Columbus eviction crisis set to get worse as pandemic era federal funding runs out

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- More people face eviction in Columbus than any other major city in Ohio and support for those struggling to stay in their homes is running out. 

NBC4 Investigates found the issue could get even worse.

Many of the people getting help are everyday families with jobs; as rents rise more and more, people cannot afford to live where they work. Franklin County Eviction Court hears an average of 150 cases per day; one day, NBC4 was there.

An hour before the courtroom doors opened, dozens of people packed the waiting room. 

"My life's turned upside down,” Tracie Lee Basham, a Columbus resident facing eviction, said. “I mean, it's crazy." 

Everyone in the room is waiting to hear if they will walk out the same doors, with or without a home to go back to. 

"I had a bad panic attack, I had anxiety,” Lee Basham said. “I didn't know what to expect. I mean, it's just crazy.” 

Lee Basham lost her husband to cancer eight months ago. 

"He was the breadwinner," she said.

Funeral expenses and a broken-down car led this lifelong Columbus resident to eviction court, but with the help of the non-profit IMPACT Community Action and her landlord, she was able to stay in her home. 

"My landlord came to me a while ago before I even talked to any of these people, and he said, ‘Do not worry about it, they will help you,’" Lee Basham said.     

IMPACT provides rental assistance right at eviction court. 

"We're talking about an everyday household and we're talking about families who go to work every day,” IMPACT Community Action Vice President of Housing Programs Shameikia Smith said. “We're talking about seniors who've worked so hard, who live off of a fixed income.” 

People fill out a form and if they’re eligible, get help right in that moment.

"Every day we get a call. Every day we get an email. Every day we get an inquiry about someone who's saying, like, ‘I need help,’" Smith said. 

In 2024, IMPACT helped 3,729 renters, paying more than $11 million. Now, the organization has $5 million in federal COVID money left. In January, IMPACT paid $792,130.22 in support. 

Data from the Eviction Lab shows that in the last month, the city had 2,355 eviction filings, Cincinnati had 1,158 and Cleveland had 543. 

"With that money running low, those resources are not going to be available for the community in the same way so I unfortunately expect that we're going to see a lot more challenges in this area without that assistance available," Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (LASCO) Senior Managing Attorney Melissa Benson said. 

Legal Aid is also at eviction court, connecting people in need with lawyers. 

"Every single day, we have more people asking for our assistance than we have attorneys, people that we're able to provide for people," Benson said. 

There is also assistance through the court itself. 

"We can't give legal advice, but we can help people and all of the different options in the case, help them figure out all the information they need so that they can go into court confidently and provide the best representation results that they can," Franklin County Municipal Court Self Help Center Director Robert Southers said. 

The center tries to help people before the hearing by providing resources and guidance. Last year it helped 34,000 people, with 70% of those being housing cases. 

The help is here for now, but when the COVID funding runs out, there won’t be the money for this support and happy endings like Lee Basham's may become less common. 

"We have seen families who have lived in their homes for 20 years and almost lost their home because they weren't able to pay their property taxes,” Smith said. “We've seen bus drivers, people that work in schools, people that work in hospitals, people that even work in social service agencies." 

Financial experts said people should spend no more than about one-third of their income on housing. A state assessment found more than 1 million Ohioans, almost one in ten, spend at least half of their income on housing, putting them at high risk of foreclosure or eviction.