Cleveland Housing Court

Dear Reader,
The Housing Court celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2015.
Court – from its inception, through its growth, to the present. In doing so, we considered, as well,
at the City of Cleveland, and the social and political forces at work during those times.
Cleveland has seen its share of struggle during the past three and a half decades. We have worked
to keep our communities intact, though some streets have given way to crime and disorder. As
property owners have lost their jobs and homes, or simply relocated, our strong housing stock has
deteriorated. Despite improvement in some neighborhoods over the past 35 years, others have
unraveled before our very eyes.
At the same time, p eople and organizations with new or renewed energy have given us hope.
In the 1970s, for example, neighborhood organizers and the community development network
enforcement in cases involving property owners and code violations. The Cleveland Housing
Court was one of the products of this community activism.
We are now in the midst of another surge of renewal in Cleveland’s neighborhoods. A building
is b eginning
to
turn
the
City
around.
Organizations
are
creating
partnerships,
collaborating
their creativity on neighborhoods and neighborhood issues, including abandoned and distressed housing.
number of bank-owned properties in the City, has presented the Court with caseloads which are larger, more complicated and more challenging. The
increase in property owners who live out of state, or even out of the country, has made the process of securing the attendance of criminal defendants
orders. At the same time, the number of resources available to distressed owner-occupants has decreased sharply, requiring the Court’s staff to work
even more creatively with homeowners to achieve compliance with City codes.
The Housing Court remains committed to bringing new solutions to the City’s increasingly-complicated housing problems.
Fortunately, it is not acting alone. The City is demolishing abandoned structures at an unprecedented rate.
Neighborhoods host new construction, from townhomes to apartment buildings and business centers.
Banks and other lenders are beginning to see the value in releasing liens to clear title, helping move
new uses for old spaces. Slowly, but surely, hope is returning to
Cleveland’s neighborhoods.