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Sub. H. B. No. 333 As Reported by the House Judiciary CommitteeAs Reported by the House Judiciary Committee
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Hackett, Henne, Hood, Mallory, O'Brien, Lynch
A BILL
To enact section 4112.16 of the Revised Code to
authorize an alleged aggrieved party to provide a
notice of an alleged accessibility law violation
in advance of filing a civil action and to
establish the circumstances under which an alleged
aggrieved party is entitled to attorney's fees in
a civil action based on the violation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 4112.16 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 4112.16. (A) Prior to filing a civil action alleging
violation of an accessibility law, the alleged aggrieved party may
notify the owner, agent, or other responsible party of the
property where the alleged violation occurred by personal service,
in accordance with applicable state or federal laws, or by
certified mail, of alleged accessibility law violations for which
an action may be filed by the alleged aggrieved party. If an
alleged aggrieved party does not serve notice, the alleged
aggrieved party is not entitled to attorney's fees upon the
judgment of a civil action alleging violation of an accessibility
law unless the trial court determines that attorney's fees are
appropriate due to the nature of the violations, including their
willfulness, duration, or severity. If an alleged aggrieved party
serves notice in accordance with division (B) of this section, the
alleged aggrieved party is precluded from filing such a civil
action until one of the following occurs:
(1) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as
described in division (C)(1) of this section and the property
owner, agent, or other responsible party of the property fails to
make the improvements or bring the property into compliance with
accessibility laws and fails to provide a reasonable explanation
for the failure within sixty days as required by division (D) of
this section.
(2) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as
described in division (C)(2) of this section.
(3) The alleged aggrieved party receives a response as
described in division (C)(3) of this section, but the alleged
aggrieved party reasonably believes that the alleged violations
continue to exist.
(4) The property owner, agent, or other responsible party of
the property fails to respond to the notice within fifteen
business days as required by division (C) of this section.
(B) A notice provided pursuant to division (A) of this
section shall furnish similar information or be in substantially
similar form to the following:
THIS LETTER IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT
(address of property), FOR WHICH YOU ARE THE PROPERTY OWNER,
AGENT, OR OTHER RESPONSIBLE PARTY, MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL
AND/OR STATE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS AND CAUSED HARM TO (name of
alleged aggrieved party).
SPECIFICALLY, THE POSSIBLE VIOLATION(S) HAS/HAVE BEEN
IDENTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:
(Notice must identify the specific facts that constitute the
alleged violation, including the approximate date on which the
alleged violation occurred or was observed and identification of
the location of the alleged violation with sufficient detail, so
that the location can be identified by the property owner, agent,
or other responsible party.)
YOU HAVE 15 BUSINESS DAYS TO RESPOND TO THIS NOTICE BY
PERSONAL SERVICE OR CERTIFIED MAIL. YOUR RESPONSE MUST BE
ADDRESSED TO (address where personal service may be received or
certified mail may be sent). OHIO LAW ALLOWS YOU TO RESPOND IN ONE
OF THREE WAYS:
(1) YOU MAY EXPRESSLY STATE THAT IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE MADE TO
BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY
LAWS. IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, YOU HAVE A MAXIMUM OF 60 DAYS
TO COMPLETE THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THE 60-DAY PERIOD SHALL BEGIN ON
THE DATE YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE IS RECEIVED AT THE ADDRESS
GIVEN ABOVE. IF THE IMPROVEMENTS NECESSARY TO BRING THE PROPERTY
INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE ACCESSIBILITY LAWS ARE NOT
COMPLETED WITHIN THE 60-DAY PERIOD, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY
MAY BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU. YOU MAY EXTEND THE 60-DAY PERIOD
ONLY IF YOU PROVIDE A REASONABLE EXPLANATION AS TO WHY
IMPROVEMENTS CANNOT BE MADE WITHIN 60 DAYS. REASONABLE
EXPLANATIONS INCLUDE DEMONSTRATED NEED FOR DELAY, SUCH AS
CONSTRUCTION AND PERMITTING RELATED ISSUES.
(2) YOU MAY CHALLENGE THE VALIDITY OF THE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS.
IF YOU RESPOND IN THIS MANNER, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY MAY
BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU IMMEDIATELY.
(3) IF THE VIOLATIONS LISTED ABOVE ARE THE SAME AS OR SIMILAR
TO PREVIOUS VIOLATIONS THAT YOU BELIEVE HAVE BEEN CORRECTED, YOU
MAY RESPOND BY STATING THAT THE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN
MADE TO BRING THE PROPERTY INTO COMPLIANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE
ACCESSIBILITY LAWS. YOU MUST ALSO ATTACH EVIDENCE THAT VERIFIES
THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS NOTICE OR YOUR RIGHTS
UNDER FEDERAL OR OHIO LAW, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LEGAL COUNSEL.
(C) Within fifteen business days after an alleged aggrieved
party serves or sends a notice pursuant to division (A) of this
section, the property owner, agent, or other responsible party of
the property where the alleged violation occurred shall respond to
the notice by personal service or certified mail to the alleged
aggrieved party. That response shall do one of the following:
(1) Expressly state that improvements will be made to bring
the property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws.
(2) Challenge the validity of the alleged violation. If the
property owner, agent, or other responsible party responds in this
manner, the alleged aggrieved party may file an action, subject to
any applicable statutes of limitations, any time after receipt of
that response.
(3) State that the alleged violations identified by the
alleged aggrieved party have been corrected to comply with
applicable accessibility laws. The property owner, agent, or other
responsible party shall attach evidence to the response that
verifies those improvements.
(D)(1)(a) If a property owner, agent, or responsible party of
the property where the alleged accessibility law violation
occurred responds in the manner described in division (C)(1) of
this section, the property owner, agent, or responsible party
shall have sixty days to remedy the alleged violation. The
sixty-day period shall begin on the date the alleged aggrieved
party receives the response described in division (C) of this
section. The owner, agent, or other responsible party may extend
the sixty-day period by not more than sixty days upon providing a
reasonable explanation as to why the improvement requires more
than sixty days to complete. Reasonable explanations include
demonstrated need for extension, such as construction and
permitting related issues.
(b) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible party
of the property where the alleged accessibility law violation
occurred responds in the manner described in division (C)(1) of
this section and makes the improvements to bring the property into
compliance with applicable accessibility laws within the sixty-day
period described in division (D)(1)(a) of this section or provides
a reasonable explanation as to why those improvements are not
completed, the response as described in division (C)(1) shall not
be considered an admission of guilt and shall be inadmissible as
evidence in any future actions based on the same facts filed
against the property owner, agent, or other responsible party.
(2)(a) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible
party of the property where the alleged accessibility law
violation occurred fails to make the improvements to bring the
property into compliance with applicable accessibility laws within
the sixty-day period described in division (D)(1)(a) of this
section and, in the opinion of the aggrieved party, fails to
provide a reasonable explanation as to why those improvements are
not completed, the alleged aggrieved party may file a civil action
for accessibility law violation against that property owner,
agent, or other responsible party.
(b) In a civil action filed pursuant to division (D)(2)(a) of
this section in which a plaintiff prevails, the plaintiff shall
recover reasonable attorney's fees, in addition to any other
remedies available to the plaintiff. However, the plaintiff shall
not be entitled to attorney's fees under this division if the
plaintiff filed the civil action prior to the expiration of an
extension invoked by the defendant and the court determines that
the defendant's explanation as to the necessity of the extension
was reasonable.
(c) If the property owner, agent, or other responsible party
where the alleged accessibility law violation occurred makes the
improvements to bring the property into compliance with the
applicable accessibility laws within the sixty-day period
described in division (D)(1) of this section and provides evidence
to the alleged aggrieved party that the improvements have been
made, or if the property owner, agent, or other responsible party
demonstrates to the court's satisfaction that the explanation
given for the necessity of an extension was reasonable, the
alleged aggrieved party shall not receive any damages or
attorney's fees for any action arising out of the same or similar
facts that served as a basis for the alleged violation. The
alleged aggrieved party may receive damages and attorney's fees
for actions arising out of a recurrence of the same or similar
alleged accessibility law violation if it is determined that the
property owner, agent, or other responsible party failed to
maintain accessibility following the initial improvements.
(E)(1) This section shall not be construed to limit actions
for recovery of special damages filed by any person who suffers an
injury in fact because the person was denied full and equal access
to an accommodation as required by federal or state law.
(2) This section does not apply to actions initiated by the
Ohio civil rights commission under Chapter 4112. of the Revised
Code.
(F) As used in this section:
(1) "Accessibility law" means any federal law or section of
the Revised Code that ensures accessibility to services, programs,
places of public accommodation, public conveyance and modes of
transportation, streets, highways, sidewalks, walkways, buildings,
medical facilities, and other public places for a person with a
disability.
(2) "Business day" means a day of the week excluding Sunday
and a legal holiday as defined in section 1.14 of the Revised
Code.
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