Bill Text: OH HB333 | 2013-2014 | 130th General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: To authorize an alleged aggrieved party to provide a notice of an alleged accessibility law violation in advance of filing a civil action and to establish the circumstances under which an alleged aggrieved party is entitled to attorney's fees in a civil action based on the violation.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-22 - Committee Report - S [HB333 Detail]
Download: Ohio-2013-HB333-Comm_Sub.html
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Representative Stinziano
Cosponsors:
Representatives Hackett, Henne, Hood, Mallory, O'Brien, Lynch
| To enact section 4112.16 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
| authorize an alleged aggrieved party to provide a | 2 |
| notice of an alleged accessibility law violation | 3 |
| in advance of filing a civil action and to | 4 |
| establish the circumstances under which an alleged | 5 |
| aggrieved party is entitled to attorney's fees in | 6 |
| a civil action based on the violation. | 7 |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
| Section 1. That section 4112.16 of the Revised Code be | 8 |
| enacted to read as follows: | 9 |
| Sec. 4112.16. (A) Prior to filing a civil action alleging | 10 |
| violation of an accessibility law, the alleged aggrieved party may | 11 |
| notify the owner, agent, or other responsible party of the | 12 |
| property where the alleged violation occurred by personal service, | 13 |
| in accordance with applicable state or federal laws, or by | 14 |
| certified mail, of alleged accessibility law violations for which | 15 |
| an action may be filed by the alleged aggrieved party. If an | 16 |
| alleged aggrieved party does not serve notice, the alleged | 17 |
| aggrieved party is not entitled to attorney's fees upon the | 18 |
| judgment of a civil action alleging violation of an accessibility | 19 |
| law unless the trial court determines that attorney's fees are | 20 |
| appropriate due to the nature of the violations, including their | 21 |
| willfulness, duration, or severity. If an alleged aggrieved party | 22 |
| serves notice in accordance with division (B) of this section, the | 23 |
| alleged aggrieved party is precluded from filing such a civil | 24 |
| action until one of the following occurs: | 25 |
| (1) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 26 |
| described in division (C)(1) of this section and the property | 27 |
| owner, agent, or other responsible party of the property fails to | 28 |
| make the improvements or bring the property into compliance with | 29 |
| accessibility laws and fails to provide a reasonable explanation | 30 |
| for the failure within sixty days as required by division (D) of | 31 |
| this section. | 32 |
| (2) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 33 |
| described in division (C)(2) of this section. | 34 |
| (3) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 35 |
| described in division (C)(3) of this section, but the alleged | 36 |
| aggrieved party reasonably believes that the alleged violations | 37 |
| continue to exist. | 38 |
| (4) The property owner, agent, or other responsible party of | 39 |
| the property fails to respond to the notice within fifteen | 40 |
| business days as required by division (C) of this section. | 41 |
| (B) A notice provided pursuant to division (A) of this | 42 |
| section shall furnish similar information or be in substantially | 43 |
| similar form to the following: | 44 |
| THIS LETTER IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT | 45 |
| (address of property), FOR WHICH YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OWNER, | 46 |
| AGENT, OR OTHER RESPONSIBLE PARTY, MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL | 47 |
| AND/OR STATE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS AND CAUSED HARM TO (name of | 48 |
| alleged aggrieved party). | 49 |
| SPECIFICALLY, THE POSSIBLE VIOLATION(S) HAS/HAVE BEEN | 50 |
| IDENTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: | 51 |
| (Notice must identify the specific facts that constitute the | 52 |
| alleged violation, including the approximate date on which the | 53 |
| alleged violation occurred or was observed and identification of | 54 |
| the location of the alleged violation with sufficient detail, so | 55 |
| that the location can be identified by the property owner, agent, | 56 |
| or other responsible party.) | 57 |
| YOU HAVE 15 BUSINESS DAYS TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE BY | 58 |
| PERSONAL SERVICE OR CERTIFIED MAIL. YOUR RESPONSE MUST BE | 59 |
| ADDRESSED TO (address where personal service may be received or | 60 |
| certified mail may be sent). OHIO LAW ALLOWS YOU TO RESPOND IN ONE | 61 |
| OF THREE WAYS: | 62 |
| (1) YOU MAY EXPRESSLY STATE THAT IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE MADE TO | 63 |
| BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY | 64 |
| LAWS. IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, YOU HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 60 DAYS | 65 |
| TO COMPLETE THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THE 60-DAY PERIOD SHALL BEGIN ON | 66 |
| THE DATE YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE IS RECEIVED AT THE ADDRESS | 67 |
| GIVEN ABOVE. IF THE IMPROVEMENTS NECESSARY TO BRING THE PROPERTY | 68 |
| INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS ARE NOT | 69 |
| COMPLETED WITHIN THE 60-DAY PERIOD, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY | 70 |
| MAY BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU. YOU MAY EXTEND THE 60-DAY PERIOD | 71 |
| ONLY IF YOU PROVIDE A REASONABLE EXPLANATION AS TO WHY | 72 |
| IMPROVEMENTS CANNOT BE MADE WITHIN 60 DAYS. REASONABLE | 73 |
| EXPLANATIONS INCLUDE DEMONSTRATED NEED FOR DELAY, SUCH AS | 74 |
| CONSTRUCTION AND PERMITTING RELATED ISSUES. | 75 |
| (2) YOU MAY CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. | 76 |
| IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY MAY | 77 |
| BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU IMMEDIATELY. | 78 |
| (3) IF THE VIOLATIONS LISTED ABOVE ARE THE SAME AS OR SIMILAR | 79 |
| TO PREVIOUS VIOLATIONS THAT YOU BELIEVE HAVE BEEN CORRECTED, YOU | 80 |
| MAY RESPOND BY STATING THAT THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN | 81 |
| MADE TO BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE | 82 |
| ACCESSIBILITY LAWS. YOU MUST ALSO ATTACH EVIDENCE THAT VERIFIES | 83 |
| THOSE IMPROVEMENTS. | 84 |
| IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE OR YOUR RIGHTS | 85 |
| UNDER FEDERAL OR OHIO LAW, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LEGAL COUNSEL. | 86 |
| (C) Within fifteen business days after an alleged aggrieved | 87 |
| party serves or sends a notice pursuant to division (A) of this | 88 |
| section, the property owner, agent, or other responsible party of | 89 |
| the property where the alleged violation occurred shall respond to | 90 |
| the notice by personal service or certified mail to the alleged | 91 |
| aggrieved party. That response shall do one of the following: | 92 |
| (1) Expressly state that improvements will be made to bring | 93 |
| the property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws. | 94 |
| (2) Challenge the validity of the alleged violation. If the | 95 |
| property owner, agent, or other responsible party responds in this | 96 |
| manner, the alleged aggrieved party may file an action, subject to | 97 |
| any applicable statutes of limitations, any time after receipt of | 98 |
| that response. | 99 |
| (3) State that the alleged violations identified by the | 100 |
| alleged aggrieved party have been corrected to comply with | 101 |
| applicable accessibility laws. The property owner, agent, or other | 102 |
| responsible party shall attach evidence to the response that | 103 |
| verifies those improvements. | 104 |
| (D)(1)(a) If a property owner, agent, or responsible party of | 105 |
| the property where the alleged accessibility law violation | 106 |
| occurred responds in the manner described in division (C)(1) of | 107 |
| this section, the property owner, agent, or responsible party | 108 |
| shall have sixty days to remedy the alleged violation. The | 109 |
| sixty-day period shall begin on the date the alleged aggrieved | 110 |
| party receives the response described in division (C) of this | 111 |
| section. The owner, agent, or other responsible party may extend | 112 |
| the sixty-day period by not more than sixty days upon providing a | 113 |
| reasonable explanation as to why the improvement requires more | 114 |
| than sixty days to complete. Reasonable explanations include | 115 |
| demonstrated need for extension, such as construction and | 116 |
| permitting related issues. | 117 |
| (b) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible party | 118 |
| of the property where the alleged accessibility law violation | 119 |
| occurred responds in the manner described in division (C)(1) of | 120 |
| this section and makes the improvements to bring the property into | 121 |
| compliance with applicable accessibility laws within the sixty-day | 122 |
| period described in division (D)(1)(a) of this section or provides | 123 |
| a reasonable explanation as to why those improvements are not | 124 |
| completed, the response as described in division (C)(1) shall not | 125 |
| be considered an admission of guilt and shall be inadmissible as | 126 |
| evidence in any future actions based on the same facts filed | 127 |
| against the property owner, agent, or other responsible party. | 128 |
| (2)(a) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible | 129 |
| party of the property where the alleged accessibility law | 130 |
| violation occurred fails to make the improvements to bring the | 131 |
| property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws within | 132 |
| the sixty-day period described in division (D)(1)(a) of this | 133 |
| section and, in the opinion of the aggrieved party, fails to | 134 |
| provide a reasonable explanation as to why those improvements are | 135 |
| not completed, the alleged aggrieved party may file a civil action | 136 |
| for accessibility law violation against that property owner, | 137 |
| agent, or other responsible party. | 138 |
| (b) In a civil action filed pursuant to division (D)(2)(a) of | 139 |
| this section in which a plaintiff prevails, the plaintiff shall | 140 |
| recover reasonable attorney's fees, in addition to any other | 141 |
| remedies available to the plaintiff. However, the plaintiff shall | 142 |
| not be entitled to attorney's fees under this division if the | 143 |
| plaintiff filed the civil action prior to the expiration of an | 144 |
| extension invoked by the defendant and the court determines that | 145 |
| the defendant's explanation as to the necessity of the extension | 146 |
| was reasonable. | 147 |
| (c) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible party | 148 |
| where the alleged accessibility law violation occurred makes the | 149 |
| improvements to bring the property into compliance with the | 150 |
| applicable accessibility laws within the sixty-day period | 151 |
| described in division (D)(1) of this section and provides evidence | 152 |
| to the alleged aggrieved party that the improvements have been | 153 |
| made, or if the property owner, agent, or other responsible party | 154 |
| demonstrates to the court's satisfaction that the explanation | 155 |
| given for the necessity of an extension was reasonable, the | 156 |
| alleged aggrieved party shall not receive any damages or | 157 |
| attorney's fees for any action arising out of the same or similar | 158 |
| facts that served as a basis for the alleged violation. The | 159 |
| alleged aggrieved party may receive damages and attorney's fees | 160 |
| for actions arising out of a recurrence of the same or similar | 161 |
| alleged accessibility law violation if it is determined that the | 162 |
| property owner, agent, or other responsible party failed to | 163 |
| maintain accessibility following the initial improvements. | 164 |
| (E)(1) This section shall not be construed to limit actions | 165 |
| for recovery of special damages filed by any person who suffers an | 166 |
| injury in fact because the person was denied full and equal access | 167 |
| to an accommodation as required by federal or state law. | 168 |
| (2) This section does not apply to actions initiated by the | 169 |
| Ohio civil rights commission under Chapter 4112. of the Revised | 170 |
| Code. | 171 |
| (F) As used in this section: | 172 |
| (1) "Accessibility law" means any federal law or section of | 173 |
| the Revised Code that ensures accessibility to services, programs, | 174 |
| places of public accommodation, public conveyance and modes of | 175 |
| transportation, streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, buildings, | 176 |
| medical facilities, and other public places for a person with a | 177 |
| disability. | 178 |
| (2) "Business day" means a day of the week excluding Sunday | 179 |
| and a legal holiday as defined in section 1.14 of the Revised | 180 |
| Code. | 181 |
