Cleveland, OH Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

09, Cleveland's Director of Building and Housing designates a structure 'unsafe' when it is injurious to public health or safety, structurally unsafe or unsanitary, lacks safe egress, is a fire hazard, sits vacant and open to entry, or is otherwise dangerous due to inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, obsolescence or abandonment. Any such condition is a declared public nuisance that must be corrected to minimum Building Code, Housing Code, and Ohio Revised Code standards or eliminated by demolition. The Director issues a written Notice of Violation to the owner, agent, and any mortgagee of record, served by personal service, residence service, certified mail, or regular mail plus posting on the structure, and the notice sets a deadline to correct the defects.

The Director may also order the building vacated and post a sign reading 'THIS STRUCTURE IS IN A DANGEROUS CONDITION AND HAS BEEN CONDEMNED AND ITS USE HAS BEEN PROHIBITED BY THE DIRECTOR OF BUILDING AND HOUSING,' which stays up until repairs are approved or the structure is demolished. 06 within 30 days of the boarding permit and begin work within 30 days of that permit, or the Director can schedule demolition anyway. Appeals go to the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals; an unappealed notice automatically becomes a final order.

If the owner fails to comply, the Director may demolish, repair, or otherwise abate the nuisance and bill the owner for every cost, including attorney's fees, inspection costs, title searches, and collection expenses; unpaid bills after 30 days become a lien collected like property taxes through the Cuyahoga County Auditor. Re-inspections after a missed compliance deadline cost $100 per inspection, except for owner-occupied one- and two-family homes. In emergencies involving immediate danger to life, the Director can act at once without prior notice.