By Samantha Ready
On February 6, 2024, the City of Cleveland passed a new group of local housing laws called “Residents First.” These new rules are meant to help protect tenants from poor landlord practices. Many renters in Cleveland face conditions issues in their rental units like lead exposure, pest infestations, water damage, and mold. These issues are difficult for renters to address with their landlords directly. The goal of the Residents First policies is to address these problems before they become serious issues for renters and landlords.
A key section of Residents First is a new requirement for landlords who live outside of Cuyahoga County to identify a Local Agent in Charge (LAIC) who lives in the County. Both the LAIC and the owner of the rental property are legally responsible for keeping the property in good condition. The City may also issue citations and fines to the LAIC in addition to the owner. With more out-of-state investors buying rental properties in Cleveland, the goal of this LAIC requirement is to ensure there is a person in the Cleveland area who can take care of problems at the rental property.
A second part of the Residents First package added requirements before a landlord can register a unit for rental in Cleveland. Before Residents First, Cleveland already required landlords to register rental units with the City before renting them out. But, landlords only had to provide their name and contact information and pay a small fee to register. Under Residents First, a landlord must now also provide proof the unit was inspected for lead hazards and have removed or controlled any lead hazards found if the unit was built before 1978 (the year lead paint was banned in the U.S.). They must also prove that they are up to date on their property taxes for the unit and have addressed any previous housing code violations.
Landlords who own four or more rental units have additional requirements before they can register their units. These include inspecting the units’ heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems to ensure they are in working condition and being up to date on all owner- paid utilities.
Under Residents First, the City will issue civil tickets and fines for landlords who do not follow these new requirements or who do not properly maintain and manage their rental property. Civil tickets can include violations of different City codes (Building & Housing, Zoning, Fire, Health, Public Works). The City can also issue tickets and fines for less serious “nuisance” issues if the landlord does not address them quickly after learning of them, such as pest infestation, exterior wall and roof maintenance, broken smoke detectors and alarm systems, and improper garbage disposal. Before Residents First, the City had to take a landlord to court to issue a criminal ticket or fine, but now it can do so more quickly, because it can issue a civil ticket without a court hearing. Other benefits of Residents First include:
- Owners of vacant buildings must register those properties with the City, have them inspected for safety, and pay a cash bond for the City to hold while the owner completes repairs if the property has code violations.
- Parking garage owners must have their buildings inspected every five years for safety and must obtain a Parking Garage Certificate from the City before a garage can open.
Ultimately, Residents First helps both renters and landlords. For more information about the new requirements, please visit:
clevelandohio.gov/residents/codes-ordinances/residents-first
This article was published in Legal Aid's newsletter, "The Alert" Volume 40, Issue 1, in Fall 2024. See full issue at this link: “The Alert”- Volume 40, Issue 1.