Payday Lending

November 2020: Rental Assistance, CARES Act

This was originally published on November 30, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News:

Rental Assistance in the Headlines

Georgia District Judge Upholds CDC's Temporary Eviction Moratorium

From Enterprise Community Partners...On October 29, a federal judge rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction against the CDC's temporary eviction moratorium for qualifying renters, upholding the temporary moratorium put in place by the Trump administration. The injunction was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance on behalf of a Virginia housing provider and the National Apartment Association. By rejecting the motion for a preliminary injunction, the court has upheld the CDC's nationwide freeze of most residential evictions for nonpayment of rent. As of now, the CDC's emergency health order will continue to protect qualifying renters from eviction for nonpayment of rent through December 31, 2020. Enterprise has joined partners in urging Congress and the Administration to provide emergency rental assistance in conjunction with eviction protections to avoid widespread homelessness and the loss of affordable homes.

Even with moratoriums and some financial relief, evictions remain a threat in Central Ohio

Even as an eviction moratorium promises to blunt the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of eviction filings are being filed in Franklin County each month.

Read the full story in Columbus Business Journal.

Poverty Projections Illustrate Need for Federal Relief Package

A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), "Weakening Economy, Widespread Hardship Show Urgent Need for Further Relief," outlines the need for additional federal funding amid COVID-19. Many funding sources within the CARES Act have expired or run out of funding, and many of the lowest-income individuals were left out of the initial provisions. CBPP reports that despite recent modest economic growth, unemployment remains high and disproportionately affects low-wage workers and people of color. As a result, poverty is projected to increase from 10.5% in 2019 to 13.6% in late 2020. Read more.

Federal Reserve Issues Community Reinvestment Act ANPR

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Comments are due by February 16. Suzanne Killian from the Fed summarized the ANPR at the NACEDA Summit in October. President-elect Biden made CRA reform a notable piece of his policy platform during the campaign. However, hurdles remain for him to implement his agenda as it relates to CRA, including an uncertain partisan makeup in the Senate, and how (or if) he can replace Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC finalized its rule in May. Advocates have called on President-elect Biden to scrap the OCC's rule and proceed with a new CRA rule under the Federal Reserve's leadership.

State News

Ohio CARES Act Funding for Families and Small Businesses

Low-income families and small businesses hit hard financially by the coronavirus are getting $429.5 million in federal relief.

The relief package includes $50 million for low-income families to pay their rent, mortgage, and sewer and water bills. Those funds are being distributed to Community Action Agencies using the Community Services Block Grant formula. Households with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level will be eligible. Households can apply for aid through their local Community Action Agency starting November 2nd.

The Ohio Development Services Agency just recently made an additional $55.8 million in rental assistance available through the state's CDBG II and III allocations. This new rental assistance funding will also be distributed through community action agencies.

Another $125 million will be available for small business relief grants of $10,000, with an additional $37.5 million to help bars and restaurants with $2,500 grants, and $20 million to support arts and cultural organizations. Learn more about small business relief here. The application for small business relief opened November 2.

Loophole Threat to Payday Lending Reform

During this lame duck legislative session, an amendment was introduced in the Senate to House Bill 38 that could have created a loophole sending payday lenders out of the Ohio Fairness in Lending Act statute (HB 123, 2018) and into the Consumer Installment Lending Act (CILA) statute allowing for unlimited fees. OCDCA worked with our partners and the installment lenders to revise the vague amendment that would close the loophole. As of this writing, we're hopeful that the unintentional threat will be eliminated. Read Nate Coffman's testimony. Payday lending reform is working with affordable loans widely available, costing approximately four times less than before, and it has effectively stopped the debt trap. Consumers are saving more than $75 million dollars a year and benefit from widespread access to affordable credit.

Bill Would Make it Harder and More Dangerous for Ohioans to Organize

Introduced in the House Criminal Justice committee on November 19th, HB 784 would make it harder for Ohioans to organize. The bill seeks to amend several sections of the Ohio Revised Code to increase penalties for certain assault, vandalism, and riot offenses; allow peace officers to bring civil suits against persons participating in a riot and organizers regardless of participation in illegal acts; authorize individuals to use force, including deadly force against rioters to escape; and to prohibit bias motivated intimidation of first responders. The bill seeks to make protest organizers and community activists legally responsible for any and all actions of protest attendees or individuals in the vicinity of a gathering. It also encourages deadly force be used by civilians on other civilians in order to "escape riots." There is possibility that this bill could encourage vigilantes to seek out protests in order to incite violence and use deadly force to leave the scene.

July 2020: State of Poverty in Ohio

This was originally published on July 29, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News

Take Action Now: Call For Emergency Rental Assistance

Congress is back to work to negotiate the next coronavirus relief bill. With mass unemployment and over 500,000 Ohio tenants wondering how they'll pay next month's rent, emergency rental assistance must be part of the solution!

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has introduced legislation (S. 3685H.R. 6820) to provide a $100 billion time-limited emergency rental assistance program in the next coronavirus relief bill. The U.S. House has already passed similar legislation, but so far Senate leaders have been reluctant to act. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) could help break the partisan divide.

Please take a couple of minutes to ask Sen. Portman and your U.S. House member to support emergency rental assistance for unemployed workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sen. Portman, who introduced the Eviction Crisis Act in December, understands the damage eviction causes to people, but he has not yet publicly advocated for emergency rental assistance to help the millions of unemployed Americans facing eviction during the public health crisis.

Neighborhood Homes Investment Act Would Create Tax Credit for Revitalizing Single-Family Homes in Low-Income Neighborhoods

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ben Cardin, D-Md., introduced the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (S. 4073), a bill to create a single-family tax credit similar to the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) that would help finance the rehabilitation of deteriorated homes in distressed neighborhoods. The bill requires that homes built or revitalized under the incentive be sold to households earning 140 percent or less of the area median income. The bill's sponsors estimate that it could lead to the revitalization of 500,000 homes and create $100 billion in development revenue over the next 10 years.

"The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act is sorely needed to provide affordable homeownership opportunities while revitalizing our legacy communities. Over the past several years Ohio has necessarily demolished a considerable amount of blighted homes across rural and urban communities. Now is the time to transition to single-family development of affordable new and rehabilitated housing using this tax credit tool. We greatly appreciate Senator Portman's leadership on this most important legislation," said Nate Coffman, Executive Director of the Ohio CDC Association.

US House of Representatives Disapproves of New CRA rule

The House formally voted on June 29 to disapprove of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's final Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule released in May. The effort was led by House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA). She sponsored a resolution ((H.J. Res. 90) using a mechanism called the Congressional Review Act that allows Congress to overturn regulations developed by federal agencies. In order for the new CRA rule to be overturned using this mechanism, the resolution would have to be approved in the Senate and signed by the President. While this House move is likely symbolic, it is very important over the long term to have members of the House and Senate on record disapproving of the new rule. 

In related CRA news, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and the California Reinvestment Coalition, represented by Democracy Forward and Farella Braun + Martel, filed suit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for unlawfully changing rules related to the CRA. Read CRC's news release.

State News

CFPB Abandons Payday Loan Safeguards - Ohio Protected

Recently the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that they are retracting federal rules governing payday loans. This will harm millions of consumers in other states that don't have strong protections in place. The Ohio Fairness in Lending Act (HB 123) passed in 2018 remains in full effect and borrowers continue to have access to small loans with affordability safeguards that are among the lowest prices of any state (approximately four times less than before reform). Ohio will remain insulated from federal intervention. Consumer-facing nonprofits and legal aid attorneys have seen a sharp decline in clients who report problems with loans since HB 123 took effect. According to Ohio Attorney General data, complaints about payday lending are down from the prior 12 months. And the concern that payday lenders expressed that more consumers would use illegal lenders has not materialized.

Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing in Ohio

The wage needed to afford a basic two-bedroom apartment in Ohio has risen to $15.73, according to the Out of Reach report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. The report compares rents and wages nationally and in every state, county, and metropolitan area in the U.S. The amount of money a worker must earn to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Ohio has risen even as many low-wage employees have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Someone making minimum wage in Ohio would need to work 74 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment. COHHIO and NLIHC urged Congress to approve a $100 billion emergency rental assistance program for workers affected by the recession, and COHHIO is also asking Gov. Mike DeWine to allocate at least $100 million from the state's virus relief funds for the same purpose.

2020 State of Poverty in Ohio Report Released

The 2020 State of Poverty in Ohio Report was released recently by the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA). For nearly 30 years, the report has thoughtfully researched and analyzed data to highlight obstacles Ohio families face on their journeys to becoming self-sufficient. Working closely with well-respected researchers and data experts, this report annually considers various factors that have created barriers to family stability. The report is now available online.