Cleveland building and housing prosecutors took fewer property owners to court over code violations last year than they did in 2022. 

That was one of the major points that Housing Court Judge W. Moná Scott shared with Cleveland City Council during a hearing on overhauling housing codes last week. The city filed 1,368 prosecutions in 2023 – down from 2,151 the year before, according to housing court.

Scott pointed to another challenge once a case is filed: getting court summonses into the hands of property owners. 

“There is a struggle for the city code enforcement prosecutors to serve the LLC organizations,” the judge said. 

The Bibb administration pitches its “Residents First” legislation as a new set of tools for holding landlords – particularly those based out of town – accountable. Council sounds generally on board with the overhaul, while also asking whether the city has enough building inspectors to pull it off. 

Sally Martin O’Toole, the building and housing director, said there’s a reason prosecutions fell last year: Her department was conducting a citywide survey of property conditions. 

“We were quite busy, and that explains the judge’s concern about the drop,” she said. “There won’t be a drop this year.”