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The Akron Municipal Court wishes to clarify some of the misinformation in the community concerning proposed amendments to Rules 29 and 39. The proposed amendments are the work of the Akron Municipal Court and the intention of these proposed amendments is to benefit both landlords and tenants by making the eviction process more efficient and incentivizing tenants to satisfy adverse judgments owed to landlords. These proposed amendments will not likely reduce the number of evictions filed.

The work of the Summit County Eviction Task Force is focused on reducing the number of evictions filed by providing education and resources to landlords and tenants to hopefully avoid the filing of some evictions. The Summit County Eviction Task Force is made up of community partners including United Way of Summit County, The University of Akron School of Law, Fair Housing Contact Service, Inc., Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA), Community Legal Aid, and Summit County Department of Job and Family Services. 

Rule 29 is an existing rule. Current law already requires a landlord to (1) show proof of ownership/right of occupancy of the property, and (2) show proof the property is registered with the County and/or City rental Registry if applicable. The proposed amendment only adds this language to the rule.

Rule 39 is a new rule allowing for the sealing of certain eviction cases. In the event a tenant has had an adverse judgment granting an eviction, the case can be sealed ONLY if ALL of the following conditions are met:

1. A judge finds extenuating circumstances lead to the eviction, AND
2. At least 3 years have passed since judgment was entered for the landlord and the tenant has fully satisfied any judgment owed to the landlord, AND
3. At least 3 years have passed since the tenant has had any adverse judgment granting an eviction in any jurisdiction.

There are three other situations where a case can be sealed:

• One, where the tenant prevailed in the hearing and an adverse judgment was not rendered against the tenant.
• Two, where the landlord agrees in writing that the case can be sealed.
• Three, where the case was dismissed and an adverse judgment was never rendered against the tenant.
  
  

Once again, it is the Court’s intention that these proposed amendments will make the eviction process more efficient and will incentivize tenants to satisfy adverse judgments owed to landlords by providing an opportunity for an eviction case to be sealed.

In order to hear from as many people in our community as possible, the Akron Municipal Court is extending the public comment period for the proposed amendments to Friday, January 31, 2020.  Individuals may submit comments, in writing, to:

Montrella S. Jackson, Esq., CCM
Court Administrator
Akron Municipal Court
Harold K. Stubbs Justice Center
217 South High Street - Suite 713
Akron, OH 44308

The proposed amendments can be found by visiting https://www.akronmunicipalcourt.org/media/1176/akron-municipal-court-rule-no-29-rule-no-39-12-17-19.pdf.

Comments can also be sent via email to court@akronohio.gov or via fax to (330) 375-2303.

Please include your full name, email and mailing address in any comments submitted by electronic mail.