Ohio eviction law

Before filing an eviction for unpaid rent, notify the tenant to leave the premises at least three days before filing, by certified mail with return receipt requested, by handing a written copy to the tenant in person, or by leaving it at the tenant's usual place of abode or at the premises. Every notice a landlord gives to recover residential premises must contain this language, printed or written in a conspicuous manner: "You are being asked to leave the premises. If you do not leave, an eviction action may be initiated against you. If you are in doubt regarding your legal rights and obligations as a tenant, it is recommended that you seek legal assistance."

Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.04(A) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(A)(9)

• Neither chapter 1923 nor chapter 5321 gives a tenant a general right to cure by paying after the notice is served. In a nonpayment case, though, the tenant may counterclaim for amounts owed under the lease or chapter 5321, and if no rent remains due after the court applies them, judgment on possession goes to the tenant. Ohio Rev. Code ch. 1923 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.061(B)
• Periods set by Ohio law are counted by excluding the first day and including the last; when the last day falls on a Sunday or a legal holiday, the act may be done on the next day that is not a Sunday or legal holiday. Ohio Rev. Code § 1.14
• For an oral tenancy, a tenant in default in rent forfeits the right of occupancy, and you may end the tenancy by the same notice to leave. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(B)
• A tenant in default in rent can be evicted even after making a protected complaint. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.03(A)(1) See Retaliation on the Ohio page

If a tenant fails to meet a duty under 5321.05 that materially affects health and safety, other than the drug provision, you may deliver a written notice specifying the act or omission and stating that the rental agreement will end on a date the notice names, at least 30 days after the tenant receives it; if the tenant does not remedy the condition, the agreement ends on that date. That notice must come before an eviction on that ground. For a breach of an obligation in a written rental agreement, chapter 1923 allows an eviction after the three-day notice to leave and sets no cure period.

Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.11 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(A)(8) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(A)(9) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.04(A)

• Drug activity: when you have actual knowledge of, or reasonable cause to believe, a controlled substance violation connected with the premises by the tenant, a household member or a guest, you must give a notice ending the tenancy three days after it is given, and must promptly file an eviction if the tenant does not leave. The statute ties that knowledge to a specific chain: a search warrant issued on an affidavit naming or describing the person and particularly describing the premises was executed, the officer found the controlled substance the affidavit described, and a law enforcement officer then told you of the violation. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.17(C) Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(9) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(A)(6)
• Serving that drug-activity notice also counts as the three-day notice to leave. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.04(B)
• You may end the tenancy of the tenant and all other occupants when a person on the state sex offender registry, of the kind these sections describe, lives in premises within 1,000 feet of a school, child care center or other premises the sections list. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.051 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.02(C)
• The notice periods of 5321.17 do not apply to a termination for breach, except the drug-activity notice. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.17(D)
• You may also recover actual damages from a tenant's violation of 5321.05, other than the drug provision, with reasonable attorney's fees. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(C)(1)

An eviction, called forcible entry and detainer in Ohio, is heard by a municipal court, county court or court of common pleas with jurisdiction where the property is located, must be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues, and follows the three-day notice to leave. The summons must be served at least seven days before the trial, and the hearing on possession cannot be sooner than the seventh day after service is complete. The court decides possession and may try claims for past-due rent and other damages at the same trial. The tenant's answer day on money claims filed with the possession claim is 28 days after service is complete, and the court may continue the trial on those claims for good cause, which includes the tenant's request to file an answer or counterclaim or for discovery.

Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.01 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.04 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(H)(2) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.081 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.14

• The summons must tell the tenant, in required language printed conspicuously, that no one may be evicted unless their right to possession has ended, that no one may be evicted in retaliation for exercising lawful rights, that a tenant depositing rent with the court must keep doing so, that the tenant may ask for a jury trial, and where to find legal help. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(B)
• The clerk mails the summons by ordinary mail and, as you request, also has it served at the premises by a bailiff, sheriff or court-appointed person, with posting only if it cannot be handed to the tenant or left with a person of suitable age and discretion there, or sends it by certified mail, or both. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(C) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(D) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(E)
• In a nonpayment case the tenant may counterclaim for amounts owed under the lease or chapter 5321, and the court may order the tenant to pay past-due and accruing rent into court while the case is pending. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.061(B)
• No continuance longer than eight days is allowed unless you ask for it and the tenant consents, or the tenant asks for it and gives a bond for the rent that may accrue. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.08
• If the tenant does not appear after proper service, the court tries the case as though the tenant were present. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.07
• After a judgment for restitution, the court issues a writ at your request, and the sheriff, police officer, constable or bailiff must execute it within ten days after receiving it. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.13(A) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.14(A)
• Do not name a minor tenant as a defendant when a parent or adult guardian is also named; the court dismisses such a case and orders you to pay the minor tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.05(B) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.05(C)
• If the tenant or an immediate family member is deployed on active duty and that materially affects the tenant's ability to pay, the court may, and on the tenant's motion must, stay the case for 90 days or another period justice requires, or adjust the rent obligation, for leases signed on or after May 18, 2005; this does not apply to landlords operating fewer than four residential premises. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.062
• Either side may demand a jury; in county court, the party demanding one first deposits the jury fee. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.10 Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.101

To recover possession, you may not terminate utilities or services, exclude the tenant from the premises, or threaten any unlawful act against the tenant, even after the tenant's right to possession has ended; possession is recovered only through the procedures in chapters 1923, 5303 and 5321. You also may not seize a tenant's furnishings or possessions to recover rent except under a court order. A landlord who violates these rules is liable for all damages caused to the tenant, together with reasonable attorney's fees.

Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.15

• Supplying running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times is one of your ongoing duties. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(6) See Repairs and habitability on the Ohio page
• After an eviction judgment, a sheriff, police officer, constable or bailiff executes the writ and restores you to possession. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.13(A) Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.14(A) See Eviction process on the Ohio page

No section of chapter 5321 or chapter 1923 sets a notice, storage period or sale procedure for belongings a tenant leaves in a rented apartment or house; the removal and sale procedures in chapter 1923 are for manufactured homes, mobile homes and recreational vehicles in a manufactured home park. Chapter 5321 does bar seizing a tenant's furnishings or possessions to recover rent, even after the right to possession has ended, except under a court order.

Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.15(B) Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321 Ohio Rev. Code ch. 1923

• The officer executing a writ of restitution must restore you to possession within ten days after receiving the writ. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.14(A) See Eviction process on the Ohio page

You may not retaliate against a tenant by increasing the rent, decreasing services due to the tenant, or bringing or threatening to bring an eviction because the tenant complained to an appropriate government agency about a building, housing, health or safety code violation that materially affects health and safety, complained to you about a violation of your 5321.04 duties, or joined with other tenants to negotiate or deal collectively with you on the terms of a rental agreement. Section 5321.02 sets no time window or presumption.

Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.02 Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.03

• A tenant facing retaliation may use it as a defense to an eviction, recover possession, or end the rental agreement, and may also recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.02(B)
• You may still raise the rent to reflect the cost of improvements you installed or an increase in other operating costs. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.02(C)
• You may still bring an eviction if the tenant is in default in rent; if the tenant, the household or the tenant's guests primarily caused the code violation complained of; if compliance would require alteration, remodeling or demolition that would effectively deprive the tenant of the unit; if the tenant is holding over; or in the sex offender registry case the section describes. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.03(A)
• Bringing such an action does not stop the tenant from recovering damages for your violation of the rental agreement or of 5321.04. Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.03(B)
• Every eviction summons tells the tenant that no one may be evicted in retaliation for exercising lawful rights. Ohio Rev. Code § 1923.06(B)
• Fair housing law separately bars coercing, intimidating, threatening or interfering with anyone for exercising fair housing rights or helping others exercise them, and discriminating against anyone for opposing discrimination or for taking part in a civil rights charge, investigation or hearing. Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(12) Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(I) See Fair housing on the Ohio page