Legislative Updates
OREIA's main purpose is to advocate for legislative change for the benefit of its members. OREIA employees a Legislative Director, Dan Acton, and a professional lobbying firm, Governmental Policy Group, to actively monitor and engage at the state level.
Current Legislative Update 7/2024
Visit the Ohio Legislature website to search any bill's status and full language.
The legislators are on Summer Break right now and will likely not return until late fall. While there may be committee work, legislative session days have been scheduled for after the election.
HB50-Certificate of Qualification for Housing: This bill establishes a Certificate of Qualification for Housing for individuals with criminal records. This certificate is intended to help these individuals obtain housing, but the bill does not mandate acceptance of the housing applicant and allows housing providers to consider potential residents with a certificate on a case-by-case basis. OREIA has supported this bill. Signed into law. Would be a great niche market for our members to look into.
HB93- Municipal Liens "Water Bill": Changes the rules for municipalities to collect on delinquent utility services to force action against those who contracted with the service before holding property owners responsible. OREIA has pushed for this all year and are hoping to finish this fall. Currently pending in Senate Local Government Committee with no hearings yet. We are gearing up to push hard for this in the coming months to get it fully passed before the Dec 31st expiration. Stay tuned and be ready to react.
SB 192 -Real Estate Wholesaling: There have been no new hearings on this issue. Our legislative team is confident Sen. Brenner will remove the licensure requirements and simplify the required disclosures to make sure all parties are aware of and agreeable to the full process of a wholesale transaction. OREIA is working closely with the Ohio Association of Realtors and the bill’s sponsors to address concerns and pass legislation that stops bad actors, while protecting wholesaling consumers and investors. Pending in Senate Government and Oversight Committee
HB 478/480 and SB 241- Anti-Squatter Bills: All three bills look to make squatting a criminal offense able to be addressed directly by law enforcement instead of a civil matter requiring eviction court. OREIA fully supports these common sense bills to protect property owners and neighboring properties from criminal elements. SB241 has had a 1st hearing and opponent testimony in committee.
HB499- Supply Side Housing: Aims to incentivize municipalities to adopt favorable policies to increase housing supply by offering funds to local governments when certain housing reforms are implemented. However, in order to generate the revenue needed to fund the bill, it would raise taxes on real estate investors by eliminating the 10% non-business tax credit on rental housing! Almost 780,000 properties would be affected! On top of that, those funds could be used for a list of options that include counterintuitive policies that frequently deter development. Pending in the House Government Oversight Committee. New language for the bill with no funding mechanism. Sponsor is working with us to be neutral on it.
SB299- Short Term Rentals: Bill aims to pre-empt cities and townships from banning short term rentals, limit registration requirements and fees. Currently pending in Senate Select Committee on Housing. OREIA is supportive of this bill while offering suggestions from industry leaders. There is a concern that with so many housing bills this session, this one may not get a lot of traction.
HB466- Written Agreements for Real Estate Transactions: This bill requires written agreements for a licensed broker to represent a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction. The bill was reported unanimously out of committee on April 30th with no opposition. Bill was passed out of the senate and sent to the Governor's desk for signature.
SB 245- Revise Housing Laws: This is comprehensive legislation covering a number of the Senate Housing Committee’s recommendations, including requiring identification of a natural person with authority to make binding decisions on property conveyances, establishing a publicly funded indigent eviction defense fund and making changes to eviction proceedings (nonbinding mediation, sealing of court records, among others), requiring written agreements for real estate brokers (HB 466), and efforts to streamline code enforcement certification. Had a hearing right before break for opponent testimony. Sen. Reynolds is open to our concerns on certain aspects of this bill. OREIA would like to see alternative ideas to counter dilapidated properties and eviction numbers.
SB226- Restrict Foreign Purchasing: Aimed to restrict foreign individuals and entities from purchasing real property in Ohio within 25 miles of critical infrastructure and U.S. armed forces’ jurisdiction. Concern over the growing amount of farmland lost to Chinese related businesses and entities. Passed out of Senate, headed to House chamber.
previous updates listed below:
HB 85- Land Bank Acquisitions: Bill that means to circumvent the proper foreclosure process to give preference to non-profits, government agencies, and local land banks for acquiring vacant and foreclosed properties. OREIA members have concerns over the timeframe and intentions for re-development when willing and ready investors are wanting to turn these into livable properties. Committee chair was responsive to our concerns and it seems the bill has stalled out.
HB212 (SB226)- Restrict Foreign Purchasing: Aimed to restrict foreign individuals and entities from purchasing real property in Ohio within 25 miles of critical infrastructure and U.S. armed forces’ jurisdiction. Concern over the growing amount of farmland lost to Chinese related businesses and entities.
HB100-Prohibit Restriction of The Blue Line Flag: OREIA had previously provided proponent testimony on this bill when it was in the House, noting that OREIA members are committed to protecting tenants and creating a comfortable living environment, while having a vested interest in protecting our property investments as well. HB 100 is now pending in the Senate and we expect hearings to continue in that chamber in the coming weeks.
HB466-Written Agreements for Real Estate Transactions: This bill requires written agreements for a licensed broker to represent a buyer or seller in a real estate transaction. The bill was reported unanimously out of committee on April 30th with no opposition. The bill now awaits House Floor action.
HB 438- Buyer Identity Protection: This recently introduced legislation intends to reduce discrimination by keeping the buyer’s name and address secret until a contract is signed.
HB511-Tenants Rights: This recently introduced legislation would establish a tenant bill of rights in Ohio that is mirrored off the U.S. military’s tenant bill of rights for service members.
HB93- Water Liens Has been assigned to the Local Government Committee. We hope to see hearings on this soon. We will need to start up our advocacy again this spring to get this fully passed.
SB192- Wholesaling There have been no hearings on this bill yet. Our team is working diligently to remove the licensure language and to substitute appropriate disclosures that will better highlight the roles and processes involved in a wholesale deal.
Joint Committee on Property Tax Review- The Ohio House and Senate have established this joint committee to solicit information, make recommendations, and offer legislative reforms on state property tax laws.
HB388- Federal Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule The state is working on authorizing the Ohio Department of Health to be the administrator and enforcement agency of this rule regarding lead based paint hazards. Our team is working to make sure there is language included that establishes set limits for penalties and fines.
HB277- Pet Friendly Rental Act This bill has been pulled with no amendments or substitute offered. However, it is seems to be a popular issue and will likely return in some form.
Issue 2- Legal Marijuana No new language has been agreed upon between the Ohio House and Senate. The voted on language from November stands as law for now.
HB93- Was introduced in the Senate and is awaiting assignment to a committee. Senator Andy Brenner has agreed to shepherd the bill through the Senate process. We appreciate his support in this matter.
Click the link HERE to see how your Representative voted on this in the house.
30 day Notice for Non-Payment: The Federal government has submitted a proposed rule through HUD for HUD run properties and those accepting Housing Choice Vouchers to be required to give a 30 day notice for lease termination for non payment of rent.
The open comment period ends January 30th. To see the proposal and submit testimony here.
SB192- Requiring Wholesalers to hold a real estate broker's license. Senators Andrew Brenner and Louis Blessing have sponsored this bill in response to a few individuals acting in unethical ways. Not just unethical, but down right fraudulent. This bill would be catastrophic for the wholesaling industry putting large barriers in place for those getting started, hurting sellers with legitimate POA needs, and requiring disclosures that don't actually apply to the transaction at hand. OREIA is collecting testimony and talking points. If you have a wholesaling story about how you helped a seller when no one else could, please send to ea4OREIA@gmail.com and we will forward to our Legislative Director. (This bill is currently assigned to The Senate Government and Oversight Committee)
The Senate Select Committee on Housing held a town hall in Lima,
Ohio on December 11th. Stark County REIA member Lila Wohlwend provided testimony in support of HB 93 and on behalf of housing providers. It has been so important for our members to be seen and heard during these meetings. We will continue our conversations with the committee members.
HB 93- HAS PASSED THE OHIO HOUSE!!
We are excited to announce that HB 93 was passed out of the House and now moves on to the Ohio Senate. This will also take considerable advocacy, so please keep up the pressure. Thank you to ALL who helped with emails, phone calls and direct conversations. Let's get this to the finish line.
Issue 2: Legalize Marijuana Use Both the house and senate have proposed changes to this law debating over the tax rate, revenue distribution, THC limits, home grow, public consumption, advertising, local control, and other issues. OREIA will continue to make sure property owners retain their right to prohibit the smoking and growing of marijuana on their property. Please consider language you may need to add to your lease to cover this possibility.
HB277- Pet Friendly Rental Act was proposed by Representatives Ray and Brent. This is intended to help low income and elderly residents be able to keep their pets while seeking affordable housing. The bill offers a $750 annual tax credit (capped at 10 units) to encourage owners to allow pets. Some concerns were the fact they are asking for no size or breed restrictions (beyond what is already classified as "dangerous" by the state) and the overall large cost to the state (estimated at $225-360 million per year). There has been no further movement or amendments on this bill.
HB280- Lead Paint Abatement tax Credits Intended to eliminate red tape for real estate investors and homeowners by streamlining the process to access tax credits related to lead paint abatement and remediation.
HB 282- Mold Awareness Program Requires the Director of Commerce to establish a mold information and awareness program to assist the public in understanding the threat of mold in buildings and the importance of the proper removal of that mold. It asks for a review of best practices every five years to evaluate new health data and technology available.
SB 76– Charging $1500 per month PER HOUSE to anyone owning over 50 1-3 family homes in the same county: this bill is being watched closely, especially the registration requirements. Our partners are working hard to mitigate the impact it will have. It has received harsh criticism from many groups. It has had no hearing since March but a lot of press matching it with a new federal level bill from Senator Sherrod Brown.
HB 150– Forcing participation in third party programs: This bill largely targets the housing provider’s freedom to not participate in the Housing Choice Voucher program (Section 8) and to not directly refuse the vouchers. It is currently in committee. We are gathering written testimony for this one right now. Please ask your members if they have had direct experience with housing authorities to contact Deborah at ea4oreia@gmail.com
HB 59– Free lawyers to fight lawful evictions and drag out the process: Still in committee hearings, but OREIA opposes additional tax payer funded lawyers beyond the existing Legal Aid framework.
SB 118– Aimed to increase homeownership: This bill is intended to offer a tax incentive for converting (by selling) a rental property over to an owner occupied. The language is being reviewed during the hearing process. It has received three committee hearings.