How to become a landlord in Ohio

Prepare the home, rental documents and management records before move-in. Check requirements for the property’s address, use lawful screening criteria, and organize payments, repairs and notices around the detailed Ohio topics in this guide (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18).

• Compare similar homes by location, size, condition and included utilities. Budget for taxes, insurance, utilities you pay, maintenance, turnover and vacancy, with a reserve for unexpected work. Check local registration, inspection, zoning and safety requirements for the address. Record your assumptions and update the budget using actual receipts and bills (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.13).
• Complete repairs and safety checks, arrange reliable repair contacts and take dated condition photos. Give the tenant clear instructions for ordinary maintenance and urgent problems. Track requests, access arrangements, completed work and follow-up communications so the property’s condition and your response are documented (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.13).See Repairs and habitability on the Ohio page
• Prepare the application and lawful criteria before advertising or ordering reports. Review prohibited questions, fair-housing protections, selected local requirements and federal report notices. Confirm the home, parties, dates, rent, utilities, deposits, entry arrangements and payment methods in the lease, including the required owner and agent information. Keep signed copies and delivery records (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18).See Application and screening fees on the Ohio page
• Maintain a rent ledger and a separate record of deposit money, deductions and any interest owed. Review the owner-landlord and managing-broker distinctions in the account topic instead of assuming every deposit must be held in the same type of account. Organize receipts, notices, condition records and communications with appropriate access limits, and calendar lease events and deadlines (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(A); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.18(A)(27); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.01(A)(5)).See Deposit interest and accounts on the Ohio page

Every written rental agreement must contain the name and address of the owner and the name and address of the owner's agent, if any. For an owner or agent that is a corporation, partnership, limited partnership, association, trust or other entity, the address must be its principal place of business in the county where the property is located, or its principal place of business in Ohio if it has none in that county, and the lease must give the name of the person in charge of it. For an oral rental agreement, deliver this information to the tenant in a written notice at the start of the tenancy (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.07(C); Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.13).

• If you do not provide it, you waive the tenant's written notice to you under the rent deposit remedy and the clerk's notice to you of a rent deposit (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18(C)).
• A landlord of three or fewer units keeps the rent deposit remedies from applying only by saying so in the written rental agreement, or in a written notice at the start of an oral tenancy (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.07(C)).See Tenant repair remedies on the Ohio page
• Terms Ohio does not recognize in a lease: any waiver of chapter 5321, a warrant of attorney to confess judgment, an agreement to pay attorney's fees, and an agreement to excuse, limit or indemnify the landlord's legal liability (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.13).See Lease terms Ohio will not enforce on the Ohio page
• A lease may not restrict displaying the United States flag, the POW/MIA flag, the Ohio flag or an approved service flag, within the limits the section sets (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.131).
• In a county of more than 200,000 people, the owner must also file owner and property information with the county auditor (Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.02).See Owner and manager identity on the Ohio page

Put the name and address of the owner, and of the owner's agent if any, in every written rental agreement. For an entity, give its principal place of business in the county where the property is located, or in Ohio if it has none there, and the name of the person in charge. For an oral agreement, give the tenant this information in a written notice at the start of the tenancy. If you do not, you waive the tenant's written notice under the rent deposit remedy and the clerk's notice of a rent deposit (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18; Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.02).

• In a county with more than 200,000 people according to the most recent decennial census, the owner of residential rental property must file with the county auditor the owner's name, address and telephone number, the same details for a designated person such as a trustee, general partner, member, manager or officer when a trust, estate or business entity owns it, and the property's street address and parcel number, and must update them within 60 days after a change (Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.01; Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.02(A); Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.02(C)).
• In those same counties, an owner who lives outside Ohio must designate an Ohio resident to accept service of process and file that agent's name, address and telephone number with the county auditor, unless the owner keeps a statutory agent with the Secretary of State and files a certified copy of that designation (Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.01(E); Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.03).
• The county auditor may impose a special assessment of $50 to $150 on the property for a failure to file or update (Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.99).
• An agent the owner designates to manage the property may file or update the information for the owner (Ohio Rev. Code § 5323.02(F)).

No section of chapter 5321 requires a landlord to disclose flood risk or flood history to a tenant (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321).

• The lease disclosure chapter 5321 does require is the owner and agent names and addresses (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.18(A)).See Required disclosures and lease language on the Ohio page

Chapter 5321 has no smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm section. It requires you to comply with the building, housing, health and safety codes that materially affect health and safety; those state and local codes were not read for this page, so check the ones that apply to the property (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(1)).

• Tenants must comply with the requirements that state and local housing, health and safety codes impose on tenants (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(A)(5)).

No section of chapter 5321 requires particular locks or security devices, or rekeying between tenants. The general duties still apply: comply with the building, housing, health and safety codes that materially affect health and safety, and keep the premises fit and habitable. Those state and local codes were not read for this page, so check the ones that apply to the property (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(1); Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(2)).

• You may not change the locks or otherwise exclude a tenant to recover possession (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.15(A)).See Lockouts and utility shutoffs on the Ohio page

Chapter 5321 does not cap the amount of a security deposit. A security deposit is any deposit of money or property to secure the tenant's performance under a rental agreement (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.01(E); Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16).

• The part of a deposit above $50 or one month's periodic rent, whichever is greater, earns interest if the tenant remains in possession six months or more (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(A)).See Deposit interest and accounts on the Ohio page
• Fair housing law bars conditioning a disability-related modification on a security deposit larger than the one customarily required of all tenants of that housing (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(18)(b)).

Any part of a security deposit above $50 or one month's periodic rent, whichever is greater, bears interest at 5 percent a year if the tenant stays in possession six months or more; you compute that interest and pay it to the tenant every year. Chapter 5321 does not require an owner-landlord to hold deposits in a separate or trust account. Licensing law is different for a real estate broker who manages property for its owners: failing to keep all rents and security deposits received in managing the property in a special or trust account at a state or federally chartered institution in Ohio, separate from the broker's other accounts, is grounds for license discipline (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(A); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.18(A)(27); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.01(A)(5)).

• Example: with rent of $1,000 and a $1,500 deposit, interest runs on the $500 excess, which is $25 for a full year, if the tenant stays in possession six months or more (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(A)).
• A deposit no larger than one month's rent, or $50 if that is greater, has no excess, so no interest is owed on it (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(A)).
• Renting or managing buildings for others for a fee is real estate broker activity under Ohio licensing law; acting for Ohio real estate you own is not (Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.01(A)(5); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.01(I)(1)(a)).
• A broker's account for managed property may earn interest, which is paid to the property owners pro rata, and a broker must keep complete records of transactions, including funds received, for three years (Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.18(A)(27); Ohio Rev. Code § 4735.18(A)(24)).

No section of chapter 5321 requires a move-in inspection, checklist or photo record. Because the deposit may be applied to past-due rent and to damages from the tenant's noncompliance with 5321.05 or the rental agreement, a dated record of the unit's condition at move-in is useful evidence if a deduction is disputed (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.16(B)).

• The tenant must keep the part of the premises the tenant occupies and uses safe and sanitary, and must refrain from, and forbid anyone on the premises with the tenant's permission from, intentionally or negligently destroying, defacing, damaging or removing any part of the premises (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(A)(1); Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(A)(6)).
• You may recover actual damages from a tenant's violation of those duties, together with reasonable attorney's fees (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.05(C)(1)).

No section of chapter 5321 caps or regulates rental application or screening fees. Ohio's fair housing law still governs screening: do not ask about, record, or use an application form with questions on race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability or national origin, and do not ask whether an applicant has a disability or how severe it is, except as that law allows (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(8); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(17)).

• Questions you may ask every applicant include whether the applicant can meet the requirements of the tenancy, currently uses a controlled substance illegally, or has ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense involving the illegal sale, manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(17)).
• Anyone may make inquiries and keep records about those characteristics for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the fair housing law (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(8)).
• Reasonable occupancy standards based on the number and size of bedrooms and the overall size of the unit are allowed if they are not used to get around the fair housing law (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.024(C)).
• In Columbus, an operator may not knowingly reject or discourage a prospective tenant, misstate availability, or impose different rental prices, terms or fees because of the person's source of income. The city includes lawful income that can be verified, such as wages, Social Security, rent vouchers, child support and public assistance. Check the property's city before choosing criteria; the state list alone does not describe every local protection (Columbus City Code 4551.03(a); Columbus City Code 4501.378).
• For a Columbus income threshold, subtract a rent voucher or subsidy from the total monthly rent before testing whether the income requirement is met. Record the subsidy and tenant-paid portions separately so a full-rent income multiplier does not screen out an otherwise qualified voucher applicant. This city-specific calculation does not decide the applicant's overall eligibility or establish another city's rules (Columbus City Code 4551.03(b)).