At The Evanston Apartments in Norwood, tenants say they did everything right, paid rent in full, and still ended up staring down eviction notices. Several residents allege a former property manager diverted their payments, with some saying they were told to sign blank money orders that later appeared made out in the manager’s name. Families in the 100-unit complex are now scrambling for answers as community leaders rally outside and a simmering paperwork mess puts scores of subsidized homes at risk.
Tenants Say Money Orders Ended Up in Manager’s Name
According to WCPO, resident Marvin Barnes, who moved into The Evanston late last year, said he paid rent using money orders that later surfaced, made out to the former manager instead of the property or the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, known as CMHA. Other tenants told reporters they also paid in full but still received eviction notices, and one resident said an eviction letter claimed he owed exactly 1 dollar. Residents described going in circles trying to get the on-site office to explain the accounting and pointed to a string of recent manager turnovers that, in their view, only deepened the confusion.
The Building, the Manager and the Landlord
The Evanston is a CMHA property that is managed by Touchstone Property Services. CMHA records list the four-story, 100-unit building at 1820 Rutland Avenue and note that it was converted in 2019 under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rental Assistance Demonstration, or RAD, program. The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority describes the units as subsidized through Project Based Rental Assistance and notes that they were rehabilitated after the RAD conversion. Public solicitations and filings show Touchstone runs day-to-day operations for several CMHA RAD developments. The Ohio Auditor reports that Touchstone was created as a CMHA subsidiary and serves as the management arm for multiple properties.
Advocates Press for Answers as Officials Investigate
Bishops Sonny James and Peterson Mingo joined residents at the complex on Thursday and called on Touchstone and CMHA to fix any accounting errors and halt what they described as wrongful evictions. James told reporters he was “appalled” by the eviction notices but praised tenants for keeping the protest peaceful. Attorney Christopher Travis said he has been in talks with city officials and CMHA about the situation. He told WCPO that “it seems to be a process that's deep” and added that he has not encountered pushback from the City of Cincinnati. Residents say they plan to keep organizing until every disputed balance is corrected in writing and any alleged misdirected payments are fully accounted for.
Federal Rules Offer Protections, but Not a Quick Fix
Because The Evanston operates under HUD’s RAD program, federal guidance says conversions are not supposed to be used to re-screen or evict existing residents and requires formal grievance and relocation procedures that tenants can invoke. HUD outlines RAD tenant protections, including a right to remain in place and a defined grievance process, which advocates say could help residents challenge disputed rent ledgers. Still, those protections do not automatically resolve questions about where specific payments went, which is why tenants and their lawyer are pressing Touchstone and CMHA for a clear, immediate accounting of who received and deposited each rent check and money order.
CMHA told reporters it would respond by Friday, but residents say that as of publication time, neither CMHA nor Touchstone had provided a public accounting of the rent payments in question. Community leaders argue the episode shows how administrative breakdowns in subsidized housing can put families on the brink of losing their homes over paperwork. They are urging a rapid, transparent resolution so that no household is forced out while the ledgers are sorted out, and advocates are telling tenants to hang on to every receipt and payment record as the city and the housing authority review the case.
