Pertsinides v. Canton Fair Hous. Comm.

2024 Ohio 2057
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 28, 2024
Docket2023 CA 00086
StatusPublished

This text of 2024 Ohio 2057 (Pertsinides v. Canton Fair Hous. Comm.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pertsinides v. Canton Fair Hous. Comm., 2024 Ohio 2057 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

[Cite as Pertsinides v. Canton Fair Hous. Comm., 2024-Ohio-2057.]

COURT OF APPEALS STARK COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

TOM PERTSINIDES, ET AL. : JUDGES: : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, P.J. Appellants : Hon. Craig R. Baldwin, J. : Hon. Andrew J. King, J. -vs- : : CITY OF CANTON FAIR HOUSING : COMMISSION, ET AL. : Case No. 2023 CA 00086 : Appellees : OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Court of Common Pleas, Case No. 2022 CV 01672

JUDGMENT: Affirmed

DATE OF JUDGMENT: May 28, 2024

APPEARANCES:

For Appellants For Appellees

TONYA J. ROGERS KEVIN R. L'HOMMEDIEU ANDREA K. ZIARKO TYRONE D. HAURITZ 400 South Main Street CARRY T. D'ANDREA North Canton, OH 44720 218 Cleveland Avenue, SW Stark County, Case No. 2023 CA 00086 2

Canton, OH 44701-4218 King, J.

{¶ 1} Appellants, Tom Pertsinides and AKP Properties, LLC, appeal the July 11,

2023 judgment entry of the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County, Ohio, affirming in

part a September 15, 2022 decision of Appellee, City of Canton Fair Housing Commission

("commission"). We affirm the trial court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

{¶ 2} AKP Properties manages over 160 rental units. Mr. Pertsinides is the

president of the company. On August 23, 2021, complainant, Lisa Davis, contacted

appellants and inquired about renting housing. The next day, appellants responded and

requested detailed information regarding income, occupants, past eviction history, and

pets. She indicated she had a "service animal," a dog terrier, who was 5, registered,

fixed, had shots, and passed a temperament test. She has the dog because she suffers

from several mental health conditions. Mr. Pertsinides requested documentation for her

need for the animal. On September 8, 2021, while looking at a rental unit on Yale Avenue,

Ms. Davis indicated her animal was an emotional support dog and was a Pit Bull Terrier

named Bella. She submitted the requested documentation, but Mr. Pertsinides testified

the paper was crumpled and illegible. He asked for clearer documentation. Ms. Davis

testified the paper she gave him was legible. She interpreted Mr. Pertsinides's actions

as a refusal to rent to her. Later that day, Mrs. Pertsinides called Ms. Davis and discussed

pet insurance with her. Ms. Davis had no further contact with appellants.

{¶ 3} On October 19, 2021, Ms. Davis filed a complaint with the commission and

the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), claiming appellants

violated the Canton Fair Housing laws. An investigation determined probable cause of Stark County, Case No. 2023 CA 00086 3

fair housing violations. A hearing before a hearing officer was held on May 24, 2022. By

findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations filed September 6, 2022, the

hearing officer found appellants engaged in unlawful discriminatory housing practices

under four sections of the City of Canton Housing Code, and recommended an award of

$15,000 to Ms. Davis for her emotional distress and a civil penalty of $7,700. By order

signed September 15, 2022, the commission adopted the hearing officer's decision.

{¶ 4} Appellants filed an appeal to the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County.

By judgment entry filed July 11, 2023, the trial court affirmed the commission's findings

and the civil penalty, but reversed the emotional distress award.

{¶ 5} Appellants filed an appeal with the following assignments of error:

I

{¶ 6} "THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR BY AFFIRMING

THE COMMISSION'S DECISION AWARDING A CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST

APPELLANTS WHEN THE RECORD AS A WHOLE DOES NOT SUPPORT THE

FINDING THAT APPELLANTS REFUSED TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE

ACCOMMODATION PURSUANT TO THE CANTON CITY FAIR HOUSING CODE AND

THE FEDERAL FAIR HOUSING ACT."

II

{¶ 7} "THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR BY AFFIRMING

THE COMMISSION'S DECISION AWARDING A CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST

FINDING THAT APPELLANT'S CONDUCT WAS DISCRIMINATORY UNDER THE

CANTON CITY FAIR HOUSING CODE AND THE FEDERAL FAIR HOUSING ACT." Stark County, Case No. 2023 CA 00086 4

STANDARD OF REVIEW

{¶ 8} In reviewing an administrative appeal under R.C. 2506.04, a common pleas

court considers the whole record and determines whether the administrative order is

"unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or unsupported by the

preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence."

{¶ 9} As an appellate court, our standard of review to be applied in an R.C.

2506.04 appeal is "limited in scope." Kisil v. Sandusky, 12 Ohio St.3d 30, 34, 465 N.E.2d

848 (1984). "This statute grants a more limited power to the court of appeals to review

the judgment of the common pleas court only on 'questions of law,' which does not include

the same extensive power to weigh 'the preponderance of the substantial, reliable, and

probative evidence,' as is granted to the common pleas court." Id. at fn. 4. See also

Henley v. Youngstown Board of Zoning Appeals, 90 Ohio St. 3d 142, 147, 2000-Ohio-

493, 735 N.E.2d 433.

{¶ 10} Although a court of appeals reviews a trial court's legal decisions de novo,

a court of appeals applies the more deferential abuse of discretion standard to a trial

court's factual determinations. See Willow Grove, Ltd. v. Olmsted Township Board of

Zoning Appeals, 169 Ohio St. 3d 759, 764, 2022-Ohio-4364, 207 N.E.3d 779. See also

Henley at 148 ("Accordingly, the court of appeals did not exceed the proper scope of

review under that statute when it sought to determine whether Section 80 applied to the

undisputed facts in the record, or whether the common pleas court abused its discretion

by failing to apply Section 80"). Stark County, Case No. 2023 CA 00086 5

{¶ 11} "[T]he standard of review for courts of appeals in administrative appeals is

designed to strongly favor affirmance" and "permits reversal only when the common pleas

court errs in its application or interpretation of the law or its decision is unsupported by a

preponderance of the evidence as a matter of law." Cleveland Clinic Foundation v.

Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals, 141 Ohio St.3d 318, 2014-Ohio-4809, 23 N.E.3d

1161, ¶ 30.

I, II

{¶ 12} In their two assignments of error, appellants claim the trial court erred in

affirming the commission's assessment of a civil penalty. Specifically, appellants claim

the record does not support the finding that under the Canton City Fair Housing Code and

the Federal Fair Housing Act, they refused to provide a reasonable accommodation and

their conduct was discriminatory. We disagree.

{¶ 13} Ms. Davis filed a complaint alleging several violations of the fair housing

laws. In his September 6, 2022 decision, adopted by the commission on September 15,

2022, the hearing officer found appellants engaged in unlawful discriminatory housing

practices under four sections of the City of Canton Housing Code which incorporates the

Fair Housing Act:

{¶ 14} (1) Section 515.03(a)(1): It is unlawful to "[r]efuse to sell, or rent after the

making of a bona fide offer, or refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or to otherwise

deny, withhold or make unavailable, housing accommodations, because of the race,

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Bluebook (online)
2024 Ohio 2057, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pertsinides-v-canton-fair-hous-comm-ohioctapp-2024.