The Core Values of OREIA
Freedom - political, financial and personal
Promote professionalism, ethics and integrity
in the industry
Promote the prevention and defense of property and business rights
Advocacy of the industry
Leadership in innovation to unite the industry and support member associations
Your organization of real estate investors could join OREIA in promoting these values by becoming a chapter association member.
The 2019 OREIA Leadership Academy will be held
April 27-28, 2019, at Mohican State Park Lodge
This is a fantastic weekend full of valuable information!
Click HERE
Leadership Academy Platinum Sponsors
Legislative Day at the Capital
Join fellow Ohio Real Estate Investors Association members as we converge on our legislators in Columbus, Ohio.
May 29, 2019
9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, Downtown Columbus, LaBistro Room
Click HERE to Register and Learn More About the Program
Call 330-942-0151 if you would like to be a sponsor of the Legislative Day at the Capital. Ask for Connie.
Email OREIA.support@rentapplication.net to learn more about OREIA's new partnership for tenant screening with
Call 614-657-4991 to learn more about OREIA's new partnership for reducing energy costs with
Ambit Energy
The Federal Reserve Decision
As expected, the Federal Reserve Board decided to raise its benchmark interest rates by .25%. The reaction of the markets was tame because this action was widely anticipated and there was no surprise. While each Fed rate hike does signal an overall increase in interest rates, it also does not mean that all rates are spiking upward. For one, the Fed has steadfastly adhered to a plan that is designed to move back to what it calls normal rates in a slow and orderly fashion. The response to the recession and slow recovery was to keep short-term rates close to zero, which is something that could not be sustained forever.
In this regard, the markets are more likely to react to hints about the pace of future rate increases, which are likely to be detected from the minutes of the recent meeting and various public statements from Federal Reserve Board members. Right now, the markets seem to be betting on three to four rate increases during the course of 2018, and if the economy continues to perform well, that scenario is not out of the question. While facing that many rate hikes, it should also be noted that the Fed's action to raise rates directly affects short-term rates, but only indirectly affects longer-term rates, upon which home and even auto loans are based.
Lawmakers Field Debate Over Property Tax Challenges, Undeveloped Land
Go to Legislative Updates page for Complete Story
New Logo Revealed at the National Summit
Will we see you at OREIA's National Real Estate Summit
at Great Wolf Lodge in Cincinnati, Ohio on
November 1-4, 2018?
www.oreiaconvention.com
Akron Short Term Rental Ban
Click Here to View More Information on Our Legislative Page
A Bittersweet Victory
in the
Helen Grybosky
“Fair Housing” Case
The long, painful saga of Conneaut widow Helen Grybosky was finally settled last month in a win for Ms. Gryboski, but a draw for the rest of us.
For those who haven’t followed Ms. Grybosky’s case, a more complete summary is available in the legislative matters secin below. But the 20,000 foot overview is this: in 2008, Ms. Grybowsky a then-78 year old owner of a 3-family in Northeast Ohio, became embroiled in a nearly decade-long battle with a private fair housing organization that claimed she had discriminated against ‘testers’ (people not actually seeking housing, but rather paid to ‘discover’ discrimination by presenting various scenarios to housing providers and seeing how they react).
After refusing to pay the $6,500 demanded by the fair housing group, she was the subject of an Ohio Civil Rights Commission hearing where she was initially told that she would have to pay over $100,000, mostly in legal fees to the Attorney General. That figure was later amended to just over $10,000, but Ms. Grybosky, believing that she had not denied housing to anyone, sued the OCRC in common pleas court.
COREE members, through OREIA, were instrumental in raising over $15,000 for her legal defense over the past 5 years, and the case has reached its conclusion: it’s been dismissed by the court because of what basically comes down to a technicality: one of the documents submitted early in the case was not submitted under oath. You can read the full opinion of the court here:
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/11/2017/2017-Ohio-7125.pdf
Because of this error, the court did not rule on the other issues relating to whether testing is a legitimate means to incriminate housing providers or any of the other claims that might have made fair housing fairer.
So while some in the blogosphere have declared this a victory, it’s only one in a personal sense for Helen Grybosky. She certainly deserves it, after carrying the standard in this fight for so long, but unfortunately it has no effect on the still vague and unfairly weighted area of fair housing law for the rest of us.
We appreciate the tenacity of Ms. Grybosky and her attorney, Tarin Hale in fighting for our rights as housing providers, and the financial support from OREIA's members in raising over $15,000 for the legal bills involved in the case. We look forward to the next opportunity to fight these anti-landlord regulations and to make fair housing truly fair to everyone