Toledo Housing Crisis: Investors Profit, Renters Suffer

TOLEDO, Ohio — When Donna Cherry moved her family into a rental on Whiteford Center Road, she thought the higher rent meant stability. Instead, the trouble started on day one.

wtol.com reported that the electric garage door broke, stuck wide open for five days. Inside sat the family’s valuables, exposed to theft and weather. “We had already moved everything in, so it was just sitting there,” Cherry said. That was only the beginning of what she described as a nightmarish year.

Her rental was owned by a California couple and managed by a local realty firm — an arrangement that’s becoming increasingly common in Toledo, where out-of-town investors are snapping up properties at record speed.

Toledo’s Real Estate Gold Rush

For six months, 11 Investigates examined Toledo’s rental market and how it has attracted investors from across the country.

In April, the Wall Street Journal declared Toledo the most affordable housing market in America, calling it a “gold mine” for investors. Just weeks later, a company called Riparian VPC Ohio SFR Portfolio LLC swooped in, buying 115 homes in Lucas County for $8.2 million.

That purchase made Riparian the largest LLC property owner in the county. The timing wasn’t accidental, said University of Toledo professor Dan Hammel, who studies housing and urban geography.

“Toledo started getting buzz about being affordable, and suddenly it’s everywhere in real estate investor circles,” Hammel said.

The economics are simple: Toledo’s shrinking population — from 354,000 in 1980 to about 265,000 today — left thousands of vacant homes. Many were torn down, but others became prime targets for investors who could scoop them up for as little as $18,000 and rent them out at market rates.

With rents in the Toledo area up 35% since 2021, averaging $1,055 a month, investors can often pay off properties within 7 to 10 years. A countywide reassessment last year drove property values up 30%, and with that came higher property taxes. Landlords have responded the only way they know how: raising rents.

“A lot of these people are just viewing this purely as an investment,” Hammel said. “When taxes take a chunk, there’s only one way to make it back — raise the rent.”

Tenants Feeling the Squeeze

For tenants, the math doesn’t add up.

“We have older clients living on Social Security,” said Taylor Burns of Legal Aid of Western Ohio. “When rent jumps from $700 to $1,000, that’s more than their entire monthly income.”

Unable to pay, many renters face eviction. And data shows out-of-town landlords are driving those filings.

According to Toledo Municipal Court records, more than 11,500 eviction cases were filed in the past two years. Of the top 81 filers (those with 20+ cases), 65 — more than 80% — were based outside Toledo, often in Michigan, California, Colorado, and New York City.

Local landlords make up just 55% of owners on the county’s rental registry, but outsiders dominate the eviction rolls.

“The larger owners evict faster and more often,” Hammel explained. “They file first, negotiate later — if at all. Local landlords are more likely to work things out.”

When the Phone Rings, Nobody Answers

For tenants stuck in buildings owned by absentee landlords, frustration is daily life.

At Executive Towers, a downtown high-rise owned by a Colorado company, longtime resident Ken Sikorski said basic repairs can take months. After waiting in vain, he and his neighbors formed a tenant union this year. They demanded fixes, including a garage door they still pay $40 a month to use — despite it being broken.

“When the Indiana management company didn’t respond, we put rent in escrow,” Sikorski said. “I called them for over a year, five or six times a day. No one ever called back.”

City leaders say his experience isn’t unique.

“They come here and profit off poverty,” said Councilwoman Vanice Williams. “They make promises, then flip the property to another LLC to dodge accountability.”

Councilwoman Cerssandra McPherson said her office regularly hears from tenants who can’t even reach their landlords. “Some live as far away as Hawaii,” she said. “They ignore us. Renters feel helpless and hopeless.”

Cherry’s Nightmare Year

For Donna Cherry, the consequences were more than financial.

Two months after moving in, an electrical fire left her home without power for 10 days. With food spoiling in the fridge, Cherry sent her 5-year-old to stay with relatives while she and her partner endured sweltering summer days.

The property manager, LPG Realty, offered one generator. Instead of relief, it nearly poisoned them. “We woke up in the night to carbon monoxide alarms blaring. Fumes were seeping inside,” Cherry said.

By Christmas, the furnace had failed. Workers restarted it multiple times, but it shut down again and again. Cherry’s family spent the holiday bundled in coats and blankets. Heat wasn’t restored until nine days later — just before New Year’s.

“It ruined the holidays for us,” she said. “We were stuck in the house, powerless and cold, while they dragged their feet.”

Searching for Solutions

Local leaders admit they’re walking a fine line: they want investment, but not at the expense of Toledo residents.

Lucas County Auditor Katie Moline suggested expanding the owner-occupied credit, which gives tax breaks to homeowners who live in their properties. That could encourage local ownership.

But Moline noted another problem: many transactions happen between LLCs, making it nearly impossible to know who’s really behind them.

Council members are considering tougher oversight, including rental licenses for companies that own more than 100 units.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re taking care of the people you say you’re serving,” Williams said. “We can’t let out-of-town investors just come in and pimp our community.”

For Cherry, Sikorski, and countless other Toledo renters, the message is clear: investment in their city may be booming, but without accountability, tenants are left in the dark — sometimes literally.

Author Profile

Saleem Mubarak: Saleem Mubarak is a journalist and real estate writer who covers Houston’s evolving property market with a sharp eye for local trends and investor dynamics. He focuses on how shifting prices, interest rates, and migration patterns shape the city’s real estate future.

He has interviewed leading real estate professionals to bring readers first-hand insights into Houston’s changing market—from rising investor activity to the influence of social media on property buying.