Ohio

An Ohio state law (OHIO REV. CODE § 3767.41) authorizes cities, neighbors, tenants and nonprofit corporations to bring an action alleging that a federally-subsidized building is a public nuisance and seeking relief in the form of an injunction and, if necessary, the appointment of a receiver. Prior to commencement of the action, the opposing party must give the owner 60-days’ notice of the defective conditions that constitute a public nuisance. If the nuisance is not abated within that period, a judge may find that the building constitutes a public nuisance and may issue an injunction requiring the owner to abate the nuisance within 30 days. Alternatively, if the judge determines that the owner already has been afforded a “reasonable opportunity” to abate the nuisance and has failed to do so, the judge is required to offer any mortgagee, lienholder or other interested party (in order of priority of interest in title) the opportunity to abate the nuisance. If no interested party is willing or able to do this, then the judge may appoint a receiver (including potentially a nonprofit that originally brought the action) to take possession and control of the building. The receiver must receive judicial approval of an abatement plan and the judge may empower the receiver to, among other things, manage the building, establish and collect rents, lease units and evict tenants, pay all operating expenses, enter into contracts, obtain financing necessary for the abatement of the property and collect a receiver’s fees. The statute applies to properties receiving rental assistance under a variety of federal project-based programs. Public nuisance is defined as housing that fails to meet standards set forth in relevant federal rules and the law provides that in no case will nuisance be found where HUD’s real estate assessment center has issued a score of seventy-five or higher within the last 12 months and there has been no significant change in the property’s condition.