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Our mission is to preserve and expand the supply of safe, decent, fair, affordable and accessible rental housing in Greater Cleveland by:

Informing citizens of their rights and duties in rental housing;
Representing tenants and the interest of tenants in the preservation and promotion of rental housing rights;
Empowering tenants individually and collectively to represent themselves and their interests;
Advocating for the needs of low and moderate income tenants;
Resolving disputes between landlords and tenants;
Preventing homelessness; and
Combating discrimination in housing based on race, religion, color, gender, handicap, familial status, social/economic class, and sexual orientation.

CTO has a staff of 10 persons and is governed by a 21 person Board of Trustees representing a broad spectrum of the community. CTO has approximately 400 individual members and over 1,000 affiliate members who belong to local tenant organizations which are affiliated with CTO.

Mike Piepsny is the Executive Director of the organization and Ruby Nelson is the President of the Board of Trustees.

Cleveland Tenants Organization Spring/Summer 2008 Newsletter

CTO'S Spring/Summer Newsletter is now available online. You can download a copy by clicking on the link below (PDF file).

Download Newsletter

2007 Cleveland Tenants Organization Annual Report

CTO'S 2007 Annual Report is now available online. You can download a copy by clicking on the link below (PDF file).

Download Report

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HousingCleveland.org

Looking for Affordable Rental Housing... Go to http://www.housingcleveland.org/ This is the new data base created by a whole host of non-profit and governmental organizations to put in one place as comprehensible a list of for rent, affordable vacancies in Cuyahoga County.

On July 18, 2008, PBS' Bill Moyer's Journal featured Cleveland and the foreclosure crisis. The segment included interviews with Mayor Jackson, Councilman Brancatelli, Brian Davis from the Homeless Coalition, some local renters caught up in the foreclosure mess, County TreasurerJim Rokakis, and CTO's Executive Director, Mike Piepsny. It is available to watch on the internet at:

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Be a part of the effort to eliminate homelessness by supporting the Heading Home initiative...

Heading Home was convened in April 2005 in order to make recommendations in two areas: preventing homelessness, and increasing the supply of affordable rental housing for households with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area median income. Following the release of the report in late 2006, an implementation process was initiated, and a plan released in early 2007. It will take the effort and commitment of our elected officials, community advocates, service providers, stakeholders, and community partners to implement this initiative.

As part of this initiative, CTO and our allies presented the need for a local Housing Trust Fund to the Cuyahoga County Commissioners at a roundtable session in early May of 2008. The Commissioners recognized the need, expressed their support and have asked for a committee to be formed to look into the scope, size, and potential revenue sources for the local Housing Trust fund. Phil Star, a CTO Board member, has been asked by the County to lead the development of the committee and ultimately the effort to create a local Housing Trust Fund.

To learn more about getting involved and/or endorsing the plan, CLICK ON THE LOGO ABOVE to visit our partner agency, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH).

If you are interested in joing the effort to increase affordable housing and eliminate homelessness, or in serving on one of the sub-committees, call CTO’s Executvie Director, Mike Piepsny at (216) 432-0617!

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Donate to CTO

You can help keep CTO moving forward and providing the important information about landlord tenant laws, affordable housing information and environmental health issues, by donating to CTO. By doing so, we will also put you on our quarterly mailing list.

Become a Member Today!
You can become a member of the Cleveland Tenants Organization TODAY for only $12.00 per year! For more information, email our Executive Director, Mike Piepsny HERE. Membership entitles you to instantaneous email responses, the "Insider's Hotline" phone service, our quarterly Newsletter, as well as special invitations to our events! BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

Rental Rights Workshops
Every Wednesday from 5:30 - 7:30 pm, Cheryl Boyer is at Lakewood Christian Service Center, 1412 Marlowe Ave, Lakewood, Ohio, to answer individual questions about landlord - tenant rights and responsibilities.

Out of Reach Study Released
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has published its annual study on the state of affordable housing in America. Go to the http://www.nlihc.org/ for details.

Cleveland Lead Ordinance passed

Cleveland City Council recently amended the lead ordinance, originally passed in August 2004. The ordinance requires landlords to disclose their knowledge of lead based paint hazards on their property to new tenants. The ordinance mirrors the Federal Statute which has been in effect since 1994. The ordinance allows local enforcement of the law, rather than having to rely on Federal actors. For more information about the ordinance, call Juanalicia Duran at CTO. 432-0617

To view a copy of the ordinance go to the site of our partner, Environmental Health Watch at http://www.ehw.org/ and look under lead paint information.

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