Akron voters approved two charter amendments on Nov. 3 that will reshape the relationship between renters and landlords across the city — and the work of turning that vote into working law now falls to Akron City Council, which faces a hard 90-day deadline once the measures take effect, according to reporting by the Akron Beacon Journal.
The amendments, Issues 11 and 12, take effect 30 days after their Nov. 3 approval, the Beacon Journal reported. Both measures require council to enact additional implementing legislation within 90 days of that effective date. The Summit County Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the election results on Nov. 23, and Council President Margo Sommerville told the Beacon Journal in a Nov. 4 email that council will work with the city’s Law Department to meet its drafting obligations and expects to begin considering the enabling legislation soon after certification.
Issue 11 changes how security deposits work in Akron. Under the amendment, property owners and operators must offer tenants three- or six-month plans for paying a security deposit in installments, according to the Beacon Journal. The measure criminalizes failing to notify tenants or prospective tenants of that right, bans fees, charges, deposits or other payments collected before a rental agreement is finalized, and criminalizes collecting application fees…