Call 211
This website provides eviction guidance for renters and landlords during COVID-19.
If you can pay your rent, you should. However, Help is Available for Miami Valley residents. If you are a tenant struggling to pay rent, the Center for Disease Control issued a ban preventing your landlord from evicting you between September 4, 2020 to December 31, 2020 for failing to pay rent. To begin the help process, fill out an application for assistance and an eviction prevention declaration.
If you need help, apply for Rental Assistance online:

If you cannot pay your rent, or cannot pay the full amount of your rent, you should communicate with your landlord in writing.
Email or text your landlord to explain your situation. Offer to pay whatever you can, and ask them to work with you, and accept money from Miami Valley Community Action Partnership’s CARES Act funds. Use the example language below to write your landlord now:
Sample Email/Text to Your Landlord
Today’s date
Hi landlord’s name, I hope you and yours are safe and healthy. I wanted to keep you updated about my situation. I have lost income/work/my job and cannot afford to pay my rent at this time. I think you probably know about the Centers for Disease Control issuing a ban preventing landlords from evicting tenants between September 4, 2020 to December 31, 2020 for failing to pay rent. I also learned that Miami Valley Community Action Partnership (MVCAP) has funding from the CARES ACT passed by Congress that is being used to pay landlords rent, and when necessary, late fees. I am applying for assistance and hope you will agree to work with me.
1. Acknowledge your receipt of this note.
2. Agree to complete the forms needed (Landlord Statement and W9 Form) and submit them to Miami Valley Community Action Partnership (MVCAP).
3. Accept payments from MVCAP to bring me current in the amount of money owed to you.
4. Continue to work with me so that I can keep a roof over my head, while working to ensure you are paid.
Thanks for your flexibility and understanding,
Your name
Your address
Your phone number
Copy Text
If you are being evicted, contact these MVCAP or Legal Aid for free assistance:
ABLE (Advocates for Basic Legal Equality) and LAWO (Legal Aid of Western Ohio) are non-profit regional law firms that provide high quality legal assistance in civil matters to help eligible low-income individuals and groups in western Ohio achieve self reliance, and equal justice and economic opportunity. MVCAP is doing the initial intake for legal referrals.
Work with your tenants to help prevent evictions. If your tenant is struggling to pay rent, there is help for you.
Miami Valley Community Action Partnership (MVCAP) has money from the CARES ACT to assist your tenants in paying rent and late fees to you, so that you get your money and do not lose income.
You can ensure you get paid by telling all of your tenants about this program, and encouraging them to apply. There are no income limits for those living in Montgomery County. There is also money to assist tenants with utilities.
Ensure your tenants have access to the internet. If they don’t assist them in getting access by using a WiFi device that you bring to them to use long enough to apply online, or suggest they go to the Public Library.
Direct your tenants to: https://miamivalleycap.org/application-portal
Montgomery County has made more than $5 million dollars of CARES ACT funding available to tenants to pay to property owners/landlords to keep them current and keep them housed.
For your tenant to qualify, you have to be willing to complete a few forms.
They include:
Forms for Landlords
Contact your mortgage servicer now and find out if you have a federally backed mortgage.
The CARES Act makes it possible for anyone with a federally backed mortgage to request up to a six month forbearance with no penalties, with the option to extend another six months.
Additionally, make sure to contact your mortgage servicer now, as all financial institutions are being encouraged to offer forbearance plans to their customers.
More Eviction Guidance and Support
Open All
Close All
What if I am unable to make my mortgage payments?
+
-

An answer goes here.

What is illegal landlord behavior?
+
-

It is illegal for a landlord to do any of the following to remove a tenant from their property:

  • Physically forcing the tenant out of the property
  • Threatening to hurt the tenant if the tenant does not leave
  • Removing the tenant’s things without permission
  • Turning off utilities (gas, electric, water) at the property
  • Changing the locks
  • Altering the property to make it unlivable If the landlord engages in any of the activities above, the court may award the tenant damages and attorney fees.
Can I be evicted outside of the court system?
+
-
  • You cannot be moved out of your home without a court order.
  • Your landlord cannot evict you, kick you out, or ask you to leave your apartment for having COVID-19.
  • Your landlord cannot evict you, kick you out, or ask you to leave your apartment for being under home quarantine.
  • Being under isolation or quarantine in a hospital or other facility does not change your tenancy — your apartment remains your primary residence.
  • You will still need to pay rent during quarantine or any time in a medical facility, just as is the case for any illness.
  • Your landlord cannot discriminate against you, kick you out, or ask you to leave your apartment because of fears … and stigma around COVID-19, including discrimination or harassment on the basis of actual or perceived race, … national origin, disability, or other protected classes.
  • If you are facing discrimination and harassment by your landlord, please file a complaint online:
What is the CARES Act?
+
-
  • Renters—Evictions for not paying rent and late fees are prohibited by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ban preventing your landlord from evicting you between September 4, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
  • MVCAP has money from the CARES ACT to assist you in paying rent and late fees. There are no income limits for those living in Montgomery County.
  • Homeowners—Roughly 70% of all mortgages for 1–4 family homes are federally backed (by FHA, HUD, VA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Dept. of Agriculture). Many lenders are offering forbearance agreements on mortgages.
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now has links on their website so renters can look up and determine if their building is covered by the CARES Act protections because it has a federally or GSE-backed mortgage. Go to www.consumerfinance.gov/renters and scroll down to “Find out if your housing is covered by the CARES Act.”
Can I be evicted for having COVID-19?
+
-

No.

Your landlord cannot evict you, kick you out, or ask you to leave your apartment for having COVID-19.

Your landlord cannot evict you, kick you out, or ask you to leave your apartment for being under home quarantine.

Being under isolation or quarantine in a hospital or other facility does not change your tenancy — your apartment remains your primary residence

Can I be evicted for having guests during COVID-19?
+
-

No. A tenant’s right to have guests is found in their right to possess and control the premises—usually based in the lease—and under the legal concept of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. In Ohio, this right is implied in every rental lease agreement. The right of a tenant to have guests in her rental unit is violated when a landlord obstructs, interferes with, or takes away from the tenant, the ability to invite and have guests. The right to have guests includes the right to use the common area for travel to and from the rental unit. There is nothing in Ohio’s Stay at Home order that gives a landlord the power to infringe on the right of a tenant to have guests.

What can I do if I am a subsidized housing tenant?
+
-

To make it easier for tenants of subsidized housing to request a rent recalculation because they have had a change in income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our friends at the Connecticut Fair Housing Center created a form that allows tenants to put in the information about their decrease in income, address, etc.

Once the form is completed, the program automatically generates an email to the tenant’s housing authority as well as to the tenant.

There is also an option to have the letter emailed to the tenant only so that the tenant can decide where to send the letter.

Generate a letter by going to ctfairhousing.org/rent.

Can I evict tenants for having COVID-19?
+
-

No.

A landlord cannot evict a tenant, kick out a tenant, or ask a tenant to leave their apartment for having COVID-19.

A landlord cannot evict a tenant, kick out a tenant, or ask a tenant to leave their apartment for being under home quarantine.

Being under isolation or quarantine in a hospital or other facility does not change a tenant’s tenancy — their apartment remains their primary residence

Can I evict tenants for having guests during COVID-19?
+
-

No. A tenant’s right to have guests is found in their right to possess and control the premises—usually based in the lease—and under the legal concept of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. In Ohio, this right is implied in every rental lease agreement. The right of a tenant to have guests in her rental unit is violated when a landlord obstructs, interferes with, or takes away from the tenant, the ability to invite and have guests. The right to have guests includes the right to use the common area for travel to and from the rental unit. There is nothing in Ohio’s Stay at Home order that gives a landlord the power to infringe on the right of a tenant to have guests.EOT;