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Resident urges council to address out-of-state LLC property ownership and code enforcement
Summary
A Bedford Heights resident called on council to create legislation targeting out-of-state investors and LLCs that own neglected properties across the city's wards.
Daryl Houston of Bedford Heights used the public comment period to urge Cleveland City Council to take legislative action addressing property ownership by out-of-state investors and LLCs.
"It's 17 wards. In every last one of you guys' wards, you have the properties... a lot of these properties are not owned by residents of the city of Cleveland," Houston said. He argued that tax dollars fund maintenance for neglected properties and asked council — specifically calling on Council President and Councilman Polensek — to draft ordinances to hold distant owners accountable and enforce housing codes.
Houston said the condition of neighborhoods suffers because code enforcement is not applied aggressively to out-of-state owners operating through LLCs; he urged council to treat the issue with the same urgency previously applied to other ordinances (he cited the council's recent action on dirt-bike enforcement as an example).
Why it matters: large-scale absentee ownership can affect housing conditions, property maintenance costs borne by local government, and neighborhood livability. Houston asked council to prioritize legislation and enforcement.
Council response: the transcript records the public comment but no formal referral or motion was recorded on the floor during this meeting.
