SHOCKING RULING: Ohio Court Demands Property Insurance Groups Secret Records!

Publish date: 2024-07-14
Ohio Supreme Court orders state-created property insurance group to hand over records

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Supreme Court, on August 3, unanimously ruled that the Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association, a property insurance conglomerate established by the state legislature to promote equity in insurance underwriting, must provide records to a housing discrimination advocacy organization as part of a public records request. The court’s decision comes despite a 2020 law passed by the legislature aiming to exempt the insurance group from releasing most of its records.

The FAIR Plan, created in 1968 by state lawmakers to provide insurance policies for individuals who were being denied property or homeowners’ insurance, especially in urban areas, is composed of insurance companies and governed by a 12-member board, including four members appointed by the governor.

In April 2020, the Fair Housing Opportunities of Northwest Ohio submitted a public records request to the FAIR Plan, seeking information about its underwriting standards and a list of properties it had accepted and rejected since 2015. The FAIR Plan contended that it was not a public office but offered to partially fulfill the request.

In July, Fair Housing Opportunities took the matter to a state appeals court, urging the FAIR Plan to release its records and provide compensation for statutory damages and attorney fees. A court-appointed magistrate recognized the FAIR Plan as a public office but dismissed the financial claims. Both parties disagreed with this decision, and the appeals court upheld the magistrate’s recommendation.

The FAIR Plan argued that its status as a provider of insurance policies, rather than conventional government services, should exclude it from being considered a public office. However, the Ohio Supreme Court disagreed with this stance.

In confirming the lower court’s ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the idea that a state-established entity must perform typical government functions to qualify as a public entity. The court highlighted the legislature’s creation of the FAIR Plan as evidence of its public status, as well as the legislature’s previous decision to exempt specific records generated by the office.

Justice Michael Donnelly, writing for the court, stated, “The government’s engagement in a function through an entity established by law inherently designates that function as governmental, even if that function is not traditionally governmental.”

The court also pointed to the FAIR Plan’s governance structure as further proof of its public office status. Although not categorized as state employees, the board of governors is accountable to the state superintendent of insurance. Decisions on applications can be appealed to the board, with further appeals possible to the insurance superintendent, and ultimately, legal challenges can be made against the superintendent’s final order.

After both parties presented their arguments, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 45 into law in January, introducing a public records exemption for the FAIR Plan among other provisions. Nevertheless, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the law came into effect too late to apply to the ongoing records request.

The court did not award damages and fees in this case. Given that the question of whether the FAIR Plan qualified as a public office had never been brought before the court, the justices chose to permit the office to address the records request without facing penalties.

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