Warrensville Heights: A Source-of-Income Ordinance and an Open Question About Vouchers

The Ohio default, and the exception Warrensville Heights sits inside

Most Cuyahoga County owners work from the statewide default. Ohio's fair housing statute, R.C. 4112.02(H), protects race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability, or national origin — source of income and housing vouchers appear nowhere in it. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' Ohio Advisory Committee puts it flatly: "Source-of-income discrimination is legal in most of Ohio."

Municipalities can legislate out of that default, and PRRAC's compilation, updated March 2026, records 23 Ohio municipalities that have. Five are in Cuyahoga County: Cleveland Heights, University Heights, South Euclid, Warrensville Heights (Ch. 113, May 15, 2012) and Linndale (Ch. 515, May 1, 2012). So a Warrensville Heights owner is not working from the statewide default. What the ordinance covers is where the record stops being clean.

The open question: does Chapter 113 reach a housing voucher?

Two published sources describe the same five cities differently. PRRAC lists Warrensville Heights among the jurisdictions barring source-of-income discrimination. Signal Cleveland, covering the same group, narrows it: only three of the five — Cleveland Heights, South Euclid and University Heights — specifically include voucher protections. Warrensville Heights and Linndale are the two that reporting does not place in that group. The City of Cleveland is not on PRRAC's list at all — see Can a Landlord Legally Say No to a Housing Voucher in Ohio?

So an ordinance exists, and it is one of the oldest of the five. Whether its definition of source of income names housing vouchers, we could not confirm: the city's code platform blocks automated retrieval, so this rests on PRRAC and local reporting, not a verbatim read of Chapter 113. Confirm the current text with the City of Warrensville Heights and your own counsel before it drives a leasing decision. Nothing here is legal advice.

The surrounding law is unsettled in both directions. Ohio House Bill 135 would make lawful source of income a protected class statewide; introduced February 25, 2025 and referred to committee March 5, 2025, it has had no further action as of July 2026. Crain's Cleveland Business reported in an October 2025 article headlined University Heights' ordinance may be on the cusp of a constitutional battle that the city's voucher ordinance could draw a constitutional challenge; the piece is behind a paywall, and no theory, court or outcome is public.

The exposure that does not depend on Chapter 113

One risk is federal and countywide whatever the ordinance says. A 2017 Cuyahoga County audit found providers advertising "No section 8" were 26% more likely to deliver unfavorable treatment to Black prospective tenants, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report carrying it records that 89% of Cuyahoga County voucher recipients are Black, against 13% of Ohio's population — its stated basis for disparate-impact liability. See "No Section 8" in Your Listing.

Keeping the door open costs nothing and reaches roughly 15,000 voucher holders in Cuyahoga County, plus 20,000 households on CMHA's waiting list; CMHA asks that owner-placed ads say "vouchers are welcome." None of it moves your screening decision. CMHA is explicit — "It is the landlord's responsibility to screen prospective HCV tenants just as you would any other tenant" — and runs no gate on you: "CMHA does not have a pre-approval process for landlords or units."

What CMHA needs before it approves a Warrensville Heights tenancy

This part is settled, and it is what most often stalls a lease-up here. For units in 17 named suburbs — Warrensville Heights among them, alongside Maple Heights, Garfield Heights, Bedford and Shaker Heights — CMHA collects a copy of the Certificate of Occupancy and/or Rental Registration when the Request for Tenancy Approval is submitted. The city paperwork must exist before the RFTA is filed, not after a voucher holder picks the unit. Get the city's fee schedule in writing; we do not print figures that change.

The packet comes from the tenant — CMHA's step four is "Submit Request for Tenancy Approval Packet (RFTA) provided to you by HCV Family" — but it "must be signed by both the family and the owner," and "[t]he owner may submit the RTA on behalf of the family," so file it yourself: rfta@cmha.net, or the kiosks in CMHA's lobby at 8120 Kinsman Road. CMHA then publishes policy targets, not measured turnaround:

• One RFTA at a time per family — "[t]he family may not submit, and the PHA will not process, more than one (1) RTA at a time"
• Corrections in writing only — no fixes by phone, a common source of delay
• Inspection and decision within 15 days of RFTA submission (clock suspended while the unit is unavailable to inspect)
• Tenancy determination within 10 business days of CMHA receiving all required information
• HAP contract executed within 60 calendar days of the lease start — "[a]ny HAP contract executed after the 60-day period is void"
• Since January 1, 2026, filing an RFTA triggers Mandatory Landlord Orientation, required once every 24 months before a HAP contract can be executed for a new tenancy

What CMHA pays follows the ZIP, not the city line

CMHA was required to implement Small Area Fair Market Rent payment standards effective January 1, 2025, and its Rent Determination tool publishes FY2026 standards effective January 1, 2026 across 53 ZIP codes. Below is ZIP 44128 and the ZIPs bordering it, with countywide medians for scale. Which ZIP an address falls in is for CMHA's tool to say — it is the only current publication; no static PDF exists.

The spread is the point. A two-bedroom in 44128 carries a $1,412 subsidy ceiling, under the county median of $1,525; a few streets into 44122 the same bedroom count carries $2,079, a difference of $667 a month. See CMHA Payment Standards by ZIP Code.

Then read CMHA's qualifier: "The payment standard is NOT the maximum amount that the landlord can charge; it is the maximum amount of subsidy that the CMHA will pay toward each tenant's rent portion." Rent reasonableness applies to gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities or the utility allowance — and on an initial contract the tenant portion can be no more than 40% of the family's monthly adjusted income.

Where we come in

We work Greater Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, under CMHA, and we have completed CMHA's Virtual Landlord Orientation — the live session CMHA books through Eventbrite and verifies before executing a HAP contract. Named as your agent, that box is ticked the day the RFTA is filed.

• Tenant placement — one month's rent, charged only after the tenant is placed. No placement, no fee
• Inspection attendance plus a written report — $100. Attend it yourself instead and pay nothing
• Ongoing management — 5% of monthly rent, only while the unit is rented
• Repair estimates — free, itemized, back inside 24 hours. Nothing starts without your approval

The short version

Warrensville Heights has a source-of-income ordinance dating to 2012, and the published record does not resolve whether it reaches housing vouchers — a question for the city's code text and your counsel. What is not ambiguous: the advertising exposure is federal, your screening standards stay yours, the registration paperwork must be in hand before the RFTA, and the ceiling follows the ZIP. Call (440) 444-4737, or read Section 8 Stress Free.

This article is general information for property owners in the Cleveland area, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules set by CMHA, HUD, the State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County and individual municipalities change, and individual situations vary — check the sources cited above or consult a qualified attorney or accountant before acting. Rent Finder Cleveland is an equal housing opportunity provider and does business in accordance with the Fair Housing Act.