Business meeting:
Approve the May minutes: 1st Tom, 2nd Russell
Treasurer’s report:
- The current balance in our account is $774.86.
- We paid for the rental of the Elks through 2025, but we’ll soon need to address paying for 2026.
- No outstanding expenses or income that I’m aware of right now.
- Members can start paying their 2026 dues anytime.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Jim Staschiak: If anyone is interested in being an officer, let him know. We are proposing to possibly have the same slate of officers for next year.
Tom Miller: Come to Tuesday lunch next week, and he will have a new update.
The November meeting will be on Veterans Day, November 11.
Motion to adjourn: 1st Mary Ann, 2nd Sue
Idea of getting someone in to speak on cybersecurity, perhaps a banker with that expertise. Does anyone have the name of someone who does that, who could educate our group? Even things like antivirus and such.
Jim Staschiak:
The city has tried to propose a property maintenance code many times. There was a compromise in the 1990s to have a police officer who handles enforcement. The city’s previous law director criminalized these rules, meaning that if a landlord may incriminate themselves if they tried to get the city to enforce the rules.
Our group has always remained vigilant regarding these matters. Jim Staschiak sets the financial rules, but the law director sets the full legal parameters. The law director is given a lot of authority – his opinion is law until a judge changes it. He is probably one of the most powerful elected officials in the city.
Guest Speaker: Rob Feighner, City Law Director
He was born and raised in Findlay and had a private law practice here for many years. He was appointed as law director in January 2025, and he is running uncontested this November. An associate took over his law practice, inheriting his clients.
He talked to Judge Bishop and Judge Hackenberg regarding any issues they see in the municipal court.
The 3-day notice is one of the most important documents in an eviction situation. The sample handout is the one that Mr. Feighner uses. Grounds are not required on the 3-day notice, but he usually includes them. This is the first document that lets the tenant know you’re starting to proceed with an eviction. The most important part is the bold type. You post this on their door, don’t mail it. It’s a good idea to take a picture of it too.
The biggest issue the judges see is that you must give the tenants a full 72 hours. You can count holidays in that, but you can’t count Sundays. If I post a 3-day on a Monday, the earliest I can file is Friday. That makes sure you get the full 72 hours in. If I post it on a Friday, the earliest to file is Wednesday. This will work with any judge in the area.
Check to see if the tenants are actually out before you pay the filing fee. You have the right to check your own property.
Writ of Restitution Enforcement: You can indicate whether you want to schedule a set-out date or not. Cases are handled on Mondays, and set-outs are on Thursdays. Check if the tenant is gone or not before the bailiff shows up. Reach out to them ahead of time if you don’t need them to show up.
There is a new case designation sheet if you’re filing your own complaints. They have added a question about requiring an interpreter. You must use the new form, or the clerk will turn you away!
If you are an LLC, you cannot represent yourself in an eviction case. It’s probably worth it to use an attorney so you don’t make a mistake that costs you another month of lost rent and/or damages. The clerks won’t help you fill out the paperwork in Findlay anymore, so you have to make sure you do it right.
You serve the 3-day, then you do a drive-by to make sure they’re out. Every case is different for surrendering the property. How do you know for sure they’re gone? Go into the property; you have the right to enter your property. You can post a 24-hour notice on the door to do a maintenance inspection, and then you can go in.
Q: What if a tenant tells you they do not want you to enter?
A: The police department will still do a peace officer call. You can call and take an officer with you if there is a potentially difficult situation.
Q: Once you have notified them, you have the right to enter the property no matter what, right?
A: Yes. A 24-hour notice should be posted on the door. This is what protects landlords. You cannot send a text for this; post it on the door.
It’s your call as the landlord to determine whether a tenant is “out” or not, even if they left some personal property. Many people just leave stuff behind. Take pics of what you see before you throw it away.
He provides a form letter to his clients that indicates that the tenant left some items. Let them know how to contact you to get their stuff back, and it’s their responsibility to contact you. Mail it to your property’s address, and it may get forwarded. All the judges say that’s ok too.
Q: If there are valuables in the house, when does it become yours?
A: After you’ve given them the opportunity to get it back, especially if you’ve given them notice.
Even if things are left behind, you can still change the locks and start fixing up and cleaning the property.
It’s a waste of time and money to include damages in the eviction. You have up to 2 years to file for damages as a separate suit. Fix up everything and save your receipts, and we can file that in small claims court if it’s under $6000. Often, a judgment will just sit on their record, and you won’t be able to collect until maybe many years later.
The service on a damage claim is a separate thing. There is a much different procedure to serve them on a second cause of action. They have to be served before you can even talk to a judge to show them your receipts. If you really want to go after damages, call your attorney after the eviction and after everything is fixed up.
A default judgment is when they’ve been served and more than 28 days have passed. If you have good receipts and such, then you don’t even have to go to court for a hearing. You file a motion for default judgment and include an affidavit for the damages.
In general conversation, find out where your tenants work. You don’t know when you may need to sue them for damages. You can serve them at their place of employment.
Q: What is a good hourly rate for landlords doing work themselves?
A: A long time ago, judges would go by the going rate for a handyman. You have the right to charge a reasonable rate for your time. Everything for damages needs to be “reasonable.”
Q: If you’re filing for damages, can you include your attorney fees?
A: No. The tenant cannot pay your attorney fees.
When you go to court, if the tenant shows up, talk to the tenant and figure out a plan of action. Try to cut a deal with them. It keeps any bogus claims from coming up in a hearing. The tenant will be less angry if you don’t go after them hardcore, and they’re less likely to cause more damage on their way out.
There’s another handout on Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) and Service Animals. You are allowed to ask tenants what they cannot do, and you can ask for paperwork to verify that the animal is trained for that service. A tenant is still liable for damages caused by a service animal. You cannot ask for an extra fee for service animals. ESAs are different. If the animal is threatening or disruptive to neighbors, that’s a lease violation.
Q: Can you refuse people because they have an ESA?
A: No, assuming they have the appropriate paperwork to back it up.
Q: What if the tenant gets an ESA while renting from you?
A: Use your judgment on whether the animal will destroy the house, and verify that they do have appropriate paperwork for it.
Use the 24-hour notice to check up on the property periodically. You have the right to go in there for any reason you want, as long as you give notice.
Work-for-rent deals are a really bad idea, especially for new tenants.
Q: If your insurance does not allow pit bulls, can they say that their pit bull is an ESA?
A: Show them your insurance policy. But if it’s actually a service animal, it’s not a pet, so that part of the policy doesn’t apply.
Q: Is there a limit to the number of ESAs you have to allow?
A: No. That’s a tough one as to why a doctor would approve multiple ESAs per person.
Q: Is it true that service means you have to take it, but ESA means you don’t have to?
A: No. The latest research is that both need to have paperwork. You can probably find another reason to turn them down during the application stage.
“Maintenance” code is not an appropriate term. The city is not going to adopt a national building code. The new code section was sent out by email today. It’s section 521.02, the dilapidated structure code.
This was established in 2000 and has not been revised since then. It has been enforceable since then, but it has not often been actually enforced. This is meant for the worst of the worst.
The city wants to simply update this dilapidated structure code so they can take care of a property that is in very bad shape – board it up, secure broken windows, etc., while they figure out what they’ll do. The ORC says they can come in, fix it up, or even tear it down if they want to. The city is not going to have an enforcement officer out looking for properties; it will still be complaint-based.
This current statute could be used even now if it applied. The city is backing away from a maintenance code and modernizing an old ordinance. They’re looking for major safety violations, especially those that would affect neighbors.
Whether the City Council wants to adopt this proposed 521.02 or not, the law director can still use the current version if needed. A neighbor can make a complaint, and the zoning enforcement officer can discuss it with the law director to charge them. There will be communication to you as the owner of the property before any charges are filed. The law director always has the final say on whether they will actually pursue charges or not.
He needs to have something to stand on when he writes a letter to the landlord to try and figure out a solution for the major problems that exist. There will always be communication from the law director’s office before any court action.
Q: These documents were previously used to target FAAA members. While these seem straightforward to you, they seem very subjective to us. Officer Smith is very aggressive in his enforcement, and that is a big concern for us. How do you balance protecting enforcement versus protecting the hundreds of properties represented in this room?
A: This will go in front of Council with the full three readings, so contact your representatives and share your opinions. There will always be gray areas, but no one is out harassing people about these issues. People do weird things, and you have to have some policy to go after those weird people. There are things on the books for enforcement that we don’t look at, but we need something for the worst of the worst.
Q: Pest infestations – since this is a criminal issue, why is the landlord getting cited for this, not the tenant?
A: It’s a matter of the proper enforcement. We have to start somewhere. Officer Smith and I talk over property issues first to figure out what’s going on with individual situations. They deal with the tenant first if it’s a rental, but they also send a notice to the landlord to let them know there’s an issue with their property. The landlord should know what’s going on, so they’re informed. The responsibility is on the tenant first, especially for issues like trash. But if there are broken windows, that’s still the landlord’s problem. We don’t want to drag landlords into court, but we do send them nasty letters. I can still use the old content to go after people, but the new content makes it a little clearer.
He has been pushing that we do not need a very long maintenance code, but we need to have policies for bad situations. “If you let it go to shit, we’re going to have to do something about it.” It’s all about enforcement. We’ll use common sense. There’s no vendetta against anything or anyone.
Q: We have a current ordinance already in place, and this is an update to that ordinance, right?
A: Yes. This will help the law director in extreme situations. It needs to be redone for clarity.
Q: If you got a notice on a roof, for example, how would you recommend we approach it, knowing that there is no problem, but people complain about it?
A: Invite the enforcement officer to come take a look at it and have a conversation.
Comment: 5 years ago, our group went after the housing study that was based on false data. One of the reasons we did that was that there was language in it saying landlords will be forced to sell properties, opening up development opportunities. This group became very sensitive at that time because it was incorrect.
You can’t be so stringent that people don’t want to live here. We’re headed in the direction of common sense and reasonableness. There will be no court charges without communication and multiple attempts to work things out. Every case is different, and we’re set up to work with people.
Q: There’s a vacant property next to one of my rentals that’s in bad shape. What’s the solution for the owner?
A: If the property is reported to us, we’ll take a look at it and start the conversation with the property owner. We will give them 30 days’ notice, and then we’ll either fix it, find a buyer for it, or tear it down. Make a report on the property, and the city will secure it and take care of it.
Q: What about when you retire someday?
A: We have better processes and procedures now, and there’s better communication within the city’s departments.
Q: Is there any way that the prosecutor’s office to eliminate the criminal aspect of this process, rather than just civil?
A: Then how do we enforce this? The last thing the city wants is another lawsuit against it because of enforcement. When you go through the criminal side with fines and misdemeanors, and the court can order you to fix the problem, that’s your due process. There will be a hearing if you want it, if you get charged for anything regarding this. You have a right to appeal any charge, of course.
Contact the attorney listed on the Writ of Restitution document if you need legal help in these matters.