Rental Registration
Rental Registration Information for Cleveland-area Investors
The Cleveland area real estate market, though lucrative for residential property investors because of a combination of factors, is shockingly fraught with regulations with which investors must comply. It is particularly important to be aware of the requirements of the county and any individual city regarding the registration of rental properties within each jurisdiction.
Failure to comply with rental registration requirements could result in anything from a penalty/fine, in the better-case scenario, to the court’s refusal to hear an eviction case when you’re trying to remove a delinquent tenant in the worse-case scenario. Though there are investors who attempt to ignore or disregard rental registration requirements, the risk is almost never worth the reward — the local jurisdictions will almost always prevail, and avoidance costs the investor far more in the long run than would have been the case if the registration requirements had been followed in the first place.
County Registration
Any residential rental real estate within Cuyahoga County must be registered with the county. Fortunately, there is no fee whatsoever for this. In the past the registration process required the filing of a form by mail or submission via fax — Since 2018, however, this has been streamlined, and there is now an online form to complete this registration. Also sometimes referred to as the rental disclosure form,
this must be filed within 60 days of any change (e.g. change in ownership, or change in owner’s contact information).
City Registration
Most cities within Cuyahoga County, including the City of Cleveland, require the registration of any residential rental property, and the payment of a registration fee. This is in addition to, and not in lieu of, the county registration process. Where applicable, the registration fee is typically paid annually. Many cities also require names and contact information of all tenants/residents of the property as part of the registration process, and many require periodic inspections as well. Most of the cities that are popular amongst residential investors have information on rental registrations provided in the Cleveland Investor Primer dashboards on the Area Guide page.