UPDATE: Effective February 6, 2026, the City of Cleveland no longer requires a mandatory exterior inspection before the sale or transfer of 1–3 unit vacant residential properties. Read more here.

After much debate, the city of Cleveland just passed a new ordinance requiring vacant homes in the city to be registered and have the exterior inspected before they transfer to a new owner. How's this going to impact you? This is a major change that's going to impact buyers and sellers in the marketplace, and Progressive Urban is here to help you navigate it. 

The new ordinance (which the city calls Residents First) ONLY affects vacant, 1-3 family properties. This means, if you're an owner occupant or a landlord with an occupied property, it won't affect you. If you own a vacant property that's not currently for sale, or if you're buying or selling a vacant property that fits this criteria, here are five things you need to know. 

1. If you're selling a vacant residential property, you have to get a free exterior inspection by the city before you transfer it to a new owner. If there are code violations, you or the new buyer have to fix them. Typically the city will give the new owner six months, but if they're making progress, that can be extended. The exception is hazards and public safety issues, which have to be addressed in 10 days. 
2. Owners that don't address these code violations can be given civil tickets and fines and brought into housing court. If an owner is trying to sell a property, gets an inspection, and it doesn't sell, the owner is still responsible for fixing the violations on the property. 
3. All owners  of vacant residential 1-3 family properties, regardless of where they live, must register them with the city at a cost of $70 per unit. Upon registration of vacant property the city may come out and inspect for exterior code violations.
4. If  you're an out of town owner of a vacant residential 1-3 family property, then you must assign a local agent in charge (basically, someone in Northeast Ohio to be your point person for problems or complaints). 
5. In order for a vacant property to be occupied the owner must apply for and obtain a certificate of correction be issued upon correction of all vacant building violations at that property.

Who does this ordinance affect? 

The city estimates that the ordinance affects about 6,972 of the city's total 117,564 properties. About 1,200-1,400 of these are sold annually, it says. 

When does it go into effect? 

The   city's goal is to have this program up and running six months from the passing of the legislation which would put it in the month of August 2024.  After hearing complaints from Progressive Urban and the Akron Cleveland Area Board of Realtors, the city made several changes to this ordinance to make it more practical for owners and to try not to drive away responsible investors and homebuyers. However, it remains to be seen how it works in practice. The city is staffing up with a team of 5-7 inspectors to complete 5-6 inspections per day, it says. 

Questions? Give us a call at 216.619.9696 or email David Sharkey at dsharkey@progressiveurban.com and we'll try to get answers. We want to help buyers and sellers navigate this major change in city legislation. 

Want to dig deeper? To view the City's slide deck summarizing the entire ordinance, click here. To read the entire ordinance, click here.