Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at Lee@LeeSchroeder.com or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
Residential leasing is typically the term used to describe the renting of houses and apartments between landlords and tenants. Residential leases in Ohio are governed by a large number of detailed requirements. The list of requirements is extensive, especially for landlords.
Even if all requirements of a rental agreement are satisfied, the law allows judges to declare almost any part of a lease invalid if the Judge decides that the decision in question was unconscionable.
The renting of houses and apartments between landlords and tenants is typically called “residential leasing” because the arrangement involves the renting of a “residence.” The pressure for tenants (many times without the money to purchase homes) to find and maintain a house or apartment to rent can be intense. This is especially true in rural areas like ours, because many families in our communities can be large and there are very few, last-resort “safety nets” (like homeless shelters) in our region.
As a result of those factors, residential leases throughout Ohio are governed by a large number of detailed requirements. The list of requirements, especially for landlords, is extensive. Even if all of the requirements of a particular rental agreement are technically satisfied, the law still allows judges to declare almost any provision of a lease invalid if the Judge decides that the provision in question was “unconscionable” when the tenant or landlord agreed to it. Typically, unconscionability only applies where a tenant literally had no meaningful choice when entering into the lease and the provision in question is incredibly one-sided in favor of the landlord.
Read more about residential leasing in Lee’s article in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Basics of house and apartment leases
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Basics of house and apartment leases,” by Lee R. Schroeder, October 28, 2017