A new survey of Cleveland's entire housing stock released last week by the city and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy has confirmed suspicions held by property watchdogs: properties owned by out-of-staters are in rougher condition than those with in-state tax addresses.
The study is the culmination of seven months of field work. Working under the Department of Building & Housing and two other city departments, some 30 surveyors logged, assessed and rated every single one of Cleveland's 163,000 parcels on an "A" to "F" scale.
"I think it's the most significant, comprehensive survey the city's even done," Frank Ford, who was head of WRLC from 2013 to 2022, told Scene.
Though the city and WRLC tag-teamed on two previous deep dives into Cleveland's housing stock, in 2015 and 2018, the latest was different. For one, nearly twice as many surveyors were used to spot-check home qualities (or confirm vacant lots). And they had longer windows to assess properties, allowing them to check the status of more categories, including cornice deterioration, paint chips, weeds, etc.
While 7.6 percent of homes in Cleveland (8,932 properties) are owned by out-of-state names, just 7.7 percent of those, or 688 homes, are "A," or "Excellent," quality. Compare that to 14.4 percent of all occupied homes as a whole getting the top rating.
"Out-of-state owners have proportionally fewer “A” and “B” properties, but proportionally more “C”, “D”, and “F”-graded properties than in-state owners," the report read.
City of Cleveland
The rating system, from 'A' to 'F', for all 8,932 homes owned by out-of-state investors in the city.
"This observation is concerning," the report added, "as out-of-state investors continue to purchase property in Cleveland with intent to raise rents and provide minimal upkeep and improvements."
Property owners as capitalistic investors, and not mom-and-pop landlords, has been a thorn in the side of housing watchdog groups for decades, especially in the wake of the 2008 foreclosure crisis. Dirt-cheap properties, gobbled up by Wall Street banks, were sold en masse to entrepreneurs in California, New York, and overseas. Often for just three or four figures apiece.
And, as the 2023 survey further confirms, the out-of-state-owned properties that were most neglected—with shoddy HVAC and crumbling roofs—were situated in majority Black neighborhoods.
Ford, who teams up regularly with Building & Housing Chief Sally Martin, said that his go-to vehicle for delivery, the Vacant and Abandoned Property Action Council, will leverage this new look at the shadier side of Cleveland real estate.
The data, Ford and other experts have said, will most likely give further impetus to the anticipated revised building code to weed out shady investors, especially limited liability companies purposefully skimping on needed up-keep. (Martin couldn't be reached for comment in time for publication.)
"There’s sort of a convergence of factors that are coming together that suggest that this data could be put to better use than previous data," Ford added.
That code passed through Cleveland's Law Department this spring, Ford said, and will head to City Council for approval after their summer recess.
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