Lima officials found a bathtub in bad condition during a rental inspection in September 2022. Renters can find themselves frustrated when they’re trying to correct maintenance issues.
Photo courtesy of Lima Property Maintenace Code department
LIMA — There’s a “crisis” with Lima’s rental housing, people who work with disgruntled renters say, but there’s little they can do immediately to fix substandard housing.
“I feel like the crisis is bigger than what we know it is because people are afraid to complain,” said Angie Rex, Lima’s code enforcement manager. “The ones who do complain, the tenants aren’t happy. The landlords aren’t doing things proactively. They’re only reacting if they get a notice of violation from us.”
It can be a slow process if you’re expecting government agencies to force a landlord to fix a leaky roof or eliminate unwanted pests, especially in a market with an aging housing stock.
Hot market, slow reactions
“You have good landlords, and you have your landlords who are not as good and not as responsive,” said Brandon Fischer, the health commissioner with Allen County Public Health. “If there’s a citation, it will result in something going to court, and usually that gets some movement and action. It just takes time to get that information to a landlord. It works when it works. It can drag on for a little bit, especially on some of these pest-related issues.”
Less responsive landlords in the region know the statistics and aren’t motivated to move quickly. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 53.4% of Lima’s housing stock was rental units in 2022. Rent management company Stressa reported the Lima metro area saw an 11.2% increase in median rent from 2022 to 2023. Real estate site Zillow.com lists the median rent in Lima at $1,100, up $250 compared to last year. Rent.com reported the average two-bedroom rental was $628, with one bedroom averaging $549 and a studio at $550.
“If your rate is under market rate, like let’s say you’re paying $400 for a three-bedroom, they’re not going to say anything about the landlord or try to do anything because they’re happy paying that amount,” said Vance Cuthrell, the housing manager for West Ohio Community Action Partnership.
If your lease is already up, a landlord may be just as motivated to evict you as to solve the issue. Some landlords aren’t even bothering with year-long leases, opting for 30-day or six-month leases, Rex said.
“It’s a landlord’s market because for every one that they’re going to evict, they know they probably have five waiting to fill the vacancy,” said Kim Bruns, executive director for WOCAP. “You know, people are desperate, so they will live in any kind of situation.”
Talking it out
The first step for someone seeking help is to read your lease and try to give your landlord an opportunity to fix it. Some leases put the burden on the renter for maintenance.
“You need to give them a reasonable amount of time, which is typically 30 days unless it’s flooding or fire that needs immediate attention,” said Cuthrell, who handles many of the fair housing calls at WOCAP.
Before Carmillia Zion, Lima’s director of housing and neighborhoods, took that job, she worked in rental housing. She reiterated how important it is for renters and landlords alike to know what’s in the lease, especially in how to request a maintenance work order.
“We make sure that we tell tenants you cannot ‘not pay,’ whatever the issue is,” she said. “Never stop paying your rent because the landlord has the authority once the rent is not paid to evict you.”
You have to wait a “reasonable” amount of time for a maintenance request, Zion said. That could be up to 72 hours for a health and safety issue. It might even be spelled out in the lease, including a renter’s responsibility to keep an area clean. Communication is the key, she said.
That’s frequently an issue, said Lane Wisner, a property manager at Blue Chip Housing in Lima. The group has 126 properties and could reach 150 properties by the end of the year. It has raised rates on its rental properties from about $300 to $500 more per month to keep up with the market, he said. Blue Chip doesn’t keep a wait list, he said.
“We live in a ‘microwave society,’” said Wisner, who reported few issues with long-standing tenants. “People want it right now, and if we’re not providing it right now, people tend to throw a fit. That’s the society we live in. For us to be successful, we have to be prompt.”
The legal route
If communicating directly with the landlord fails, Cuthrell can mediate between the landlord and tenant. Often a landlord is waiting on a part or contractor before repairs can be completed, he said. If all else fails, he recommends putting your rent into escrow with a case at Lima Municipal Court.
“The only legal recourse that a client has is to do the rent escrow,” Cuthrell said. “They must be current on their rent, and they can go pay their rent to the clerk of courts. The court will hold a court hearing, and then they can decide what to do from there. They can either fine the landlord or let the client break the lease at that point. That’s up to the courts.”
Lima can help city residents with that process, Rex said. Renters can request an inspection from code enforcement, which can document the violations. The office sends a report — complete with photographs — and sets deadlines for repairs. That information can help with the explanation of why rent is in escrow. Meanwhile, the city can penalize the property owner with penalties and reinspection fees.
Other efforts
It’s too early to tell if Lima’s recently enacted landlord registry will help. It does require a local contact in the event of an emergency, which helps when many area properties are owned by out-of-town interests. It’s still gathering the information for smaller property owners, with about 2,200 registered units out of more than 7,000 rental properties in the city.
There are blind spots in the process, too. Neither the health department nor the city can do much by statute about mold, since it’s harder to tell which molds are dangerous. A renter would have to hire a professional to test it to prove it’s a type that causes health issues. The city can identify the sources of mold, though, and make a landlord address that.
Lima also has a rapid rental repair program, which addresses health, safety and maintenance issues for vacant rental properties to get them back on the market, said Jessica Begonia, Lima’s public information officer. That program reimburses repairs up to $5,000.
Lima has been working to attract new quality, affordable housing in the city. The Welcome Home Ohio program encourages building new homes for low- to moderate-income individuals as part of a “multifaceted approach to try to tackle what we know to be a nationwide issue and also an issue within the city of Lima,” Begonia said.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A RENTAL DISPUTE
• Read your lease closely, and follow its instructions on how to report a maintenance issue.
• Keep a written record of interactions. Experts recommend using text messages or emails, to keep a paper trail.
• Don’t withhold your rent payments. That can get you evicted.
• You can put your rent payments in escrow through Lima Municipal Court to motivate your landlord to make necessary repairs.
• Contact Allen County Public Health (419-228-4457) if you face a sewage or water issue inside a home or trash building up inside a multitenant building in common areas.
• Contact Lima’s property maintenance/code enforcement (419-221-5237) with physical structure issues.
• Contact WOCAP (419-227-2586) for assistance in working through the process.
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
