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Parma, OH Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Some Restrictions

Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified September 2026

Key Facts

Governing chapter: Ch. 1707, Basic Standards for Property Maintenance
Owner duty: Maintain structure and common areas
Occupant duty: Maintain space they control, clean/sanitary
Combustion heaters: Barred from bedrooms/bathrooms (1707.07(d))
Electrical standard: Free of electrical hazard (1707.07(e))
1707.02 penalty: 4th-degree misdemeanor, 1st offense

Summary

Parma's Basic Standards for Property Maintenance, Chapter 1707, require every structure, rented or owner-occupied, to be kept in good repair with safe electrical service, and bar combustion heating appliances from bedrooms and bathrooms. Owners answer for the structure; occupants answer for the space they control.

1707.01 GENERAL MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS. (a) All structures and all parts thereof, both exterior and interior, shall be maintained in good repair and shall be capable of performing the function for which such structure, or any part or feature thereof, was designed for or intended to be used. (b) All equipment and facilities appurtenant to every structure shall be maintained in good and safe working order. ... 1707.02 MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER AND OCCUPANT. (a) Owner. The owner of every structure shall be responsible for the maintenance thereof in good repair and safe condition as required by the terms of this Code. ... 1707.07 ... (d) No heating equipment or appliance depending on room air for combustion shall be located in any bedroom, bathroom, toilet room or any room used for sleeping purposes. (e) Every structure supplied with electricity shall be maintained so as to be free of any source of electrical hazard.

View official code

Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-30: Local legislation current to August 3, 2026 | State legislation current to June 25, 2025).

Full Breakdown

025(a)(2)-(3) makes enforceable against rental registrations: a landlord who fails to maintain the exterior or interior of a rental as required under this chapter can have the rental certificate suspended or revoked. 01 requires all structures, and all parts of them, exterior and interior, to be maintained in good repair and capable of performing their designed function, with all appurtenant equipment kept in good and safe working order. 02 splits responsibility: the owner answers for the structure's overall repair and safe condition and for shared or common areas, while the occupant answers for keeping the space they control clean and sanitary and for maintaining any equipment or appliances they personally own.

07 sets specific interior conditions: floors and walls free of holes and loose material, water-resistant bathroom flooring, working window coverings (rags, sheets, plywood and similar makeshift coverings are barred), no room-air-dependent combustion heating equipment in any bedroom, bathroom, toilet room or sleeping room, and every electrically supplied structure kept free of electrical hazard. These standards apply to every structure in the City, and Chapter 1713's rental-inspection scheme layers the annual registration and certification process on top of them for rental housing specifically.

Violations & Fines

A first offense of Section 1707.02 is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, rising to a second-degree misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense, under Section 1705.99(b), with each day of a continuing violation a separate offense. Violations of Sections 1707.01 and 1707.07, which carry no listed penalty of their own, default to the first-degree misdemeanor set in Section 1705.99(a) for Code violations generally, including interference with a lawful inspection.

Frequently Asked Questions

What habitability standards apply to Parma rentals?

Chapter 1707, Basic Standards for Property Maintenance, requires every structure to be kept in good repair and capable of performing its intended function under Section 1707.01, with the owner responsible for the structure and common areas and the occupant responsible for the space they control under Section 1707.02.

Can a landlord put a space heater in a bedroom?

No. Section 1707.07(d) bars any heating equipment or appliance that depends on room air for combustion from being located in a bedroom, bathroom, toilet room or any room used for sleeping.

Who is responsible for electrical hazards in a rental, the landlord or tenant?

Section 1707.07(e) places the duty on the structure itself: every structure supplied with electricity must be maintained free of any source of electrical hazard, and Section 1707.02(a) makes the owner responsible for the structure's overall safe condition.

What happens if a Parma landlord ignores these maintenance standards?

Failing to maintain the interior or exterior under Part Seventeen is grounds to suspend or revoke the rental registration certificate under Section 1713.025(a)(2)-(3), on top of the misdemeanor penalties in Section 1705.99.

Sources & Official References

[1]Parma Codified Ordinances Ch. 1707 - amlegal

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