Before he moved into his new apartment in Vine City in April, Maurice Eckstein was desperate. A job loss forced him to fall behind on rent for his previous home in Marietta, until eventually he owed more than $6,000 and had to move out, hopping between places and renting any room he could find.
Eckstein knew he faced an uphill battle in convincing another landlord to rent him an apartment. The unpaid rent had gone to a debt collector, leaving Eckstein with a mark on his record he couldn’t easily erase.
“I was not evicted from my apartment but I had to give up my keys. I had a huge collections balance, which I have to take my time and pay off after not working for almost a year,” Eckstein said. “Trying to pay that off immediately was near impossible.”…