Bill Title: To require that notice of foreclosure and related sale of residential rental property be given to tenants at that property and to specify that a rental agreement for a residential property that is sold pursuant to a foreclosure action converts to a month-to-month rental agreement.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-3)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-05-07 - To Finance & Financial Institutions
[HB9 Detail]Download: Ohio-2009-HB9-Engrossed.html
As Passed by the House
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
| |
Representatives Celeste, Foley
Cosponsors:
Representatives Garrison, Heard, Okey, Harris, Boyd, Newcomb, Harwood, Koziura, Hagan, Skindell, Stewart, Slesnick, Chandler, Brown, Murray, Mallory, DeBose, Patten, Oelslager, Lehner, Yuko, Moran, Pryor, Williams, S., Pillich, Phillips, Williams, B., Letson, Winburn, Fende, Luckie, Driehaus, Garland, Weddington, Carney, DeGeeter, Dodd, Lundy, Sayre, Sykes, Szollosi, Ujvagi, Yates
A BILL
| To amend section 5321.04 and to enact section 5321.20 | 1 |
|
of the Revised Code to
require that notice of | 2 |
|
foreclosure and related
sale of residential | 3 |
|
rental property be given to
tenants at that | 4 |
|
property and to specify that a
rental agreement | 5 |
|
for a residential property that
is sold pursuant | 6 |
|
to a foreclosure action converts
to a | 7 |
|
month-to-month rental agreement.
| 8 |
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 5321.04 be amended and section | 9 |
5321.20
of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
| 10 |
Sec. 5321.04. (A) A landlord who is a party to a rental | 11 |
agreement shall do all of the following: | 12 |
(1) Comply with the requirements of all applicable
building, | 13 |
housing, health, and safety codes that materially
affect health | 14 |
and safety; | 15 |
(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably
necessary | 16 |
to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable
condition; | 17 |
(3) Keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and | 18 |
sanitary condition; | 19 |
(4) Maintain in good and safe working order and condition
all | 20 |
electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air | 21 |
conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or | 22 |
required to be supplied by himthe landlord; | 23 |
(5) When hethe landlord is a party to any rental agreements | 24 |
that cover
four or more dwelling units in the same structure, | 25 |
provide and
maintain appropriate receptacles for the removal of | 26 |
ashes,
garbage, rubbish, and other waste incidental to the | 27 |
occupancy of
a dwelling unit, and arrange for their removal; | 28 |
(6) Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water, | 29 |
and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building that | 30 |
includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped | 31 |
for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that
heat | 32 |
or hot water is generated by an installation within the
exclusive | 33 |
control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public
utility | 34 |
connection; | 35 |
(7) Not abuse the right of access conferred by division
(B) | 36 |
of section 5321.05 of the Revised Code; | 37 |
(8) Except in the case of emergency or if it is
impracticable | 38 |
to do so, give the tenant reasonable notice of histhe
landlord's | 39 |
intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four | 40 |
hours is presumed to be a reasonable notice in the absence of | 41 |
evidence to the contrary. | 42 |
(9) Promptly commence an action under Chapter 1923. of the | 43 |
Revised Code, after complying with division (C) of section
5321.17 | 44 |
of the Revised Code, to remove a tenant from particular | 45 |
residential premises, if the tenant fails to vacate the premises | 46 |
within three days after the giving of the notice required by that | 47 |
division and if the landlord has actual knowledge of or has | 48 |
reasonable cause to believe that the tenant, any person in the | 49 |
tenant's household, or any person on the premises with the
consent | 50 |
of the tenant previously has or presently is engaged in a | 51 |
violation as described in division (A)(6)(a)(i) of section
1923.02 | 52 |
of the Revised Code, whether or not the tenant or other
person has | 53 |
been charged with, has pleaded guilty to or been
convicted of, or | 54 |
has been determined to be a delinquent child for
an act that, if | 55 |
committed by an adult, would be a violation as
described in that | 56 |
division. Such actual knowledge or reasonable
cause to believe | 57 |
shall be determined in accordance with that
division. | 58 |
(10) Include a provision in any written rental agreement that | 59 |
informs the tenant of the landlord's obligations under section | 60 |
5321.20 of the Revised Code. The provision should substantially | 61 |
conform to the following: | 62 |
"The landlord must notify you within sixty days after a | 63 |
foreclosure action is filed that the property you reside in may be | 64 |
sold at auction pursuant to that action. The landlord must also | 65 |
notify you of the date, time, and place of the sale at least | 66 |
twenty-one days before the date of the sale at auction. If the | 67 |
property is sold at auction, the new owner will become your | 68 |
landlord, the rental agreement will convert to a month-to-month | 69 |
rental agreement, and the previous owner is required to remit to | 70 |
the new owner any security deposits that you have paid." | 71 |
(B) If the landlord makes an entry in violation of
division | 72 |
(A)(8) of this section, makes a lawful entry in an
unreasonable | 73 |
manner, or makes repeated demands for entry
otherwise lawful that | 74 |
have the effect of harassing the tenant,
the tenant may recover | 75 |
actual damages resulting from the entry or
demands, obtain | 76 |
injunctive relief to prevent the recurrence of
the conduct, and | 77 |
obtain a judgment for reasonable attorney's
fees, or may terminate | 78 |
the rental agreement. | 79 |
Sec. 5321.20. (A) Any
rental agreement for a residential
| 80 |
property
that has
been sold pursuant to a court order under a | 81 |
foreclosure action
shall convert to a month-to-month rental | 82 |
agreement when the court
has confirmed the sale pursuant to | 83 |
section 2329.31 of
the Revised
Code. Upon
confirmation, the | 84 |
successor in interest to the property shall
assume interest in | 85 |
the rental agreement and shall be the landlord
under the rental | 86 |
agreement. | 87 |
(B)(1) Any landlord of a residential property that has been | 88 |
notified by a court that the property is the
subject of a | 89 |
foreclosure action shall provide each tenant at that
property | 90 |
with written notice of the foreclosure action. The notice
shall | 91 |
include a statement in substantially the following form and | 92 |
printed in fourteen-point, times new roman font: | 93 |
"This property is undergoing foreclosure. For more
| 94 |
information on this action, you should contact the ..........(your
| 95 |
county) Clerk of Courts for the Court of Common Pleas,
| 96 |
..........(address), at ..........(phone number). | 97 |
A sale at auction may or may not occur as a result of this
| 98 |
foreclosure. Currently, [the sale of this property has been set
| 99 |
for
..........(time, date, and place)] or [no date for sale of
| 100 |
this
property has been established]. You will receive written
| 101 |
notice of
the sale at least twenty-one days before it takes
| 102 |
place. | 103 |
If there is a sale of this property at auction, your
current
| 104 |
rental agreement will convert to a month-to-month rental agreement
| 105 |
upon the sale of the property. | 106 |
Note: With a month-to-month rental agreement, either the
| 107 |
tenant or the landlord may terminate the agreement by providing
| 108 |
written notice of termination to the other at least thirty days
| 109 |
prior to a date on which the rent payment normally is due. The
| 110 |
rental agreement then terminates on that date." | 111 |
(2) If the rental agreement is entered into before the
| 112 |
foreclosure action is initiated, the landlord shall provide the
| 113 |
written notice of the foreclosure action within sixty days after | 114 |
having been notified by the court that the
foreclosure action has | 115 |
been filed. If the rental agreement is entered
into after the | 116 |
foreclosure action is initiated, the landlord shall
include the | 117 |
written notice of the foreclosure action in the rental agreement. | 118 |
(C) Any landlord of a residential property that is the
| 119 |
subject of a foreclosure action shall provide each tenant at that
| 120 |
property with written notice of the date, time, and place of the
| 121 |
sale
of the foreclosed property at least twenty-one days before
| 122 |
the
date of the sale at auction.
| 123 |
(D) Within seven days after the
court, pursuant to section | 124 |
2329.31 of the Revised Code, confirms
the foreclosure sale, the | 125 |
previous owner who was subject to the
foreclosure action shall | 126 |
forward to the successor in interest an
amount equal to any | 127 |
security deposits paid by the tenant to the
previous owner on the | 128 |
subject property. The successor shall be
liable, as the landlord, | 129 |
only for the security deposits that the
successor receives. Each | 130 |
such security deposit that the successor
receives shall be a | 131 |
security deposit, under the rental agreement
that is referenced | 132 |
in this section, for the tenant who paid the
security deposit. | 133 |
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, the | 134 |
tenant and the successor may mutually agree that the tenant's | 135 |
rental agreement, as of the date the foreclosure sale is | 136 |
confirmed, shall continue in effect with the successor as the | 137 |
landlord, not convert to a month-to-month rental agreement, and be | 138 |
enforceable. | 139 |
(E) In addition to any other remedy under law, a tenant may
| 140 |
recover the greater of actual damages or one month's rent plus the
| 141 |
security deposit amount and reasonable attorney's fees, obtain
| 142 |
injunctive relief to enforce the rental
agreement, or both, if a
| 143 |
landlord or a successor in interest does
either of the following: | 144 |
(1) Fails to honor a rental agreement as division (A) of this
| 145 |
section requires; | 146 |
(2) Fails to provide the written notices that divisions (B)
| 147 |
and
(C) of this section require. | 148 |
(F) The rights and remedies provided for in this section are
| 149 |
in addition to, and do not preempt, any other rights and remedies
| 150 |
that a tenant or landlord may be entitled to under law. | 151 |
(G) The successor in interest pursuant to division (A) of | 152 |
this section assumes the right to enter the property subject to | 153 |
division (A)(8) of section 5321.04 of the Revised Code. | 154 |
Section 2. That existing section 5321.04 of the Revised | 155 |
Code is hereby repealed. | 156 |