Akron residents will find two housing-related measures on the Nov. 3 ballot — both intended to make it easier for renters to access housing. Each would change the city’s charter, or its governing document.
One of them, Issue 11, seeks to eliminate application fees or other charges for potential renters. It would also allow tenants to spread security deposits out over three or six months. And it would criminalize both collecting application fees and failing to tell renters or prospective renters about their options when it comes to paying a security deposit over time.
The other, Issue 12, seeks to make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to find housing. It would add anti-discrimination protections related to housing to Akron’s charter, which governs how the city operates, treating people who have been arrested for or convicted of crimes as a protected class. Discriminating against them in terms of housing would be illegal, as is discriminating against people for their race, gender or sexual orientation.
The protection has two exceptions: sex offenders and arson offenders. Imokhai Okolo, a community organizer and lawyer with Freedom BLOC, which pushed the measures, said sex offender registry rules and the risks to property tied to arson are the reasons for the exceptions.
Together, Okolo said, the measures would help people who may have challenges finding or affording rentals.
But Julie Stoll, the acting president of the Akron Canton Real Estate Investors Association, said that, if passed, the two changes would increase costs for renters and lead some landlords to leave the market altogether.
The proposals are “bad for Akron,” she said.
Proposals stem from the idea that housing is a human right
The two proposals came out of a yearslong process of listening to Akron residents about the issues they face, said Raymond Greene Jr., Freedom BLOC’s executive director. He said issues with finding housing were repeatedly a concern.
Potential tenants couldn’t afford multiple application fees if they weren’t accepted to a given apartment, he said, or couldn’t find a place to stay because they couldn’t pull together a security deposit, which is often hundreds of dollars.
Additionally, discrimination against those who were formerly incarcerated means that people who have criminal histories sometimes have limited housing options.
The proposals stem from the idea that housing is a human right, Greene said, and are intended to help people who may have struggled to find shelter.
“It sets the tone that we no longer make profits out of people’s poverty,” he said. “It allows people to be set up to win.”
The charter amendments, which will be on the ballot Nov. 3 (with early voting starting Oct. 6), were added after Freedom BLOC collected thousands of signatures in support of the measures. Okolo said giving people more time to pay security deposits, and eliminating application and other fees, will give residents more money to pay for other necessities, like food, healthcare and electricity.
It will also make it easier for people to move for new jobs, to leave relationships or to simply choose another location, he said.
“They’re asking landlords for help,” Okolo said of residents. “It’s tough to afford the costs of a move or relocation.”
Risks to landlords would rise, says real estate association
But Stoll said eliminating application fees and spreading out the time tenants have to pay security deposits increases landlords’ risks. She said it’s likely that fewer people will be approved for apartments, and rents will be higher, if the measure passes.
“Risk doesn’t disappear, it just migrates,” she said.
Stoll said tenants can trash a property in a day, so giving people months to pay the deposit — used to reimburse landlords for needed repairs when a tenant moves out — means some landlords will be responsible for paying for any damage.
“These people are putting their retirement in the hands of people who will not be caring for their homes,” she said.
Plus, she said, landlords aren’t the only people who charge security deposits. Hotels and car rental establishments will put holds on credit cards to ensure access to funds in case their property is damaged or destroyed.
The difference, Greene said, is that housing is a necessity and a hotel room is a luxury.
“People can choose to go to a hotel,” he said. “They can’t choose to be homeless or have a house.”
Herman Hill, the executive director of the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, said his organization doesn’t charge application fees. For public housing, a $50 security deposit is required, while for subsidized housing, AMHA requires a security deposit of the same amount as rent. He said AMHA already allows people to pay the fee over three months.
But Hill said he didn’t think it was fair to require landlords to pay the costs of background checks, which application fees can cover.
He said it’s likely that landlords will increase rents to cover those costs. He also worried that it would cause landlords to leave the city.
“I don’t think it’s really going to help people,” he said of the proposed measure. “I certainly don’t want to push any landlords away from leasing units that are badly needed for Akron.”
Greene acknowledged it was possible that rents would go up in response to the changes, if they pass, but said that, at the outset, people would have more money on hand because they would not need to come up with lump sums every time they moved.
In other cities where similar laws have passed, he said, housing opportunities have not been harmed.
Criminal histories and finding housing
The proposal also includes a measure that would criminalize charging application or other fees or failing to tell tenants that they have the option of having more time to pay a security deposit. Greene said Akron City Council would need to determine what that would mean, while Okolo said it would likely be a misdemeanor.
The intention wouldn’t be to send landlords to jail, Greene said, but to hold them accountable.
“This is not an attack on landlords,” he said. “This is a reprieve for people. This is about granting some relief for our community.”
Okolo said he was confident the proposal had community support. Stoll said her organization was not planning to campaign against it but might join others that would.
Greene said an existing landlord database that Akron administers would give the city the ability to enact many of the provisions in Issue 11 — with the exception of determining the criminal component. Issue 12, which seeks to treat criminal history as a protected class, would require City Council to enact legislation to implement it within 90 days of passage.
The intention of the proposal, Greene said, is to ensure formerly incarcerated people also have access to housing. He said he did not know how many people the proposal would affect in Akron, but Okolo said it could be substantial.
There’s no evidence that policies restricting access to housing improve residents’ safety, Okolo said. But not having a place to live increases recidivism.
Hill, with AMHA, said that organization follows federal law when it comes to criminal history. That includes a three-year lookback period, where AMHA can deny housing to someone who was on probation or parole for that period.
Additionally, sex offenders or those who manufacture methamphetamine have a lifetime ban from public housing.
Hill said he wasn’t sure if it would be legal for Akron to enforce such a measure. The ballot language calls for it to be enforced via the Civil Rights Commission, which has jurisdiction over real estate discrimination claims in the city.
While some people who have a criminal background are rehabilitated, Hill said, others are not. He said he thought landlords should be able to make decisions about tenants on a case-by-case basis.
Hill said he’s not sure how he would vote on the measures but said he wished that AMHA had been part of the discussions to bring the ballot measures forward.
“We have so many issues trying to identify landlords,” he said. “We certainly want to make sure we’re treating landlords fairly and people are able to lease units.”
