landlords,” said Commissioner Tina
Skeldon Wozniak. “This process gets them together.”
The main benefit to
tenants and landlords is an ability to discuss issues –
rent, repairs and maintenance, for example – without having
to take on court costs. Other benefits include the
informality of the proceedings, confidentiality, prevention
of evictions and an improvement in relations.
Ironically, the Fair
Housing Center has not traditionally been in the mediation
game, says Flannery. “We are used to being advocates.”
Mediation, however, can offer the hope of being a win-win
situation – bringing parties together in a setting where
they can speak informally without the expense of courts and
attorneys and, perhaps, avoiding costly solutions – such as
evictions.
Flannery counts the
opening months of the process as a success in terms of
community response. “We have opened more than 100 cases from
March to August,” she notes, with repair and maintenance
being the most common issues on the table. So far, about 49
percent of the cases involve African-American tenants. And,
while tenants will typically bring the bulk of issues to the
mediators, landlords, says Flannery, have started reaching
out also.
Although the program is up
and running, Fair Housing will continue to seek funding in
order to provide assistance to what will prove to be an
increasing number of tenants and landlords. “We help anyone
who calls,” says Flannery.
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