Committee moves to allow electronic tenant-rights distribution, law department to lower first-offense penalty

Cleveland Heights — At its Jan. 14 Housing and Building Committee meeting, members heard an update on draft tenant-and-landlord rights legislation and signaled support for two key changes: allowing electronic distribution of the required rights notice in many cases, and lowering the penalty for a first-time infraction to a minor misdemeanor with a fine of up to $150.

The committee was told that the current draft requires property owners to provide a paper copy of the rights and responsibilities notice after the ordinance takes effect (anticipated distribution timing discussed in the draft as June or July). Committee members said electronic distribution should be permitted when landlords already have tenants’ email addresses or use electronic-signature systems such as DocuSign; the draft will be revised to allow that. The committee also discussed whether the…