Panel provides tenant training

STEUBENVILLE - James Miller came looking for information about his rights as a rental tenant. Padraic Sikora came as a landlord.

They were among the attendees at the tenant training workshop held Monday evening at Jefferson Community College and sponsored by the city Fair Housing Practices Commission and the Jefferson County Regional Planning Commission.

"My wife and I just moved into our place about four months ago and we want to find out about landlord and tenant laws and what our rights are. We came to see if we can learn anything. We have rented for several years now and thought this was a good opportunity to see what rights we have and what we can do if we have an issue," said Miller.

Sikora said he owns and maintains six rental properties in Steubenville and wanted to learn more about landlord and tenant laws.

"I am looking for information. I try to look at both sides of all rental issues and understand all of the issues. I couldn't make last year's landlord training workshop, so I came to this session," explained Sikora.

Carl White of the Regional Housing Center and a consultant to the city's Fair Housing Commission said the tenant training workshop is important.

"We started last year with the landlord training and continued this year with the tenants. Now tenants can understand their rights and the rights of the landlord. If tenants and landlords work together we can maintain our housing stock for the long-term future," said White.

Rob Johns and Tom Zani of the Southeastern Ohio Legal Services discussed a number of topics, "including issues to consider before a tenant moves into a rental unit, what a tenant and the landlord should do prior to moving in, issues such as rent escrow, repair needs and how a landlord and tenant relationship can be terminated as well as basic tenant rights information."

"As in any business there are good landlords and bad landlords. And there are good tenants and bad tenants. The issues we see here are pretty typical of any city in the United States. The main difference here is our housing stock is older and the landlords have a responsibility to maintain their rental units," said Johns.

Zani said another important issue for tenants is maintaining a business relationship with their landlords.

"There are too many cases where the tenant thinks of their landlord as their friend. Then when there is a problem the tenant feels betrayed. That's why the business relationship should be established at the beginning," said Zani.

According to Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi, the workshop included discussion on things to think about when looking for a place to live, moving in, security deposits, landlord and tenant relationship and practical tips for tenants.

Petrossi said tenants still interested in obtaining the literature available at the workshop can contact his office at (740) 283-6000, extension 1700.

"We provided tenants the opportunity to gain knowledge of their responsibilities and the responsibilities of their landlord," said Petrossi.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)