Somai v. City of Bedford, OH

On her landlord’s advice, Ms. Somai made several calls to the police after her neighbor played television and music very loudly at all hours and intimidated them by surveilling and following them outside of the apartment. The City of Bedford sent a nuisance abatement letter based on her calls for help to her landlord, which led the landlord to file an eviction action against her.

As a non-profit organization aimed at improving access to housing in Northeast Ohio, the Fair Housing Center has warned Bedford for years that nuisance ordinances may violate fair housing laws and has advocated for the repeal of such ordinances. Our case argues that Bedford’s ordinance violates the First Amendment right to petition the government and to free speech, the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and equal protection under the law, and state and federal fair housing protections. This case builds on litigation we have brought against discriminatory nuisance ordinances in Arizona, Missouri, and Pennsylvania as part of our “Not A Nuisance” campaign.