City of Cincinnati Housing Providers: Take Heed
City of Cincinnati Has Rules That You Need to Know by James Flax, Esq.
In addition to the normal rules governing landlord tenant relations in Ohio, the City of Cincinnati has its own rules—and you need to know them before you decide to expend your time and hard-earned money providing rental housing in the City, rather than in one of the other 52 adjacent cities and townships in our area.
Because I have made poor choices in my life such as going to Law School and passing the Bar exam, it is my fate to read such great literature as Chapter 871 of the Cincinnati Code of Ordinances. To spare you the same fate I am going to try to pull out the things you need to know, and explain them.
Chapter 871 is not well drafted. It contains numerous ambiguities and poorly defined terms. This is not really all that rare in the law, but it does open the door to ugly outcomes. When a law is unclear, or can be interpreted in multiple ways it becomes very difficult to comply. You can find yourself in trouble without ever meaning to break the rules.
So, with that lawyer grumbling out of the way let’s start our examination of the Cincinnati law. Section 871-8 of the City code sets out rules for entering an occupied unit, and the punishments for violating those rules. The rules are basically the same as the default State rules, but the punishments are different in the City of Cincinnati.
Your tenants have the right to quiet enjoyment, which means that unless there is an emergency situation you have to give the tenant notice before you enter their home. Twenty-four hour notice is presumed to be reasonable unless there is evidence that it is unreasonable in a specific case.
So what would make 24 hour notice unreasonable?
Well, one example would be a situation where the tenant responds to your 24 hour notice by asking that you reschedule because the tenant has a party planned that your visit will disrupt. Remember, even though you have ownership of the unit, you have traded possession of that unit to the tenant in exchange for rent, and possession is the right to occupy and use the property. Another example would be a situation where the tenant asks that workmen come later in the day because the tenant’s teenaged daughter will be home alone at the requested time.
So what are the penalties? In Cincinnati, if a landlord makes an illegal entry (entry without notice other than in an emergency), or makes legal entry in an unreasonable manner (this is not defined, which is a potential issue), or makes repeated demands for otherwise legal entry that have the effect of harassing the tenant, that landlord can be ordered to pay any actual damages resulting from the illegal entry, or at the tenant’s option presumed damages of at least $100 and up to $1000, the landlord can also be hit with an injunction not to illegally enter again, can be ordered to pay attorney’s fees, and the lease can be terminated.
The next section 871-9 is where most of the really bad rules are found. In this section the City of Cincinnati imposes the new Security Deposit alternatives, drastically changes the law governing and defining retaliatory evictions, and eliminates the landlord’s right to refuse late rent.
First the Security Deposit rules, if a landlord owns and controls more than 25 rental units, they have to provide one of three alternatives to a traditional security deposit:
- Rental security insurance that satisfies the following:
- (i) The insurance provider is an approved carrier licensed by, and in good standing with, the Ohio Department of Insurance; (ii) The coverage is effective upon the payment of the first premium and remains effective for the entire lease term; and (iii) The coverage provided per claim is no less than the amount the landlord requires for security deposits.
- Payment of the security deposit over at least six equal monthly installments with the monthly rent
- A reduced security deposit of no more than ½ the monthly rent amount
If you own and control 26 units you have to offer one of those three choices, not all three. This part of the law has been discussed by others at length and I will move on without further comment.
The changes to retaliatory eviction rules are very bad. Frankly, having read them I would be absolutely unwilling to own rental property in Cincinnati. Basically what the city has done is give nightmare tenants a get out of eviction free card, as well as putting in a restriction on rent increases. The rent increase language is not at all clear but basically what it says is that if a tenant does any of the three things listed below the landlord is prohibited from raising the rent above the rent charged for comparable units, or otherwise increasing the tenant’s obligations. What constitutes a comparable unit is not defined.
If a tenant:
- Complains in good faith to the landlord about conditions the tenant believes may violate ANY building, fire, health or other code, or
Complains in good faith to any official enforcement agency about such conditions, or
In response to such a complaint by a tenant an official enforcement agency issues a notice, or complaint of a violation
ANY eviction within 6 months is presumed to be retaliatory, and the landlord can only get the property back if they prove one of four things:
- The tenant is committing waste, creating a nuisance, using the rental unit for an illegal purpose or for other than living or dwelling purposes, or substantially impairing the quiet enjoyment of the property by the other occupants of the property.
If you have ever tried to evict a tenant for drug activity or for disturbing the other tenants, or for running a business in the unit, you know that this one is very hard to do. Unless there is a police report, or the neighbors are willing to come testify you have no way of proving any of this.
- The landlord desires possession of the rental unit for immediate use as landlord's own abode
- The rental unit must be vacated in order to make necessary repairs
- The landlord plans permanently to remove the rental unit from the rental market.
2-4 drastically limit Landlord wants possession evictions. They effectively mean that your tenant can perpetually extend an expired lease by phoning in complaints, and even though the lease is up, you have to let them stay unless you want to move into the unit yourself, or the unit is so bad it has to be taken out of service for repairs, or you have had enough of Cincinnati and are giving up on rentals entirely.
I suspect that last solution will become more and more popular. Then the City will hold hearings about why there are no affordable rentals. Hmm, I wonder why?
Notice that eviction for non-payment of rent is NOT listed among the possibilities for overcoming the presumption that your eviction is retaliatory.
I don’t think this was intentional, just very bad drafting, because they slip non-payment in the next paragraph. The next paragraph states that this rule doesn’t alter any of the other tenant obligations or rules found in your lease. So those rules and obligations are still there! You can’t enforce those rules or obligations by evicting the tenant, but the rules remain, for whatever that is worth. The non-payment eviction slips back in here when they specify which rules can be enforced by eviction and reference the provision of the code requiring tenants to pay rent. So don’t panic you are probably still allowed to evict non-paying tenants.
Well, you sort of can evict non-paying tenants. The last big issue in this section is that the city denies you the right to refuse late rent. The rule gives tenants the right to pay in cash, or offer a voucher from any “accredited social service, nonprofit, governmental, or quasi-governmental agency that guarantees the payment of any and all past due rent, reasonable late fees, court costs, and, where applicable, reasonable attorney's fees” at any time up to and including at the eviction hearing in court. If the tenant does this you cannot evict them. Not even if they do it every month.
The final real difference between Cincinnati rules and elsewhere in Ohio is that the city has created a notice form that you must give tenants before move in.
The notice form has a section in which you must add your, or your agent’s, contact information, and it also has specific typeface requirements. I have attached a compliant copy to this article.
One final note, the city code requires you to provide tenants with a written copy of any rules you expect them to abide by. If this is not already part of your lease it should be given to the tenant at the same time as the city notice form. I would strongly advise adding signature lines to both these notices and keeping signed copies in your files.
[this form has to be printed in specific font sizes that can’t be replicated in this format. A correctly formatted version (along with over a dozen legal forms from purchase agreements to leases to land contracts and mortgages) is available under members only resources contract pack
NOTICE TO TENANTS
The following notice is required by the Cincinnati Municipal Code:
TENANT'S DUTIES
Each tenant shall comply with all duties imposed upon tenants by the applicable provisions of
all municipal codes, regulations and ordinances, and in particular:
1. Keep that part of the premises which tenant occupies and uses safe and sanitary.
2. Dispose of all rubbish, garbage, and other waste in a clean, safe, and sanitary manner.
3. Keep all plumbing fixtures in the dwelling unit or used by tenants as clean as their condition
permits.
4. Use and operate all electrical and plumbing fixtures properly.
5. Personally refrain, and forbid any other person who is on the premises with tenant's
permission, from intentionally or negligently destroying, defacing, damaging, or removing any
fixture, appliance, or other part of the premises.
6. Maintain in good working order and condition any range, refrigerator, washer, dryer,
dishwasher, or other appliances supplied by the landlord and required to be maintained by the
tenant under the terms and conditions of a written rental agreement.
7. Conduct himself or herself and require other persons on the premises with tenant's consent
to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of the
premises.
8. Upon reasonable notice and at reasonable times give consent for the landlord to enter into
the dwelling unit in order to inspect the premises, make ordinary, necessary or agreed repairs,
decorations, alterations, improvements, deliver parcels which are too large for the tenant's mail
facilities, supply necessary or agreed services, or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or
actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workmen, or contractors.
9. Inform the landlord, or landlord's agents, within a reasonable time, of any conditions,
whether caused by the tenant or due to normal use of the premises, which should be corrected
in order to preserve the condition of the rented premises.
Any tenant who creates a condition which constitutes a violation of the standards established
by the Cincinnati - Ohio Basic Building Code may be punished for a violation in accordance
with the penalty provisions of the Cincinnati - Ohio Basic Building Code, if the tenant fails to
remedy the condition within a reasonable time after he receives notice of such violation from
the Department of Buildings and Inspections or fire division or the board of health.
LANDLORD'S DUTIES
Each owner or landlord of residential property shall comply with all duties imposed upon
owners or landlords by the applicable provisions of all municipal codes, regulations, or
ordinances governing the maintenance, construction, use or appearance of the dwelling unit
and the property of which it is a part, and in particular:
1. Keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and sanitary condition.
2. Make all repairs necessary to put and keep the dwelling unit and the appurtenances thereto
in a fit and habitable condition and in compliance with the Cincinnati - Ohio Basic Building
Code, Cincinnati Fire Prevention Code, and the regulations of the board of health.
3. Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary,
heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or
required to be supplied by landlord.
4. Dispose of all garbage and rubbish in accordance with the provisions of Section 00053-7 of
the regulations of the board of health.
5. Exterminate any insects, rodents, or other pests on the premises.
6. Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times,
except when the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped
for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an
installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility
connection.
7. Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, give the tenant reasonable
notice of landlord's intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is
presumed to be a reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
8. [LANDLORDS WHO OWN AND CONTROL MORE THAN TWENTY-FIVE RENTAL
UNITS SHALL ALSO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE IN THEIR NOTICES:]
If a security deposit is required, Tenant has the right to request and Landlord is required to
accept one of the following three alternatives: a) rental security insurance; b) a deposit paid
over no less than six equal monthly installments; or c) a one-time reduced security deposit
payment of no more than fifty percent of the monthly rental rate charged for the rental unit.
Tenant shall not be required to provide rental security insurance coverage per claim in an
amount greater than the amount required for security deposits.
IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS BUILDING OR ANY PORTION OF IT IS
NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE CINCINNATI - OHIO BASIC
BUILDING CODE, CINCINNATI FIRE PREVENTION CODE, AND THE
REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH, NOTIFY YOUR
LANDLORD OR LANDLORD'S AGENT:
NAME [INSERT NAME]
ADDRESS [INSERT ADDRESS]
TELEPHONE [INSERT TELEPHONE]
TAKE A WITNESS OR NOTIFY THE LANDLORD OR LANDLORD'S
AGENT IN WRITING AND KEEP A COPY. YOU MAY NEED
EVIDENCE OF YOUR COMPLAINT. IF YOU AND YOUR LANDLORD
CANNOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM, YOU SHOULD NOTIFY THE
CINCINNATI DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS AND
INSPECTION, 801 PLUM STREET, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202,
TELEPHONE 352-3275, THE CINCINNATI FIRE DIVISION, 430
CENTRAL AVENUE, CINCINNATI, OHIO, TELEPHONE 241-6700, OR
THE CINCINNATI BOARD OF HEALTH, 3101 BURNET AVENUE,
CINCINNATI, OHIO, TELEPHONE 352-3100. YOUR RIGHT TO DO SO
IS PROTECTED BY LAW.
IF YOU HAVE FULFILLED YOUR DUTIES AS A TENANT, AND YOUR
LANDLORD HAS NOT FULFILLED HIS DUTIES AS A LANDLORD,
YOU MAY, IN SOME CASES, HAVE YOUR RENT USED TO MAKE
REPAIRS OR YOU MAY BE ABLE TO APPLY TO A COURT OF LAW
FOR A DECREASE IN YOUR RENT. FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AS A TENANT CONTACT THE BETTER
HOUSING LEAGUE, 2400 READING ROAD, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202,
TELEPHONE 721-6855