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| To enact section 4112.16 of the Revised Code to | 1 |
| require an alleged aggrieved party to provide a | 2 |
| notice of an alleged accessibility law violation | 3 |
| in advance of filing a civil action and to declare | 4 |
| an emergency. | 5 |
| Section 1. That section 4112.16 of the Revised Code be | 6 |
| enacted to read as follows: | 7 |
| Sec. 4112.16. (A) Notwithstanding any provision of law to | 8 |
| the contrary, prior to filing a civil action alleging violation of | 9 |
| an accessibility law, the alleged aggrieved party shall notify the | 10 |
| owner, agent, or other responsible party of the property where the | 11 |
| alleged violation occurred by personal service, in accordance with | 12 |
| applicable state or federal laws, or by certified mail, of all | 13 |
| alleged accessibility law violations for which an action may be | 14 |
| filed by the alleged aggrieved party. An alleged aggrieved party | 15 |
| is precluded from filing such a civil action until the alleged | 16 |
| aggrieved party serves a notice in accordance with division (B) of | 17 |
| this section and one of the following occurs: | 18 |
| (1) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 19 |
| described in division (C)(1) of this section and the property | 20 |
| owner, agent, or other responsible party of the property fails to | 21 |
| make the improvements or bring the property into compliance with | 22 |
| accessibility laws and fails to provide a satisfactory explanation | 23 |
| for the failure within one hundred twenty days as required by | 24 |
| division (D) of this section; | 25 |
| (2) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 26 |
| described in division (C)(2) of this section; | 27 |
| (3) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as | 28 |
| described in division (C)(3) of this section, but the alleged | 29 |
| aggrieved party reasonably believes that the alleged violations | 30 |
| continue to exist; | 31 |
| (4) The property owner, agent, or other responsible party of | 32 |
| the property fails to respond to the notice within thirty days as | 33 |
| required by division (C) of this section. | 34 |
| (B) A notice provided pursuant to division (A) of this | 35 |
| section shall be in substantially the following form: | 36 |
| THIS LETTER IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT | 37 |
| (address of property), FOR WHICH YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OWNER, | 38 |
| AGENT, OR OTHER RESPONSIBLE PARTY, MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL | 39 |
| AND/OR STATE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS PURSUANT TO (citation of statute | 40 |
| of which the property is believed to be in violation) AND CAUSED | 41 |
| HARM TO (name of alleged aggrieved party). | 42 |
| SPECIFICALLY, THE POSSIBLE VIOLATION(S) HAS/HAVE BEEN | 43 |
| IDENTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: | 44 |
| (Notice must identify the specific facts that constitute the | 45 |
| alleged violation, including the date on which the alleged | 46 |
| violation occurred and identification of the location of the | 47 |
| alleged violation with sufficient detail, so that the location can | 48 |
| be identified by the property owner, agent, or other responsible | 49 |
| party.) | 50 |
| YOU HAVE 30 DAYS TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE BY PERSONAL | 51 |
| SERVICE OR CERTIFIED MAIL. YOUR RESPONSE MUST BE ADDRESSED TO | 52 |
| (address where personal service may be received or certified mail | 53 |
| may be sent). OHIO LAW ALLOWS YOU TO RESPOND IN ONE OF THREE WAYS: | 54 |
| (1) YOU MAY EXPRESSLY STATE THAT IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE MADE TO | 55 |
| BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY | 56 |
| LAWS. IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, YOU HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 120 | 57 |
| DAYS TO COMPLETE THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THE 120-DAY PERIOD SHALL | 58 |
| BEGIN ON THE DATE YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE IS RECEIVED AT THE | 59 |
| ADDRESS GIVEN ABOVE. IF THE IMPROVEMENTS NECESSARY TO BRING THE | 60 |
| PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS | 61 |
| ARE NOT COMPLETED WITHIN THE 120-DAY PERIOD, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED | 62 |
| PARTY MAY BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU. | 63 |
| (2) YOU MAY CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. | 64 |
| IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY MAY | 65 |
| BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU IMMEDIATELY. | 66 |
| (3) IF THE VIOLATIONS LISTED ABOVE ARE THE SAME OR SIMILAR TO | 67 |
| PREVIOUS VIOLATIONS THAT YOU BELIEVE HAVE BEEN CORRECTED, YOU MAY | 68 |
| RESPOND BY STATING THAT THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE | 69 |
| TO BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE | 70 |
| ACCESSIBILITY LAWS. YOU MUST ALSO ATTACH EVIDENCE THAT VERIFIES | 71 |
| THOSE IMPROVEMENTS. | 72 |
| IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE OR YOUR RIGHTS | 73 |
| UNDER FEDERAL OR OHIO LAW, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LEGAL COUNSEL. | 74 |
| (C) Within thirty days after an alleged aggrieved party | 75 |
| serves or sends a notice pursuant to division (A) of this section, | 76 |
| the property owner, agent, or other responsible party of the | 77 |
| property where the alleged violation occurred shall respond to the | 78 |
| notice by personal service or certified mail to the alleged | 79 |
| aggrieved party. That response shall do one of the following: | 80 |
| (1) Expressly state that improvements will be made to bring | 81 |
| the property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws. A | 82 |
| response in this manner shall not be considered an admission of | 83 |
| guilt and shall be inadmissible as evidence in any future actions | 84 |
| based on the same facts filed against the property owner, agent, | 85 |
| or other responsible party. | 86 |
| (2) Challenge the validity of the alleged violation. If the | 87 |
| property owner, agent, or other responsible party responds in this | 88 |
| manner, the alleged aggrieved party may file an action, subject to | 89 |
| any applicable statutes of limitations, any time after receipt of | 90 |
| that response. | 91 |
| (3) State that the alleged violations identified by the | 92 |
| alleged aggrieved party have been corrected to comply with | 93 |
| applicable accessibility laws. The property owner, agent, or other | 94 |
| responsible party shall attach evidence to the response that | 95 |
| verifies those improvements. | 96 |
| (D)(1) If a property owner, agent, or responsible party of | 97 |
| the property where the alleged accessibility law violation | 98 |
| occurred responds in the manner described in division (C)(1) of | 99 |
| this section, the property owner, agent, or responsible party | 100 |
| shall have one hundred twenty days to remedy the alleged | 101 |
| violation. The one-hundred-twenty-day period shall begin on the | 102 |
| date the alleged aggrieved party receives the response described | 103 |
| in division (C) of this section. | 104 |
| (2)(a) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible | 105 |
| party of the property where the alleged accessibility law | 106 |
| violation occurred fails to make the improvements to bring the | 107 |
| property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws within | 108 |
| the one-hundred-twenty-day period described in division (D)(1) of | 109 |
| this section and fails to provide a satisfactory explanation as to | 110 |
| why those improvements are not completed, the alleged aggrieved | 111 |
| party may file a civil action for accessibility law violation | 112 |
| against that property owner, agent, or other responsible party. | 113 |
| (b) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible party | 114 |
| where the alleged accessibility law violation occurred makes the | 115 |
| improvements to bring the property into compliance with the | 116 |
| applicable accessibility laws within the one-hundred-twenty-day | 117 |
| period described in division (D)(1) of this section, no current or | 118 |
| future alleged aggrieved party shall receive any damages or | 119 |
| attorney's fees, other than special damages, for any action | 120 |
| arising out of the same or similar facts that served as a basis | 121 |
| for the alleged violation. | 122 |
| (E) This section applies to all actions alleging a violation | 123 |
| of an accessibility law for damages or fees, except for the | 124 |
| following: | 125 |
| (1) Those praying for special damages arising out of injuries | 126 |
| in fact. This section shall not be construed to limit actions for | 127 |
| recovery of special damages filed by any person who suffers an | 128 |
| injury in fact because the person was denied full and equal access | 129 |
| to an accommodation as required by federal or state law. | 130 |
| (2) Those initiated by the Ohio civil rights commission under | 131 |
| Chapter 4112. of the Revised Code. | 132 |
| (F) In making a determination of the amount of damages | 133 |
| awarded to a successful plaintiff, a court or jury shall consider | 134 |
| previous or pending actual damage awards received or prayed for by | 135 |
| that plaintiff for the same or similar injury. | 136 |
| (G) An owner, agent, or other responsible party of a property | 137 |
| may file a civil action to recover costs and attorney's fees from | 138 |
| any person, and from the person's attorney, who files a civil | 139 |
| action without first providing the notice required by division (A) | 140 |
| of this section or a civil action alleging violation of an | 141 |
| accessibility law after the owner, agent, or other responsible | 142 |
| party of the property has provided evidence that improvements have | 143 |
| been made to bring the property into compliance with the law and | 144 |
| the property is in compliance with the law. | 145 |
| (H) As used in this section, "accessibility law" means any | 146 |
| federal law or section of the Revised Code that ensures | 147 |
| accessibility to places of public accommodation, public conveyance | 148 |
| and modes of transportation, streets, highways, sidewalks, | 149 |
| walkways, buildings, medical facilities, and other public places | 150 |
| for a person with a disability. | 151 |
| Section 2. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency | 152 |
| measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public | 153 |
| peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that | 154 |
| this act is urgently needed to eliminate vexatious litigation of | 155 |
| accessibility laws, which unduly burden the courts and taxpayers | 156 |
| without improving access for those with accessibility needs. | 157 |
| Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect. | 158 |