Eviction filings in Hamilton County last year were higher than the average before the COVID pandemic, according to new data from The Eviction Lab at Princeton University.
Landlords filed 13,601 evictions in 2024 — 6% higher than the pre-pandemic yearly average.
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Local experts say the increase is not surprising now that rental assistance has gone down significantly, while the cost of rent keeps going up. Nick DiNardo represents low-income tenants through the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati.
"We had all kinds of strange things happening during COVID where there were moratoriums, and then a lot of landlords were not filing during COVID, and we had a ton of rental assistance through the CARES Act," DiNardo told WVXU. "In 2024 things kind of got back to normal. And normal in Hamilton County and the state of Ohio, when it comes to evictions, is not good."
The data also shows 10% of tenant households in the county faced an eviction filing, higher than the national average of 7% to 8%.
DiNardo says most tenants attend eviction hearings without any legal representation; and tenants with a lawyer are much more likely to have their eviction dismissed.
"It's really crucial to have both representation and emergency rental assistance for folks who are facing a one-time emergency," he said. "It's a lot cheaper to pay one or two months of rent on someone's behalf than it is for them to enter the shelter system."
The Eviction Lab estimates that Black households and those led by a woman are disproportionately affected by evictions in Hamilton County.
