Old Business
Motion to approve February minutes – Mary Ann, 2nd Joe
Treasurer’s Report: $4,235.32 currently in the bank
We have a Facebook page, website, and wifi at the building now.
New Business
At our last meeting, Warren Mendenhall spoke regarding legalities such as charter government, initiatives, and referendums.
The city is not backing down. They proposed a Strategic Plan, and Tom and Kurt Bishop worked with the city to get some of the issues removed. The issues are resurfacing, however. The city is still pursuing land banks through the board of realtors, among other things. We are the only business that got attacked in the Strategic Plan.
The only option to really fight this is to implement initiatives. We need to have a plan for creating these initiatives to stop the city from passing laws that affect our business as landlords. Initiatives require the city to put issues on the ballot and let the community decide. The power goes back to the people.
We need a committee of 3-4 people to come up with ideas for initiatives that reflect our highest priorities as landlords. Tom Quarrie volunteered, Kurt Bishop said maybe, Katie Erickson will help with the writing.
Have we thought about doing self-policing? We have to follow landlord-tenant law, and we have a building & maintenance code that the city passed in 2015. It’s primarily life safety codes. (question raised by Dan Shaeffer from Economic Development)
There is a top-down issue that we’re facing as well as fighting from the bottom up. Get awareness of the voting population to control from the top down.
The city is still pushing the Catalytic Plan – building 300 low-income housing units and a multi-million-dollar soccer field just north of the bridge along Main St. They want land banks because some people refuse to sell. This is the Tony Iriti vision plan from many years ago. There is a developer, but we don’t know who that is.
Land banks are similar to eminent domain but worse. They can seize distressed properties without going through the foreclosure process. The property is then moved to a 3rd party non-government entity that can sell it to whoever they want. In eminent domain, they have to give fair market value. In a land bank, they don’t have to pay fair market value. In 2008-09, 22.5% of properties sold were foreclosures. That didn’t justify land banks at that time. A land bank expert couldn’t find enough blighted properties back then. A survey was done of 35 counties, and 95% of the comments were that given the opportunity, they would never do land banks again. Land banks are quasi-government entities with a lot of power and very minimal accountability. They are not economically feasible.
Tom Ross did some research, and more than 50% of counties in Ohio have land banks. About 40% of those counties are in lawsuits for abuse of power. Land banks started out as reasonable, but then the power got abused. There’s supposed to be regulation, but that doesn’t necessarily happen. Land banks were supposed to sunset after the housing depression of 2008-2010, but they stuck around.
Mary Ann: Recently at an eviction, an electric shutoff notice was found in January. Can they shut off the electricity in January? She didn’t receive notice as the landlord. If there’s a rolling agreement (defaults to the landlord’s name), you should get notice.
Gas company – you have to renew each year with the gas company.
One of the reasons Findlay wants to do annexation is to get over 50k to qualify for some grants.
If we’re over 50k, a land bank could be run by the city rather than the county.
Motion to adjourn: Tom Miller, 2nd Kurt Bishop
Guest Speaker: Attorney Robert Feighner
Rob has been a friend of FAAA for many years. Works for Hackenberg, Feighner & Werth law firm. He is one of just a few attorneys in the area who handles mobile home parks.
Landlord-tenant law is statutory; there are ways it has to be done. If you know what you’re doing, there’s no need for an attorney.
The most important thing for evictions is the 3-day notice. If it’s wrong, you’re out. Court has to stop if the 3-day notice is wrong. Bob has provided a few copies, which will be posted for our members. The language that’s bold has to be conspicuous.
You don’t have to put grounds in an eviction notice, but you can, especially if it’s non-payment of rent. If you suspect drug usage, you just need a reasonable belief. They generally don’t want to come to court to defend that.
If you put the wrong date on the form, it can be thrown out. The first day doesn’t count, the last day does. If you serve on Friday, Wednesday is the last day; Thursday you file. We don’t put dates, we put “3 days after service” to avoid confusion.
Courts are different; some are more pro-tenant, and some are more pro-landlord.
Act quickly when the tenant stops paying rent! Why wait for months?
You don’t have to try and contact the tenants after they don’t pay rent, but most landlords do.
Most cases have one cause of action, just trying to get the property back ($100 filing fee in Findlay, $150 in Fostoria). If you file for back rent, damages, etc. it’s generally a lot more expensive and you almost never see it.
Landlords will always be highly regulated. If you want a book, buy Ohio Landlord Tenant Law (Baldwin’s Ohio Handbook Series), updated every year.
If you screw something up, you’ll potentially have another month without rent. It’s generally more worthwhile to hire an attorney for a few hundred dollars and get it taken care of properly. If nothing else, it’s a second set of eyes to review your documents.
If you use an attorney, use the same one to get to know one another for better service.
Findlay Municipal Court is doing evictions every Monday at 8:30am and 10:30am, around 5 in each slot. The set-out date is Thursdays. Hearing is Monday, and the bailiff will show up a few days later on Thursday. You’ll get the bailiff’s contact info so that you can contact them if the tenant moves out prior to the set-out.
The bailiff will remove the people and keep the peace while you remove their belongings from the home. The belongings can be set out on the curb, and the people have to leave the property.
What about accepting past rent? Case law says you can accept past rent but you can still evict them if they still owe more. Just don’t accept money going forward or else you can’t evict them.
If you serve a 3-day but aren’t sure if they left, what do you do? If it’s pretty certain that they left, just go in and re-take possession. If their belongings are still somewhat there, it’s case-by-case. If it looks like they’re out (utilities are off, small stuff is gone, doors not locked, no food in fridge, etc.), secure the property and it’s yours. If they come back and complain, they can fight it in court.
Pictures are worth 1000 words! Take pics of what you see left behind before you get rid of it. If there are items left behind, what do you do? Write a letter and post it on the door of the house (in case they come back) and mail it to the last known address (likely your property). Note what was found and instruct them to contact you within a certain time frame to arrange to get it back or else you’ll sell, donate, etc.
If you modify the lease, just do a new lease rather than make all sorts of changes to one. A lease doesn’t need to have tons of detail, just the important things.
Always be prepared for a bad tenant with a paper trail, even if they seem to be good. Document everything with photos, receipts, communication records, etc.
Service Animals
Rob is providing a printout for this. There is a process set up for how a tenant can request a service animal and how a landlord deals with that. Landlords must make reasonable accommodations for those animals. The person must prove to you that they have a disability (letter from a doctor for example), and the animal has to be proven to be trained to be their assistant.
Here are the highlights from the document (which will be shared with our group):
- You can’t deny somebody for a service animal if there is a legitimate disability.
- HUD and ADA don’t address emotional support, the Fair Housing Act does.
- This applies to all housing providers – including us.
- Service animals are not pets; they are property/tools.
- You cannot charge a deposit or set special rules. The tenant is still liable for damages.
- 60% of FHA complains involve denials of service animals, under a discrimination charge.
- There must be proof that the animal is trained.
- You can ignore fly-by-night website certifications; it must be legitimate.
- No deposits, fees, or surcharges for service animals.
- If your insurance says that breed is not allowed, you cannot violate that. That’s why it’s “reasonable accommodations.”
The abuse comes with emotional support dogs, cats, etc. One way to eliminate this problem (from Kurt Bishop) is to provide a form that the doctor must fill out. The document provides questions that we should ask regarding this issue.
If a service animal is discovered after the lease is signed and that violates the lease, they can be evicted.
If it’s a type of animal to cause damage to the property or it becomes a threat to neighbors, then you can deny the animal. That’s addressed in the document.
You are not required to change the style of the home to accommodate a service animal.
The document outlines the proper way to ask questions of the tenants regarding service animals.
Tenants can file a complaint if you do the process incorrectly, whether legitimate or not.
The tenant has to prove to the landlord that the animal has been trained and certified to help with their disability. Documentation is required both for the person’s disability and for the animal’s training.
All working service animals are licensed by the state of Ohio. You can ask for its state registration and state license. Emotional support animals are a prescription given by a doctor that says the person can benefit from this companion. That animal does not have to be trained. But the animal has to provide a service. The animal must be with the owner wherever they go. Dogs cannot be left outside alone for periods of time because they would be separated from their people.
The prescription for emotional support animals should be from an actual doctor. You can search that doctor’s name and practice on the state of Ohio’s medical board.
If the animal causes damage, the tenant is responsible for that damage and the lease could be terminated.
There are still a lot of gray areas on this issue, and that won’t get any better. You can simply terminate the lease if there’s an issue.
Question: Can a trustee evict on behalf of a trust? Yes, but you may need a lawyer.
Question: What about accommodating disabilities? If the tenant needs it, they pay for it, but you must allow it.
Question: How long do you leave someone’s materials on the curb after eviction? 7 days should be the max. You can write a letter to inform them.
Comment: Scott Basinger is the collections attorney. Most take 1/4 or 1/3. Not a lot of attorneys do collections anymore.
- Remember to pay your 2023 dues! These can be done via cash, check, or PayPal by creating an account on our website FindlayAreaRentals.org. Dues can be mailed to us at PO Box 221, Findlay, OH 45839. See interim treasurer Katie Erickson for any questions on that.
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