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Boardman officials plan to begin enforcing parts of landlord registration resolution
BOARDMAN
Township officials plan to begin enforcing parts of a new landlord registration program.
Although a judge recently ruled in favor of the township in a civil lawsuit challenging the resolution that establishes the program, the plaintiff in that case filed a notice of appeal last week.
Township trustees are expected to address the issue at a meeting today.
“We won on about 98 percent of what we wanted, which we were pleased with,” Trustee Tom Costello said. “Since we’ve won, we may start to selectively enforce [the resolution].”
By “selectively enforcing,” Costello said he means that the township will enforce the parts of the resolution that set minimum standards for rental units and establish obligations for landlords and tenants, such as a stipulation that rental units have running water in all bathroom and kitchen sinks.
Township officials do not plan to begin enforcement of the parts that require landlords to register with the township and to pay an annual fee. The possibility of an appeal is the reason for the delay in enforcing those parts, Costello said.
The township in January entered into a preliminary injunction with the plaintiff in which it agreed not to enforce the resolution during litigation.
William Hiznay, who owns a rental property in the township, challenged the township’s home-rule resolution that also authorizes inspections of rental units and establishes civil fines for violations.
Hiznay’s argument against the resolution was that the township does not have the statutory authority to impose taxes upon rental-unit owners, establish building standards or impose civil fines for failure to comply with a rental-unit registration program.
In complaints filed in November and March, Hiznay asked the court to declare the resolution illegal and requested a permanent injunction enjoining the township from enforcing it.
In a judgment entry released earlier this month, Judge Linton D. Lewis Jr., a visiting judge to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after Judge Shirley J. Christian recused herself from the case, ruled: “The Court concludes that: HR 15-01 is a lawful exercise of the police power by Boardman Township that ... is not in conflict with the general laws; it does not establish or revise building standards, building codes, or other standard codes; and it does not impose an impermissible tax. ... The agreed preliminary injunction is dissolved.”
The judge found that, under state law, “a township that adopts a limited home-rule government may ‘[a]dopt and enforce within the unincorporated area of the township local police, sanitary, and other similar regulations that are not in conflict with general laws or otherwise prohibited by division (B) of this section[.]’”
The only part of the resolution struck down by Judge Lewis is a mandate that landlords provide trash receptacles.
According to court documents, the township’s response to Hiznay’s original complaint was that Boardman’s status as a limited home-rule township gives it the authority to adopt such resolutions.
Township officials say the resolution is intended to protect property values and maintain the integrity of neighborhoods.