You might be able to reduce or avoid paying the filing fees up front with a “poverty affidavit” (or “affidavit of indigency”).  Courts generally require a fee whenever a person files a new case or asks the court to do something by filing a “motion” in a pending case or files a “counterclaim” in a pending case.

But if you have a low income, you might be able to file your documents in court without the payment or with a lower payment if you first file a “poverty affidavit.” A poverty affidavit is a written, sworn statement that you have a low income and do not have enough money to pay fees.

To see a sample poverty affidavit and instructions on how to fill it out, click here.

Once you fill out the poverty affidavit, you must have your signature notarized and file the completed affidavit in the court where your case is being heard.

After you file a poverty affidavit in a case, the clerk will either not charge you any money or will charge you much less to file other documents in the same case. Even though you do not have to pay the fees up front, you may still be responsible for the fees at the end of the case.

Most Ohio courts have their own affidavit forms for you to fill out. You can request these from the clerk at your local court.  Here are links to poverty affidavits forms for the courts that post the form online:

Cuyahoga County

• Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas:   http://coc.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_coc/en-US/affidavit_of_indigence.pdf
• Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court: http://domestic.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_domestic/en-US/Misc/Affidavit%20Waive%20Cost%20with%20Chart.pdf
• Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court: http://juvenile.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf/miscellaneous%20forms/2013-Forms/PovertyAffidavit-JuvCrt-form2013.pdf
• East Cleveland Municipal Court:  http://www.eccourt.com/pdf/poverty_aff.pdf

Ashtabula County

• Ashtabula County Court of Common Pleas: http://courts.co.ashtabula.oh.us/forms/COC/PA.pdf

Some courts, for example Cleveland Municipal Court, will accept a generic poverty affidavit.  You can download a blank poverty affidavit form here:

• Click here – Blank Poverty Affidavit Form
• Click here – Cleveland Municipal Court
  

For additional information related to using a poverty affidavit to access the court system, click here to read an article from Legal Aid.

This information and the information provided on any court’s website cannot take the place of individual advice from a lawyer.  Each person’s situation is different.  You should contact a lawyer if you need legal representation or if you have questions about your legal rights and responsibilities.  

If you need further help, and plan to visit a Legal Aid Brief Advice Clinic – click here for upcoming clinic dates.  Remember to bring all the documents with you.  Attorneys will need the documents in order to advise you.

Josie Glover thought, “Never in my wildest dreams” she could someday own her own home. She saved and saved, then took a series of classes through Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority to guide her through the process.

When she found the perfect home, she signed up for automatic withdrawal so her payment would never be late. Her loan was sold to another lender, but somehow, the direct withdrawal information was not. Suddenly, she was behind in her payments.

She had the money in her account and wrote a letter to the bank, but they wouldn’t accept payments
they considered “late.” The bank also refused to consider the incomes of the other members of the household, her son, who gets SSI, and daughter who works as a phlebotomist.

She applied for a loan modification in 2013, but was turned down for the same reason. She was facing foreclosure and turned to Legal Aid for help.

Ms. Glover’s mortgage loan was insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Her Legal Aid attorney, Phil Althouse, knew that federal regulations related to FHA loans required Ms.Glover’s lender consider the other household
income. He also identified other violations of Ms. Glover’s legal rights by the lender and promptly filed motions that prevented a foreclosure judgment from being finalized. Mr. Althouse knew that there was more to be done for Ms.
Glover and advised her to file a charge of discrimination against the mortgage lender with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. Ms. Glover’s mortgage lender signed a settlement agreement with Ms. Glover and the Commission. As part of the settlement Ms. Glover obtained a loan modification. The settlement also resulted in the monitoring of FHA lenders services in Ohio.

But the lender failed to adhere to the terms of the agreement so Mr. Althouse requested that the case be re-opened by the Commission. The Commission referred the matter to the Ohio Attorney General’s office for further action which helped resolve all issues to Ms. Glover’s satisfaction.

“Ms. Glover had the benefit of legal counsel. Other borrowers may not be as fortunate,” states attorney Althouse. As a result of the Ms. Glover’s case, the Civil Rights Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s office now closely collaborates with legal aid programs around the state to better protect the civil rights of low-income clients.

Ms. Glover was able to secure a fair loan modification agreement and hold the mortgage servicer accountable for acting in bad faith. More importantly, the support of Legal Aid allowed Ms. Glover to keep her home. “It was scary and frustrating,” recalls Ms. Glover. “I didn’t know who to turn to, but Mr. Althouse was great. He put his all into helping me.” She is looking forward to celebrating the holidays in her home.

Click here to view the full Poetic Justice Issue where this story appeared.

Gwendolyn Frazier and her husband worked hard all their lives and paid off the mortgage on their Elyria home. Her husband took out a consolidation loan with OneMain Financial, but they paid their bills.

Her husband passed away in 2013. After that, when mail came addressed to him, she marked it “deceased” and sent it back – including mail from
CitiFinancial. She had no business with CitiFinancial and thought it was junk mail. She didn’t know OneMain was connected to

CitiFinancial, until the
bank sent a certified letter with foreclosure papers.

“It was such a burden,” she recalls. “I’m not somebody who’s sitting around not making my payments. ”

She called and called and called for months, but couldn’t get any information about how to pay the loan. The home went into foreclosure in 2014 and in a phone trial, the magistrate told her she was “out of luck” because she was not named on the loan.

Ms. Frazier sought help from Legal Aid. Volunteer attorney Kathleen Amerkhanian of Kryszak & Associates agreed to take the case pro bono. Legal Aid attorney Marley Eiger coached volunteer Amerkhanian on new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules that require the bank to not only to accept payments from the “successor-in-interest” but also to provide information about assumptions and modification options to the loan.
“Ms. Frazier needed a lawyer to frame the case as a legal issue and provide a basis for why they should look at loss mitigation,” says Ms. Amerkhanian. “By couching it in the correct terms, the court took notice.” Ms. Amerkhanian got the case out of foreclosure. In mediation, she pointed out that the bank was not in compliance with federal CFPB regulations. She helped Ms. Frazier compile all the documentation needed – until finally the bank offered an affordable plan.

Thanks to her volunteer lawyer, the foreclosure was dismissed early in 2016.

“The ability to really make an impact on somebody who desperately needs your help is very rewarding,” says Ms. Amerkhanian. When you take a case from Legal Aid, there is a lot of support. Marley Eiger provided a lot of information and lent her expertise, and that was invaluable.”

“The lender was ignorant of the law, indifferent to the homeowner’s compelling hardship and tried to sabotage her,” says Legal Aid attorney Marley Eiger. “Not one thing about this case was easy or routine, but Kathleen was very persistent.”

Thanks to Legal Aid, Ms. Frazier’s home is safe and she can enjo y her hobbies of cooking and volunteering at her church. And, most importantly – she can care for her family in her home without worry.

Legal Aid’s work to ensure shelter in Lorain County is supported by the Nord Family Foundation and the Community
Foundation of Lorain County.