The property owners of recently closed Columbus Speech and Hearing’s Clintonville location are asking to evict the communications nonprofit after it didn’t pay thousands of dollars in rent.
In a complaint filed in Franklin County Municipal Court, Tain Investments, LLC said it wants to evict Columbus Speech and Hearing (CSH) for failing to pay rent for January and February 2026 and inability to pay future rent after the organization’s sudden closure of all services and locations on Feb. 13.
The closure came as a shock to clients, some of whom were given no official notice of the closure until almost a week later and some of whom were still waiting for it in late February when interviewed by The Dispatch.
However, in the complaint, Tain Investments said it put a notice of eviction on CSH’s door on Feb. 9.
The notice came after former CEO James O. Dye asked Tain Investments for a deferral on two months rent in January 2026, which amounted to a little over $42,000. According to emails included in the complaint, Dye did not agree to sign a promissory note, a legally binding agreement that the deferred rent would eventually be paid. Tain Investments denied the deferral and the rent was not paid.
Overall, CSH, according to the complaint, still owes Tain Investments $240,000 under the lease it signed in 2022.
But Tain Investments said it doesn’t believe that money is recoverable, since CSH shut down permanently. It plans to file another complaint in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas for money damages “once more information is available.”
Financial troubles and clients left in limbo
The nonprofit had been in Columbus in some form since 1923, first established as the League of Hard of Hearing. Each year, the nonprofit served more than 8,000 children and adults, according to its website. It once provided myriad services, such as audiology and hearing aid services and speech therapy and evaluations.
When contacted in late February, Dye told The Dispatch he was not authorized to speak for the nonprofit following its Feb. 13 closure.
In an emailed statement on March 3, Columbus Speech and Hearing’s board said that “after a careful review and evaluation of all viable options, ongoing financial pressures made it clear that we could no longer sustain operations.”
In December 2025, CSH closed its speech therapy services due to financial strain, but kept other services open.
The nonprofit’s most recent tax forms show that CSH operated in a $1.3 million deficit in 2024.
The board said that they understand the closure “felt sudden” and and “are deeply sorry for the disruption and uncertainty.”
The voicemail service for the nonprofit still had not been updated to alert callers of the closure on March 2. Over a dozen former patients contacted The Dispatch to say they only learned of the closure through The Dispatch’s reporting.
“We worked to notify clients and others impacted as quickly as possible during this incredibly difficult time. …. it has taken some time to fully unwind the operations of a 103-year-old organization, especially when ensuring patient medical records are protected and handled with care,” the board said in a statement.
Many still had not received calls or emails about the closure when they reached out to The Dispatch.
Business and consumer issues reporter Samantha Hendrickson can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Longtime Ohio nonprofit health center faced eviction as it shuttered
Reporting by Samantha Hendrickson, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
