Ohio’s landlord-tenant law, Chapter 5321 of the Ohio Revised Code, sets the rules for security deposits and the duties each side has during a lease. This guide sets them out as the law writes them, for tenants and landlords alike, each with a link to the section it comes from.
This is general information from Ohio’s statutes, not legal advice. For your situation, talk with a lawyer. Tenants can reach Legal Aid of Western Ohio at 1-877-894-4599, and Ohio Legal Help lists free legal aid in every county.
1. Security deposits: moving out
- When the lease ends, the landlord may use the security deposit to pay past-due rent and damage caused by the tenant not meeting the tenant’s duties under Ohio law or the lease. (source)
- Within 30 days after the lease ends and the tenant moves out, the landlord must send the tenant whatever is due back, with a written, itemized list of any deductions. (source)
- The tenant must give the landlord a forwarding address in writing. A tenant who doesn’t can’t collect the damages or attorney fees described below. (source)
- If the landlord doesn’t follow those rules, the tenant may recover the money due, plus damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney fees. (source)
2. Interest on larger deposits
- If the tenant stays six months or more, the part of a deposit above $50 or one month’s rent, whichever is greater, earns 5% interest a year, figured and paid by the landlord each year. (source)
3. What a landlord must do
- Follow the building, housing, health and safety codes that materially affect health and safety. (source)
- Make repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to keep the home fit and habitable. (source)
- Keep common areas safe and sanitary. (source)
- Keep the electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, that the landlord supplies in good and safe working order. (source)
- Where the landlord rents four or more units in the same building, provide trash containers and arrange for pickup. (source)
- Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building isn’t required by law to have them or the tenant controls the heat or hot water through a direct utility connection. (source)
- Except in an emergency or where it’s impracticable, give reasonable notice before entering, and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is presumed to be reasonable notice. (source)
4. What a tenant must do
- Keep their part of the home safe and sanitary, and dispose of trash in a clean, safe and sanitary way. (source)
- Keep plumbing fixtures as clean as their condition permits, and use electrical and plumbing fixtures properly. (source)
- Follow the state and local housing, health and safety codes that apply to tenants. (source)
- Not destroy, deface, damage or remove any part of the home, on purpose or through carelessness, and not let guests do so. (source)
- Keep appliances the landlord supplies in good working order, where a written lease makes that the tenant’s job. (source)
- Not disturb the neighbors’ peaceful enjoyment of their homes, and see that guests don’t either. (source)
- Not unreasonably refuse the landlord entry to inspect, make repairs or agreed improvements, deliver large packages, supply services, or show the home to buyers, lenders, new tenants or contractors. (source)
5. When a duty isn’t met
- A tenant whose landlord enters improperly, or makes repeated demands to enter that amount to harassment, may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees, get a court order to stop it, or end the lease. (source)
- A landlord can recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees from a tenant who breaks these duties, in addition to ending the lease or going to court for possession. (source)
- When a landlord doesn’t make needed repairs within a reasonable time after written notice (30 days at most), a tenant who is current on rent may pay rent to the court clerk instead, ask the court to order the repairs, or end the lease; this doesn’t apply to landlords of three or fewer units who gave written notice of that. (source)
6. What a lease can and can’t say
- A lease can include terms about rent, its length or anything else, as long as they don’t conflict with Ohio’s landlord-tenant law or other law. (source)
- A lease, written or spoken, can’t waive or change the rights and duties in Ohio’s landlord-tenant law, except that a landlord may agree to take on a tenant’s duties. (source)
- A lease clause in which the tenant agrees in advance to a court judgment (a confession of judgment), agrees to pay either side’s attorney fees, or excuses the landlord from liability under the law isn’t recognized. (source)
- Every written lease must give the name and address of the owner, and of the owner’s agent if there is one. With a spoken lease, the landlord must give the tenant that information in writing at move-in. (source)
7. Retaliation
- A landlord may not raise the rent, cut services, or bring or threaten an eviction because a tenant complained to a government agency about a code violation that materially affects health and safety, complained to the landlord about the landlord’s duties, or joined other tenants to negotiate with the landlord. (source)
- A tenant facing retaliation can use it as a defense to an eviction, recover possession of the home, or end the lease, and can recover actual damages and reasonable attorney fees. (source)
- A landlord can still raise the rent to cover the cost of improvements or higher operating costs. (source)
- A landlord can also still file for possession when the tenant is behind on rent, when the tenant caused the code violation they complained of, or when the tenant stays past the end of the lease, among other exceptions in the law. (source)
More for renters
How an eviction case works, from the notice to the court’s order: the Ohio eviction process, step by step. Help paying rent in the Miami Valley: rental assistance programs, by county.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Ohio?
30 days. Within 30 days after the lease ends and the tenant moves out, the landlord must send the tenant whatever is due back, with a written, itemized list of any deductions.
What can a landlord take out of a security deposit?
Past-due rent, and damage caused by the tenant not meeting the tenant’s duties under Ohio law or the lease. Each deduction has to be itemized in writing.
What if a landlord keeps a deposit without the itemized list?
A landlord who doesn’t return what’s due, with an itemized list, within 30 days can be ordered to pay it back, plus damages equal to the amount wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney fees. The damages and fees are only available to a tenant who gave the landlord a forwarding address in writing.
Does a security deposit earn interest in Ohio?
Sometimes. If the tenant stays six months or more, the part of a deposit above $50 or one month’s rent, whichever is greater, earns 5% interest a year, paid by the landlord each year.
How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering?
Reasonable notice, and only at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. Under Ohio law, 24 hours is presumed to be reasonable notice.
Does a landlord have to provide heat and hot water?
Yes: running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building isn’t required by law to have them or the tenant controls the heat or hot water through a direct utility connection.
Can a lease make a tenant pay the landlord’s attorney fees?
No. Ohio law doesn’t recognize a lease clause that has either side pay the other’s attorney fees.
Can a landlord raise the rent after a tenant complains?
Not to retaliate for a complaint to a government agency about a health or safety code violation, a complaint to the landlord about the landlord’s duties, or joining other tenants to negotiate. A landlord can still raise the rent to cover improvements or higher operating costs.
Every statement on this page comes from the source linked beside it: the Ohio Revised Code or the official page named, rechecked each week; last checked November 10, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; for your situation, talk with a lawyer or your local legal aid office.
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