To enact section 4112.16 of the Revised Code to require an alleged aggrieved party to provide a notice of an alleged accessibility law violation in advance of filing a civil action and to declare an emergency.

Section 1.  That section 4112.16 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 4112.16.  (A) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, prior to filing a civil action alleging violation of an accessibility law, the alleged aggrieved party shall 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 all alleged accessibility law violations for which an action may be filed by the alleged aggrieved party. An alleged aggrieved party is precluded from filing such a civil action until the alleged aggrieved party serves a notice in accordance with division (B) of this section and 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 satisfactory explanation for the failure within one hundred twenty 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 thirty days as required by division (C) of this section.

(B) A notice provided pursuant to division (A) of this section shall be in substantially the following form:

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 PURSUANT TO (citation of statute of which the property is believed to be in violation) 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 date on which the alleged violation occurred 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 30 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 120 DAYS TO COMPLETE THESE IMPROVEMENTS. THE 120-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 120-DAY PERIOD, THE ALLEGED AGGRIEVED PARTY MAY BRING A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU.

(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 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 thirty 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. A response in this manner 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) 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) 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 one hundred twenty days to remedy the alleged violation. The one-hundred-twenty-day period shall begin on the date the alleged aggrieved party receives the response described in division (C) of this section.

(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 one-hundred-twenty-day period described in division (D)(1) of this section and fails to provide a satisfactory 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) 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 one-hundred-twenty-day period described in division (D)(1) of this section, no current or future alleged aggrieved party shall receive any damages or attorney's fees, other than special damages, for any action arising out of the same or similar facts that served as a basis for the alleged violation.

(E) This section applies to all actions alleging a violation of an accessibility law for damages or fees, except for the following:

(1) Those praying for special damages arising out of injuries in fact. 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) Those initiated by the Ohio civil rights commission under Chapter 4112. of the Revised Code.

(F) In making a determination of the amount of damages awarded to a successful plaintiff, a court or jury shall consider previous or pending actual damage awards received or prayed for by that plaintiff for the same or similar injury.

(G) An owner, agent, or other responsible party of a property may file a civil action to recover costs and attorney's fees from any person, and from the person's attorney, who files a civil action without first providing the notice required by division (A) of this section or a civil action alleging violation of an accessibility law after the owner, agent, or other responsible party of the property has provided evidence that improvements have been made to bring the property into compliance with the law and the property is in compliance with the law.

(H) As used in this section, "accessibility law" means any federal law or section of the Revised Code that ensures accessibility to 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.

Section 2.  This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that this act is urgently needed to eliminate vexatious litigation of accessibility laws, which unduly burden the courts and taxpayers without improving access for those with accessibility needs. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.