Cleveland Housing Court

hiring more than one Housing Specialist. The entire staff, including the
in McManamon’s initial request. Those constraints alone kept Housing
Court from reaching optimal effectiveness.
The new Court’s future was challenged again that November when Judge
McManamon was elected to the Court of Common Pleas, creating a fastrevolving
door of judges on the Housing Court bench. McManamon
was replaced by Judge Robert Malaga, who had just lost his own bid for
re-election to Probate Court.
Many did not see Judge Malaga as a Housing Court supporter; however,
he did honor the Court’s problem-solving approach to justice. “Those
be mitigated if the work is done,” wrote a Cleveland Press reporter in
April 1981. The newspaper quoted Judge Malaga as frequently telling
defendants, “I’d rather have you put the money into the house than give
it to the court.” 29
Judge Malaga served only one year, replaced by Judge Eddie Corrigan,
Local Rules, giving it a set of procedures and guidelines that set it apart
from Municipal Court as a whole. It was an important step because of the
specialized nature of cases heard in Housing Court.
Judge Gaines also took the Court’s problem-solving philosophy to a
higher level, assigning Housing Specialists to connect property ownerdefendants,
often elderly and poor, with available programs to help them
repair and maintain their homes. Resources, however, were few. One
of the most popular programs, Cleveland Action to Support Housing
(CASH), was available only to homeowners who were eligible for
conventional bank loans. Interest rates at that time hovered above eleven
Housing Court’s early supporters remained frustrated over what they saw
They set out to recruit a judge who would continue the Court’s established
mission. They found their candidate in William Corrigan—a lawyer,
neighborhood activist and former teacher and guidance counselor at
Glenville High School. Corrigan had never served as a judge, but in
1989, at age sixty-two, he ran for the Housing Court and defeated Carl
Corrigan ushered in a decade of expansion for Cleveland Housing Court,
including the creation of the Court’s Mediation Program, which still
offers landlords and tenants the opportunity to settle their disputes without
a hearing, free of charge.
Judge Corrigan’s tenure also was brief. Clarence Gaines defeated
Corrigan in the next election and began his term in January 1984—
Housing Court’s fourth judge in four years. Judge Gaines was
a competent jurist who continued to raise the professional standards of
the Court, requesting a study to evaluate Court operations. The report
found that despite the rapid turnover on the bench, the Court had met a
primary mission—to resolve more housing cases than ever before, and at
a faster rate. 30
The Court’s community service program (below and at right),
engages in projects in local neighborhoods that focus on quality
of life issues.
Court Community Services Assists Housing Court in Fighting Blight
Toxic titles, absentee and unresponsive owners, as well
as other complicated problems may delay resolution of some
cases in Housing Court. Grass and weeds grow high, scrappers
strip gutters and aluminum siding, vandals break windows,
and litterers use the yard to dump trash. What was merely
a vacant house—again— quickly becomes an eyesore,
a burden on property values nearby and a danger
to the neighborhood and its residents. As Housing
cases are pending, decay through its use of Court