(1) "Domestic violence" has the same meaning as in section 3113.31 of the Ohio Revised Code.
(2) "Household member" means an individual who meets either of the following requirements:
A. The individual is one of the following and is specifically identified in the lease agreement:
1. The tenant's parent, child, spouse, or person living as spouse;
2. The parent or child of the tenant's spouse or former spouse;
3. The parent or child of a person living as a spouse of the tenant;
4. An individual otherwise related by consanguinity or affinity to the tenant.
B. The individual is an adult who notified the landlord within fourteen (14) days after entering the tenant's household that the individual is occupying the tenant's housing unit as the individual's usual place of residence.
(b) (1) A tenant may terminate a rental agreement or have the tenant's name removed from the rental agreement as a cotenant if that tenant, or a household member of that tenant, is a victim of domestic violence. To terminate a rental agreement or to remove the tenant's name as a cotenant from the agreement, the tenant shall notify the landlord in writing that the tenant or household member is a victim of domestic violence and shall supply the landlord with any of the following:
A. A civil protection order issued after a full hearing under section 2903.214 or 3113.31 of the Ohio Revised Code or a consent agreement approved under section 3113.31 of the Ohio Revised Code;
B. A temporary protection order or a no-contact order issued under section 2919.26 of the Ohio Revised Code, a criminal protection order issued under section 2903.213 of the Ohio Revised Code, or a protection order or no-contact order issued under any substantially similar law of another state or a substantially similar municipal ordinance of this state or another state.
(2) A tenant shall give the landlord the written notice this section requires within ninety (90) days after the incident of domestic violence. The tenant and landlord shall terminate the rental agreement, or the landlord shall remove the tenant's name from the rental agreement, by a mutually agreed upon date, not to exceed thirty (30) days after the date the tenant gives the required notice. If the tenant and landlord do not agree on a date to terminate the rental agreement or remove the tenant's name from the agreement, the rental agreement shall terminate or the landlord shall remove the tenant's name from the rental agreement thirty (30) days after the tenant gives the required notice.
(3) At any time within thirty (30) days after a tenant having the tenant's name removed from a rental agreement for which there is at least one cotenant, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement as to any or all cotenants.
(4) A tenant who terminates a rental agreement or removes the tenant's name from a rental agreement is liable for the tenant's share of rent, prorated up to the date of the termination of the rental agreement or the removal of the tenant's name from the rental agreement.
(5) Except as otherwise provided in section 5321.16 of the Ohio Revised Code, if a tenant terminates a rental agreement or removes the tenant's name from a rental agreement as provided in this section, the landlord is entitled to retain the tenant's share of any security deposit.
(c) In response to a request to terminate a rental agreement or remove the tenant's name from a rental agreement pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, a landlord may offer the tenant an opportunity to rent another unit at the location that is sufficiently distant from the tenant's current unit. Whether to accept that offer is at the tenant's discretion.
(d) No landlord shall knowingly terminate a tenancy because of the status of a tenant or household member as a victim of domestic violence or the offense of menacing by stalking, because the tenant or a household member requested emergency services as such a victim, or because the tenant previously terminated a rental agreement in accordance with this section.
(e) A tenant who is injured by a landlord's violation of subsection (d) of this section may recover damages in the amount of one month's rent and any security deposit as section 5321.16 of the Ohio Revised Code provides, plus reasonable attorney's fees.
(f) A landlord does not incur any additional duty of care for a tenant the landlord accommodates pursuant to this section and Section 726.02, and the landlord gains no new or additional liability for any third party act that occurs after an accommodation the landlord makes pursuant to those sections.
(g) A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence may make a request to terminate a rental agreement pursuant to subsection (b) of this section only if the tenant has not made more than one other request to terminate a rental agreement pursuant to subsection (b) of this section during the previous five (5) years.
(Ord. 2019-30. Passed 9-17-19.)