Akron voters approved two housing charter amendments on Nov. 3, but tenants and landlords will wait up to 120 days before the new rules bind property owners. Signal Akron and the Akron Beacon Journal reported Issue 11 passed with more than 57% of the vote — 57.8% according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s unofficial count — and Issue 12 passed with 50.9%, with all precincts reporting. Results remain unofficial pending certification by the Summit County Board of Elections.
Issue 11 changes upfront rental costs. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, landlords must offer 3- or 6-month installment plans for security deposits. The amendment bans fees, charges, or deposits before a rental agreement is finalized, and criminalizes collecting application fees and failing to notify tenants of the installment right.
Issue 12 expands fair-housing protections. The Akron Beacon Journal reported criminal history — except for sex offenders and arson offenders — and source of income become protected classes, and refusing to rent on that basis is prohibited. The Akron Civil Rights Commission will also gain jurisdiction over real-estate discrimination claims.
Signal Akron reported charter amendments take effect 30 days after passage, and the city then has 90 days to write implementing legislation — up to about 120 days before rules with teeth bind landlords. Imokhai Okolo, a lawyer and Freedom BLOC organizer who helped write the measures, told Signal Akron of the drafting window: “It should not take City Council that long.”
The measures passed despite opposition from real-estate organizations, the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Shammas Malik, who said the problems were real but a charter change was the wrong approach, according to Signal Akron and the Akron Beacon Journal. On Nov. 4, Malik and the Chamber said in statements they expect to work with Council to write clear, workable rules, Signal Akron reported. Malik told Signal Akron: “I hope that I’m wrong about some of the concerns that I have. Our job is to diligently implement it and try to make it work.”
Council member Bruce Bolden, who chairs the Housing & Neighborhood Assistance committee and opposed the measures, told Signal Akron: “It’s obviously what people wanted. … Our job is to do what people elected us to do.” Ralph McGreevy of the Northern Ohio Apartment Association told Signal Akron the association would likely join legal challenges, believing the issues conflict with the Ohio Revised Code on landlord-tenant obligations. The Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors told Signal Akron “practical questions remain about how the amendments will work.”
Malik plans to propose other housing legislation this month covering rent-payment receipts and fair-housing training for property owners, and said the city will defend any lawsuit, Signal Akron reported. Freedom BLOC and local organizations collected the signatures to place the issues on the ballot, a campaign that ended with Akron voters’ approval of the housing and police oversight charter amendments. What happens next is drafting: Council will turn the charter language into ordinances and enforcement steps in the coming weeks.