After the effective date of this section, it shall be unlawful for the owner, agent, or person in charge of any multi-family apartment structure or single, duplex, or triplex dwelling unit to rent, lease, or permit to be occupied any dwelling unit within said structure, without a current and valid Rental Dwelling Unit Certificate issued by the Engineering and Building Department for each such dwelling unit.
The owners of real property shall comply with the Ohio Revised Code Section 5323.02., regarding registration of the rental with the County Auditor.
(a) An owner of residential rental property shall file with the County Auditor of the county in which the property is located the following information:
(1) The name, address, and telephone number of the owner;
(2) If the residential rental property is owned by a trust, business trust, estate, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation, or any other business entity, the name, address, and telephone number of the following:
A. A trustee, in the case of a trust or business trust;
B. The executor or administrator, in the case of an estate;
C. A general partner, in the case of a partnership or a limited partnership;
D. A member, manager, or officer, in the case of a limited liability company;
E. An associate, in the case of an association;
F. An officer, in the case of a corporation;
G. A member, manager, or officer, in the case of any other business entity.
(3) The street address and permanent parcel number of the residential rental property;
(4) If the residential rental property has dwelling units that are leased or otherwise rented to tenants, the year the units were built.
(b) The information required under subsection (a) of this section shall be filed and maintained in a manner to be determined by the County Auditor.
An owner of residential rental property shall update the information required under subsection (a) of this section within ten days after any change in the information occurs.
An owner of residential rental property who resides outside the State shall designate, in a manner to be determined by the County Auditor of the county in which the property is located, an individual who resides in the State to serve as the owner’s agent for the acceptance of service of process on behalf of the owner in any legal action or proceeding in the State, unless the owner previously designated and continues to maintain a statutory agent for the service of process with the Secretary of State as a condition of being authorized to engage in business in this State pursuant to another section of the Revised Code.
An owner who designates an agent pursuant to this section shall file in writing with the relevant County Auditor the name, address, and telephone number of the agent. An owner who previously designated and continues to maintain a statutory agent for the service of process with the Secretary of State as a condition of being authorized to engage in business in this State pursuant to another section of the Revised Code shall file in writing with the County Auditor of the county in which the residential rental property is located a certified copy of the document filed with the Secretary of State containing that designation.
All information filed with a County Auditor under this chapter is a public record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
An owner of residential rental property who complies with the requirements of this chapter shall be deemed to be in full compliance with any request by the State or any political subdivision to that owner for information that is identical to the information filed with the County Auditor under this chapter. (Ord. 07-0-92. Passed 10-16-07.)