(a) A landlord who is a party to a rental agreement shall do all of the following:
(1) Comply with the requirements of all applicable municipal, state or federal building, housing, health and safety codes that materially affect the health and safety of each tenant; and shall notify and provide each tenant with a copy of a notice of violation of any building, housing, health and safety codes within 48 hours upon receipt. The notice(s) shall further be posted in all common areas, and five feet inside the entrance and exit of any and all doors leading in and out of the rental property;
(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition;
(3) Keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and sanitary condition;
(4) Maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him or her;
(5) When he or she is a party to any rental agreements that cover four or more dwelling units in the same structure, provide and maintain appropriate receptacles for the removal of ashes, garbage, rubbish and other waste incidental to the occupancy of a dwelling unit, and arrange for their removal;
(6) Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection;
(7) No abuse of the right of access conferred by division (B) of Ohio R.C. § 5321.05;
(8) Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, give the tenant reasonable notice of his or her intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is presumed to be a reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary;
(9) Promptly commence an action under Ohio R.C. Chapter 1923, after complying with division (C) of Ohio R.C. § 5321.17, to remove a tenant from particular residential premises, if the tenant fails to vacate the premises within three days after the giving of the notice required by that division and if the landlord has actual knowledge of or has reasonable cause to believe that the tenant, any person in the tenant’s household or any person on the premises with consent of the tenant previously has or presently is engaged in a violation as described in division (A)(6)(a)(i) of Ohio R.C. § 1923.02, whether or not the tenant or other person has been charged with, has pleaded guilty to or been convicted of, or has been determined to be a delinquent child for an act that, if committed by an adult would be a violation as described in that division. Such actual knowledge or reasonable cause to believe shall be determined in accordance with that division. A landlord shall have the authority to evict any person or persons whose actions have caused a municipal law enforcement officer to visit the rental property three times, or whose actions have caused any county, state or federal law enforcement official to respond to or process any warrant on the premises once; and
(10) After an eviction has successfully been completed per court order, any tenant or tenant related property that has been “set out” from the subject dwelling unit as a result of said eviction shall be removed from the premises or its surrounding area within 48 hours.
(b) If the landlord makes an entry in violation of division (a)(8) above, makes a lawful entry in an unreasonable manner or makes repeated demands for entry otherwise lawful that have the effect of harassing the tenant, the tenant may recover actual damages resulting from the entry or demands, obtain injunctive relief to prevent the recurrence of the conduct, and obtain a judgment for reasonable attorneys’ fees or may terminate the rental agreement.
(1) Every landlord shall be required to provide each tenant with a copy of the state and municipal Landlord Tenant Law and ordinance with every lease.
(2) Every landlord shall be required to notify each tenant within 24 hours upon receipt of shut-off or disconnect notice to any utility commonly used by all tenants, such as electricity, water or natural gas. The notice(s) shall further be posted in all common areas, and five feet inside the entrance and exit of any and all doors leading in and out of the rental property.
(Ord. 53-08, passed 2-17-2009; Ord. 10-17, passed 4-18-2017)