Cleveland Fire Damage Rules: Housing Court and the Sale

What the Housing Court Is

Cleveland Municipal Housing Court was created by Ohio's General Assembly in 1980, following a campaign to separate housing cases from the general municipal docket. It is one of only two specialised housing courts in Ohio and it hears both civil and criminal matters.

Its criminal jurisdiction covers violations of the city's housing, building, fire, zoning, health, waste collection, sidewalk, agriculture and air pollution codes. Its civil side hears landlord and tenant disputes.

In its first year the court had a staff of four and heard 599 criminal cases.

Why Does a Dedicated Court Matter to Me?

Because these cases are not competing for attention on a general docket. The court has specialists well versed in the city's building, housing and zoning codes who work with defendants, including first-time owner-occupants, to access community-based financial assistance or home repair services, and who also serve as probation officers supervising community control sanctions. The process is more engaged in both directions than an ordinary municipal court would be.

These Are Criminal Cases

Complaints filed by the City of Cleveland for alleged violations of its health, housing, building, fire or safety codes are criminal misdemeanour cases. That is the point owners find hardest to absorb.

The maximum penalty for a first-degree misdemeanour in Cleveland is a $1,000 fine and 180 days in jail. A minor misdemeanour, a ticketed offence, carries a maximum of $100. A sentence for a first-degree misdemeanour may also include court-supervised probation or a specified number of community service hours.

And each day a property is found to be in non-compliance with the city code represents a separate offence for which the defendant may receive the maximum penalty.

Who Exactly Can Be Charged?

The city may file criminal charges against one, some or all of the owners of a property. Charges may also be brought against an owner's agent or another person in control of the premises. Where co-owners are cited and one appears and resolves the matter, the city may in some circumstances dismiss against the other, but that is a prosecutorial decision rather than an entitlement.

The Compliance Date Is the Legal Question

This is the mechanic that surprises owners who have already done the work.

The issue before the court is whether the violations alleged existed as of the compliance date. Repairs completed after that date may be considered when the judge decides on a sentence, and they do not answer whether the offence occurred.

Which is why appearing matters regardless. A warrant may be issued for arrest where a defendant fails to attend, and having completed the repairs is not a reason to skip the hearing.

What Does the Court Take Into Account on Sentence?

The nature and severity of the violations, how long they have existed, the attempts made to remedy them, the cost of repair and whether repairs have been completed. The court may also consider whether the premises are owner-occupied or rental, the defendant's income, and where relevant the profits from the property. It will hear the city prosecutor and may consider input from interested parties including neighbours.

Selling Does Not Automatically End It

Because liability attaches to a period rather than to ongoing ownership, transferring the property does not necessarily absolve criminal liability for violations that existed at the compliance date.

A sale may be relevant to the sentence rather than to guilt. Where a property was sold before the citation was issued, a certified copy of the deed showing the transfer date is the document that establishes it.

We publish no assessment of any individual case, no view on how a particular court would sentence, and no legal advice. This is criminal exposure and it deserves a lawyer rather than a buyer. What we can tell you is that it exists and that it should not be ignored.

The Second Rule: Selling Requires an Inspection

Across a great deal of this county, a property cannot transfer until a municipal inspection has been completed.

In Cleveland itself, a Certificate of Disclosure is required for real property transactions across residential, commercial and industrial property, and a point of sale inspection of the exterior is required for vacant one to three family properties.

Across the surrounding municipalities the pattern is a patchwork rather than a rule. Many require a point of sale inspection and many do not, and among those that do, the scope varies between exterior only and full interior and exterior.

How Is This Different From a Buyer's Inspection?

Entirely. It is carried out by a city building department representative rather than a private inspector, and it is not a contingency in the purchase agreement. It is a condition of the transfer itself. Purchase agreements here commonly state expressly that inspections required by any government do not replace the need for buyer inspections, because they are different things.

Escrow, Where It Applies

Several municipalities require money to be placed with the city where violations remain uncorrected at transfer, held until the work is completed and signed off.

Cleveland Heights, as a published example, requires owners of real estate including single-family and two-family dwellings, apartments, condominiums and commercial property to obtain a Certificate of Inspection before entering into an agreement to sell. Where Class A violations remain uncorrected, the escrow must be at least $1,000 and equal to 125 per cent of the estimated repair cost, with a typical window of 90 days for corrections or a schedule of progress. Its fee is $200 for the first unit and $50 for each additional unit.

Shaker Heights requires submission before entering into a contract with a buyer, at $200 for a single family, $300 for a two family and $150 for a condominium. University Heights requires an inspection for all one and two family dwellings before transfer. Some cities require an occupancy permit before a property may transfer at all.

Can the Buyer Take the Violations Instead?

In some municipalities yes, through an escrow funded by the buyer or an affidavit under which the buyer assumes the listed violations. The arrangements differ by city and none of them is automatic. It is a term to agree explicitly in the contract rather than an assumption to make.

The Gratuitous Transfer Exception

Point of sale inspections are typically not required for gratuitous property transfers, meaning transfers where no money changes hands, such as when a home is inherited or gifted.

Given how many fire-damaged properties in this county sit within estates, that exception arises more often here than the drafting suggests. It is worth confirming with the specific municipality, because the requirement and its exceptions are municipal rather than county-wide.

Vacant Property Registration

A separate obligation and a common source of accumulating problems. Several municipalities in this county require vacant parcels, and in some cases non-owner-occupied parcels, to be registered with the city annually.

A fire-damaged house standing empty is exactly the property the requirement was written for, and an owner focused on the insurance claim frequently does not register it.

Your Options, Compared

Secure and repair. Addresses the code case directly and is what the court is looking for. It also positions you for whatever inspection a later sale requires.

Sell as it stands. Available, and it does not automatically end criminal exposure for the period before transfer, and in most of this county it requires an inspection first.

Transfer within a family. Where no money changes hands the point of sale requirement is typically not engaged, which is worth knowing where an estate is involved.

Do nothing. The one route where each day is a separate offence.

Across Cleveland and the County

The stock and the inspection requirements vary considerably. The near west side is covered under Ohio City, Tremont and the near west side, the south-east under Slavic Village, Buckeye and the south-east, and the south-west under Old Brooklyn and the south-west. Further pages deal with Collinwood, Glenville and the north-east, the inner-ring suburbs and outer Cuyahoga County.

Those suburbs include Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, Euclid, Parma, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, South Euclid, University Heights, Westlake, Strongsville, Solon, Beachwood and North Olmsted, each administering its own requirements.

The full index is on our service area index.

Rules Questions

I Have a Court Date and I Have Fixed Everything.

Attend anyway. A warrant may be issued for failure to appear, and completed repairs go to sentence rather than to whether the violation existed at the compliance date.

Does My Suburb Require an Inspection?

It is municipal rather than county-wide and the answer differs sharply between neighbouring cities. Ask your building department directly.

Should I Get a Lawyer?

These are criminal misdemeanour cases. That is a question for you, and it is not one a buyer should be answering on your behalf.

Primary Sources

Cleveland Municipal Court Housing Division — jurisdiction, penalties, procedure and specialists
Ohio Revised Code sections 1901.011, 1901.02, 1901.025, 1901.031, 1901.131 and 1901.331
City of Cleveland — Certificate of Disclosure and vacant property point of sale requirements
City of Cleveland Heights — Certificate of Inspection, fees and escrow provisions
Cuyahoga County municipalities — published point of sale schedules and fees