367.01 General Enforcement
367.02 Inspections
367.03 Right of Entry
367.04 Notice of Violation
367.05 Noncompliance with Notice; Vacation of Premises; Board and Demolition of Premises
367.06 Cases of Emergency; Immediate Vacation of Premises
367.07 Placards Posted by the Department of Building and Housing and the Division of Fire
367.08 Recovery of Expenses and Costs
367.09 Right of Appeal
367.10 Rules and Regulations
367.11 Misrepresentation of Legal Occupancy
367.111 Definitions
367.12 Certificate of Disclosure for Real Property and Notice of Violation; Fee
367.13 Disbursal of Funds from Escrow Agent
367.131 Prohibiting Corporations from Owning or Transferring Real Property Without Registering with the Ohio Secretary of State
367.14 Other Legal Action
367.15 Fees For Record Search and Document Preparation
367.99 Penalty
The Commissioner of Housing is hereby authorized to make or cause to be made inspections of all structures or premises used for dwelling purposes to determine whether such structures or premises conform to the provisions of this Housing Code, and to the provisions of the Zoning Code.
(Ord. No. 2409-59. Passed 4-4-60, eff. 4-6-60)
(a) Upon presentation of proper credentials, the Director of Building and Housing and his or her duly authorized agents or inspectors; the Director of Public Health and his or her duly authorized agents or inspectors; or the Fire Chief or his or her duly authorized agents or inspectors may enter at reasonable times, or at such other times as may be necessary in an emergency, any dwelling, building, structure or premises in the City to perform any duty imposed on him or her by this Housing Code, the Fire Code, or the Health Code.
(b) The Director of Building and Housing or Fire Chief or Director of Public Health, or their representatives, when seeking to gain entry to a dwelling, building or structure, shall consider, before seeking a search warrant, the advisability of first seeking the consent of the occupants where a dwelling, building or structure is occupied, or first seeking the consent of the owner or person in control of the property where a dwelling, building or structure is not occupied, with the Directors and Fire Chief presuming that, in most circumstances, it is advisable to make a good faith effort to seek the consent of occupants of a dwelling, building or structure or the consent of the owner or person in control of a dwelling, building or structure that is not occupied. The Directors or Fire Chief may, as part of that good faith effort, knock and request the right to enter, and, if there is no answer, may leave a written notice indicating that consent is being sought.
(c) The Directors and Fire Chief may, in the case of a dwelling, building, or structure that is not occupied, seek the consent of the owner or person in control by attempting to contact the owner by telephone, email, or certified or regular mail. The sources of information used to attempt contact by telephone, email, or certified or regular mail, may include:
(1) Information the owner provided to the City, such as rental registration information or the address used on an appeal or an application; or
(2) Information that a City representative, such as an inspector, has discovered during the performance of his or her duties; or
(3) Information from common and readily available sources such as printed or online directories, utility records, credit bureaus, county property records, board of election records, motor vehicle records, court records or other state, county, municipal or federal records.
(d) The Directors or Fire Chief shall not be required, as part of a good faith effort to seek consent, to use all of these methods and shall not be not required to use any particular one of them; the good faith obligation shall be to use whatever combination of them the Directors or Fire Chief judge to be reasonably likely to be successful, with the Directors or Fire Chief having the discretion to decide when to stop continuing to seek consent when it appears that continued efforts are not reasonably likely to be successful. As part of that consideration, the Directors or Fire Chief may consider the likelihood of obtaining consent when the information examined as part of the good faith effort to seek consent indicates that the owner is deceased, such likelihood depending on factors such as the existence of an executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate or the existence of a surviving spouse or other potential heir or legatee who has indicated that they are seeking to obtain ownership of the dwelling, building or structure or that they are asserting control over it.
(e) The Director of Building and Housing or Fire Chief or Director of Public Health may seek a search warrant to enter, observe and inspect a dwelling, building, or structure, or to allow their duly authorized agents or inspectors to enter, observe and inspect a dwelling, building or structure. Nothing in this section shall limit, or enlarge, the City’s legal right to seek a search warrant under state and federal law based on probable cause or a valid administrative program supporting requests for administrative search warrants based on the criteria necessary to support such administrative warrants, subject to review by a judge of a court authorized to issue the warrants and to the rights of persons under the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions. Nothing in this section shall limit or enlarge the rights of persons under the Ohio or U.S. Constitutions to be free from searches made without a warrant.
(f) No person shall in any way obstruct, hinder, delay or otherwise interfere with such entrance under this section.
(Ord. No. 1039-2023. Passed 2-5-24, eff. 2-6-24)
(a) Whenever the Director of Building and Housing shall find any dwelling structure or premises, or any part thereof, to be in violation of the provisions of this Housing Code, he or she shall provide to the owner or agent or person in charge of such structure or premises, and the mortgagee of record, a written notice stating the violations therein. Such notice shall order the owner within a stated reasonable time to repair, improve, demolish or effectively board the structure or premises concerned.
(b) A notice of violation under Section 367.04(a) shall be served by one (1) or more of the following methods:
(1) Personal service. The City department issuing the notice may use any method that causes the Notice of Violations to be actually delivered to the responsible party. Actual delivery shall constitute legal service of the Notice of Violations;
(2) Residence service at the owner’s address by leaving a copy of the notice of violation with a person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein;
(3) Certified mail to an address where it is reasonably calculated under the circumstances to reach the owner. When determining such an address, the City shall examine:
A. Information the responsible party provided to the City, such as rental registration information or the address used on an appeal or an application; or
B. Information that a City representative, such as an inspector, has discovered during the performance of their duties; or
C. Information from common and readily available sources such as printed or online directories, credit bureaus, county property records, board of election records, motor vehicle records, court records or other state, county, municipal or federal records.
The City is not required to use all of the sources described in division (b)(3) and is not required to use any one of them; the City must use whatever combination of them is reasonably expected to be successful. The address found can be the property or premises which is the subject of the violation.
(4) Regular mail and posting as follows:
A. Regular mail to the owner at an address found under division (b)(3) above, which may be the address of the property that is the subject of the violation; and
B. Regular mail service to the property address that is the subject of the violation notice if the address is different from the address in division (b)(4)A.; and
C. Posting of the notice of violation in a conspicuous location on the building, premises or real estate or appurtenance thereto that is the subject of the violation notice.
(5) Service by publication electronically or once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
(c) Any owner, agent or person in charge of such dwelling structure, mortgagee of record, lessee of record and lien holders of record who have received a notice of violation as provided for in division (a) of this section, or who receive a notice of the City’s intention to demolish or effectively board as provided for in division (c) of Section 367.05, shall inform prospective purchasers, vendees, grantees, assignees, sublessees or land contractees thereof of any such notice of violation or notice of the City’s intention to demolish or effectively board. No owner or agent or person in charge of such dwelling structure, mortgagee of record, lessee of record or lien holders of record shall transfer to a vendee, grantee, assignee, sublessee or land contractee or any other transferee any interest in such dwelling structure after receiving a notice of violation, or notice of the City’s intention to demolish or effectively board without first providing the transferee with a copy of such notice.
(d) Any buyer or grantee, by land contract or otherwise, of a dwelling building or structure, with the exception of those properties required to be registered under Chapter 3106, shall begin at the date of transfer to comply with any notice obtained or to be obtained pursuant to Section 367.12, and within ten (10) days of the date of transfer, shall notify the Director, in writing, of the actions that will be taken to comply. The Director may then establish a reasonable time to comply. If the grantee fails to provide a written plan, or to comply with the notice, within ten days, the grantee shall be in violation of Section 3103.25(e). If the Director considers the written plan to be acceptable, he or she shall notify the grantee and the grantee shall be bound by the written plan as an extension of time under the notice and shall be in violation of Section 3103.25(e) if the violations are not corrected by the time set forth in the written plan. If the Director considers the written plan to be unacceptable, he or she shall issue to the grantee a notice with dates for compliance.
(Ord. No. 1039-2023. Passed 2-5-24, eff. 2-6-24)
(a) No person shall fail to comply with any provision of this Housing Code or fail to comply with any lawful order issued under this Housing Code.
(b) Whenever the owner, agent or person in charge of a dwelling structure or premises fails, neglects or refuses to comply with a notice of the Director of Building and Housing, the Director may issue a notice ordering the structure or premises concerned to be vacated, or he or she may advise the Director of Law of the circumstances and request the Director of Law to institute an appropriate action of law to compel a compliance, or both.
(c) Whenever the owner or agent or person in charge of a dwelling structure or premises fails, neglects or refuses to comply with a notice to vacate issued by the Director, the Director may request the Director of Public Safety to enforce the orders of such notice of vacation and cause the structure to be vacated in accordance with the terms of such notice.
(d) Whenever the Director has made the determination that a dwelling structure or premises constitutes a public nuisance in that the structure or premises is injurious to the public health, safety and welfare, and the owner, agent or person in charge of such structure fails, neglects or refuses to comply with a notice of violation ordering such structure to be demolished or boarded, or the violations corrected, the Director may take necessary action to demolish or effectively board such structure in accordance with the procedure and requirements set forth in Section 3103.09 or take such other action as may be necessary to abate the nuisance. The Director shall give written notice in conformance with the procedures set forth in division (h)(6) of Section 3103.09 for the service of notice of violation informing the owner or agent, mortgagee of record, lessee of record or lien holder of record of the City's intention to demolish or effectively board such structure at least thirty (30) days prior to such intended action by the City.
(Ord. No. 1039-2023. Passed 2-5-24, eff. 2-6-24)
Whenever, in the opinion of the Commissioner of Building and Housing, the condition of dwelling structure or premises constitutes an immediate hazard to human life or health, he or she shall declare a case of emergency and shall order immediate vacation of the dwelling structure or premises concerned.
He or she may request the Director of Public Safety to enforce the orders he or she gives that are necessary to cause the structure to be vacated in accordance with the terms of the notice. The Director of Public Safety has the authority to enforce such orders.
(Ord. No. 54-94. Passed 6-6-94, eff. 6-15-94)
Note: This section became effective 90 days after passage on September 5, 1994.
(a) Whenever the Director of Building and Housing orders a dwelling structure or premises to be vacated or condemned under these Codified Ordinances, he or she shall cause to be posted at each entrance to the structure or premises a placard which may state. “THIS BUILDING IS IN A DANGEROUS CONDITION AND HAS BEEN CONDEMNED AND ITS USE HAS BEEN PROHIBITED BY THE DIRECTOR OF BUILDING AND HOUSING.”
(b) Whenever the Fire Chief finds a vacant dwelling structure or premises to be declared condemned or it is found to be unsafe under the provisions authority, and procedures of any of these Codified Ordinances he or she may cause to be posted placards on the front of the structure or premises which comply with the following placarding requirements:
(1) Placard Location. Placards shall be applied on the front of the structure and be visible from the street. Additional placards may be applied to the side of each entrance to the structure and on penthouses.
(2) Placard Size and Color. Placards shall be twenty-four (24) inches by twenty-four (24) inches (six hundred ten (610) mm by six hundred ten (610) mm) in size with a red background, white reflective stripes and a white reflective border. The stripes and border shall have a two (2) inch (fifty-one (51) mm) stroke.
(3) Placard Date. Placards shall bear the date of their application to the building and the date of the most recent inspection.
(4) Placard Symbols. The design of the placards shall use symbols designated by the Fire Chief or his or her designee to indicate each of the following:
A. That the structure had normal structural conditions at the time of marking;
B. That the structural or interior hazards exist and interior fire-fighting or rescue operations should be conducted with extreme caution;
C. That structural or interior hazard exist to a degree that consideration should be given to limit fire fighting to exterior operations only, with entry only occurring for known life hazards.
(5) Additional detail may be posted on the placard if determined necessary by the Fire Chief.
(6) Informational Use. The use of these symbols and any additional detail shall be informational only and shall not in any way limit the discretion of the Fire Chief or his or her on-scene Officer in Charge.
(c) No person shall enter or use any structure or premises which have been placarded under this section except for the purpose of making the required repairs or demolishing the structure or premises.
(d) No person shall deface or remove any placard posted under this section until written permission is given by the Director of Building and Housing or the Fire Chief, whoever posted the placard, that the repairs have been completed or demolition is complete or the building is safe.
(Ord. No. 1075-09. Passed 8-5-09, eff. 8-13-09)
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