The following definitions shall apply to this Chapter:
(a) "Agent" means the individual designated by the owner as the person authorized by the owner to perform any duty imposed upon the owner by the terms of this chapter.
(b) "Boarded" means a sheet or sheets of plywood or similar material covering all exterior doors, other than a storm door and all exterior windows in accordance with any rules and regulations issued by the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods under subsection 1767.05(b) of this chapter.
(c) "Dwelling Unit", as defined in this Section, means (1) any residential unit constructed as a single family home and built prior to 1978, and (2) any residential unit constructed as a duplex and built prior to 1978, (3) any residential unit, or other unit modified to be a residential unit consisting of between one and four residential units built prior to 1978. May also be referred to as "rental unit" within this Section.
(d) "Exterior maintenance and major systems" mean the safe and lawful maintenance of the facade, windows, doors, roof, and other parts of the exterior of the building and the maintenance of its major systems consisting of the roof, the electrical and plumbing systems, the water supply system, the sewer system, and the sidewalk, drive-way, if any, area of the lot, as applicable and as enforced by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, Department of Neighborhoods, and the Department of Economic and Business Development particularly in connection with Part Thirteen (Building Code) and Part Seventeen (Health Code) of this section of this code.
(e) "Foreclosure" means the filing of a complaint in a court of competent jurisdiction and obtaining a judgment of foreclosure against a lien on property and the subsequent sale of the property through sheriff's auction which may cause the occupants of the property to vacate.
(f) "Immediate Family" for the purpose of this Chapter includes father, mother, brother, sister, spouse, child, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepmother, stepfather, grandmother, grandfather and grandchild.
(g) "Inspection" means a physical investigation at a property to obtain evidence of occupancy or vacancy and/or to verify compliance with this chapter and any other applicable code or law. Interior inspections are not required. A curbside or "drive-by" property inspection is not sufficient.
(h) "Lead-Safe Certificate" is a certificate issued by the Health Department that indicates that a Residential Rental Property has been certified as lead-safe pursuant to TMC Chapter 1760.
(i) "Occupied" means that one or more persons actually conducts a lawful business or resides in all or any part of the building as the licensed business-occupant, or as the legal or equitable owner/occupant(s) or tenant(s) on a permanent, non-transient basis, or maintains continual natural gas service in all or any part of the building, or any combination of the same. For purposes of this section, evidence offered to prove that a building is so occupied may include, but shall not be limited to, the regular receipt of delivery of regular mail through the U.S. Postal Service; proof of continual gas service; a valid city business license, or the most recent, federal, state, or city income tax statements indicating that the subject residential building is the official business or residence address of the person or business claiming occupancy; or current lease.
(j) "Open". A building shall be deemed to be "open" if any one or more exterior doors other than a storm door is broken, open and/or closed but without a properly functioning lock to secure it, or if one or more windows is broken or not capable of being locked and secured from intrusion, or any combination of the same.
(k) "Owner" means any legal entity or person who has legal title to the Residential Rental Property as shown on the records of the Lucas County Auditor.
(l) "Parcel" means a parcel of real property identified as an individual parcel or tract of land by the Lucas County Auditor, through the Auditor's Real Estate Information System, or otherwise.
(n) "Registrant" means any person who holds legal or equitable title to the building, is a mortgagee, a land installment contract vendee/vendor-in-possession, assignee of rents, receiver, executor, administrator, trustee, lessee, agent, or any other person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust or other business association that is directly or indirectly in control of a building subject to the provisions of this section, and as set forth below including, but not limited to any mortgagee that has filed an action in foreclosure on the particular premises at issue, until title to the premises is transferred to a third party. Under this definition, there may be more than one registrant of a building and any owner as defined under Section 1726.01. "Registrant" does not include the State of Ohio or a political subdivision of the State of Ohio, including, but not limited to, the Lucas County Land Reutilization Corporation, the Lucas County Treasurer or the City of Toledo.
(o) "Residential Building" means any building or structure that has at least one residential unit within it for the purpose of Chapter 1767.
(p) "Residential Rental Property" means a "Dwelling Unit," as defined by this Chapter/Section, or any part of a "Dwelling Unit" being used or occupied, or intended to be used or occupied as a private residence, including attached structures such as porches or stoops, occupied by any person or persons other than the owner and/or members of the Owner's "Immediate Family," as defined by this Chapter/Section, regardless of whether or not the owner occupies another unit in the structure.
(q) "Secure" means maintaining the exterior shell of a vacant and unoccupied structure in a closed condition which prevents the unwarranted entry by the public. Exterior walls, foundations, roof, doors, windows, door and window frames, cornices, siding, masonry, porches, trim, balconies, decks, exterior staircases and accessory structures shall be made whole, covered, closed, locked, blocked, anchored or otherwise put in a physical state of closure which prevents access into, onto or through the structure.
(r) "Unimproved" means that no building or structure is located on a parcel.
(s) "Utilities" include natural gas service, electrical service, and water service for the purpose of Chapter 1767.
(t) "Vacant " means any residential building or structure, as defined in subsection 1767.01(j), in which no person or persons actually conducts a lawfully licensed business or lawfully resides or lives in any part of the building as the legal or equitable owner(s) or tenant-occupant(s) on a permanent, non-transient basis. A structure may be deemed vacant when there is evidence of conditions, taken separately or as a whole, that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the property was vacant, including, but not limited to, evidence of overgrown or dead vegetation, accumulation of newspapers, circulars, flyers, mail, past due utility notices, or other means of notice by publication, the accumulation of junk, litter, trash, or debris, absence of windows or window treatments, absence of furnishings and personal items, statements of neighbors, delivery agents or similarly situated persons that the property is vacant.
(Ord. 396-20. Passed 10-20-20.)