CLEVELAND — Cleveland lease-to-own homeowners Salita Baker and Christine Seidowsky have been left with an uncertain future as they fight to keep the houses they've paid on for 17 years or more.
Seidowsky told News 5 that the lease-to-own agreement through the Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corporation was left in limbo after the agency was dissolved in 2021, shortly after former Ward 4 Councilman Ken Johnson and former development corporation executive director John Hopkins were convicted and given jail time for mismanagement of federal funds.
It's a situation that now has Seidowsky and Baker waiting for a Cuyahoga County court to decide if their homes, and dozens of other lease-to-own houses, will be put up for auction on Feb. 10 to make up for city losses due to financial mismanagement.
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“They want us to pay the price and we have nothing to do with this, why should we pay for their negligence," Seidowsky said. “I want to stay in my home because this is not fair to any of us at all, why do we have to pay for this. They’ve been collecting payments from me for almost 27-years next month, I thought this was my home.”
Salita Baker told News 5 that she and more than 100 other lease-to-own homeowners are also facing the loss of homes they've paid into. Baker believes the City of Cleveland should honor its agreement and let these homeowners have another chance to pay off the balance they owe.
"My son is in a wheelchair and now they want to take our home from us, where are we supposed to go, what are we supposed to do," Baker said. "We did everything we we’re supposed to have done; I even made my own repairs out of my own pocket to keep my home safe and clean for my son.”
Ward 4 Cleveland Councilwoman Deborah Gray agrees the city dropped the ball, and even though Cleveland put together a 2021 program allowing 27 lease-to-own homeowners to pay off their houses, other families who financially qualify should be given another chance.
“At that time a lot of residents weren’t financially ready to go through that program, but now they are financially ready to become a homeowner," Gray said. "But the fight is not over, the fight is vital and we’re going to be in the courtroom to stand up to see what we can do and what can be done to save the homeowners who want to keep their homes.”
The City of Cleveland responded to our story, telling us it gave lease-to-own homeowners the chance to pay off their homes in 2021, with 26 homeowners qualifying. It said the other homeowners will have the chance to buy their homes during an auction if the judge in the case rules in its favor. No decision was made at a hearing on Wednesday, and the judge will make a decision at a later date.
News 5 is committed to following through on this developing story.
