Ohio Code 4112.024 – Housing owned by religious organization; preference for occupants
(A) Nothing in division (H) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code shall bar any religious or denominational institution or organization, or any nonprofit charitable or educational organization that is operated, supervised, or controlled by or in connection with a religious organization, from limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of housing accommodations that it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion, or from giving preference in the sale, rental, or occupancy of such housing accommodations to persons of the same religion, unless membership in the religion is restricted on account of race, color, or national origin.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4112.024
- age: means an individual aged forty years or older. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Disability: means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, including the functions of caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working; a record of a physical or mental impairment; or being regarded as having a physical or mental impairment. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Dwelling unit: means a single unit of residence for a family of one or more persons. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Familial status: means either of the following:
(a) One or more individuals who are under eighteen years of age and who are domiciled with a parent or guardian having legal custody of the individual or domiciled, with the written permission of the parent or guardian having legal custody, with a designee of the parent or guardian;
(b) Any person who is pregnant or in the process of securing legal custody of any individual who is under eighteen years of age. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Housing accommodations: includes any building or structure, or portion of a building or structure, that is used or occupied or is intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied as the home residence, dwelling, dwelling unit, or sleeping place of one or more individuals, groups, or families whether or not living independently of each other; and any vacant land offered for sale or lease. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Person: includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, receivers, and other organized groups of persons. See Ohio Code 4112.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) Nothing in division (H) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code shall bar any bona fide private or fraternal organization that, incidental to its primary purpose, owns or operates lodgings for other than a commercial purpose, from limiting the rental or occupancy of the lodgings to its members or from giving preference to its members.
(C) Nothing in division (H) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code limits the applicability of any reasonable local, state, or federal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy housing accommodations. Nothing in that division prohibits the owners or managers of housing accommodations from implementing reasonable occupancy standards based on the number and size of sleeping areas or bedrooms and the overall size of a dwelling unit, provided that the standards are not implemented to circumvent the purposes of this chapter and are formulated, implemented, and interpreted in a manner consistent with this chapter and any applicable local, state, or f ederal restrictions regarding the maximum number of occupants permitted to occupy housing accommodations.
(D) Nothing in division (H) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code requires that housing accommodations be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others.
(E) Nothing in division (H) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code pertaining to discrimination on the basis of familial status shall be construed to apply to any of the following:
(1) Housing accommodations provided under any state or federal program that have been determined under the “Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,” 102 Stat. 1623, 42 U.S.C. § 3607, as amended, to be specifically designed and operated to assist elderly persons;
(2) Housing accommodations intended for and solely occupied by persons who are sixty-two years of age or older;
(3) Housing accommodations intended and operated for occupancy by at least one person who is fifty-five years of age or older per unit, as determined under the “Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988,” 102 Stat. 1623, 42 U.S.C. § 3607, as amended.
(F) Nothing in divisions (H)(1) to (18) of section 4112.02 of the Revised Code shall be construed to require any person selling or renting property to modify the property in any way or to exercise a higher degree of care for a person with a disability, to relieve any person with a disability of any o bligation generally imposed on all persons regardless of disability in a written lease, rental agreement, or contract of purchase or sale, or to forbid distinctions based on the inability to fulfill the terms and conditions, including financial obligations, of the lease, agreement, or contract.