Evict Non-Payment Rent Question

I am a renter in Ohio. My rent is currently $1450 per month. I already paid half of August Rent on August 1st ($725). So I currently owe $725 for the remainer of August, plus a $200 pet deposit for a dog we just got. So technically I owe $1,025 of which $725 is rent and the other $200 goes into the escrow account along with our security deposit for the pet.

I was planning on paying the remaining $725 this Friday, August 14th when I get paid and the $200 pet deposit next Fiday, August 21st. Technically, the rent is due no later than the 5th, so I am late. I admit that. However, I will have the remainder of the rent in 48 hours. However, the LL is demanding the $725 rent, the $200 pet deposit and a $145 late fee by this Friday or he his is threatening to evict us. I apologized for being late and offered to pay the $725 + the late fee of $145 this Friday and do the pet deposit next week. He is unwilling to budge and says if I don't pay the total amount of $1,070 he will file to evict. I mean, we are only one week late here, not months or anything and I have the money for the rent!

Questions:
1) I have the money for the rent, plus his late fee. All I am asking is to give me another week for the pet deposit. Can he evict me for this?? It is not like I am NOT paying rent, I will have it for him in 48 hours! I read a bit about Ohio law and from what I can tell, the courts will dismiss the eviction even if he did file it because we have the money to pay. Can he evict me for paying only rent and late fee on Friday and not the pet deposit???????

2) If he does want to be a jerk and still file for eviction, even though I would have paid in full by the time the 3-day notice was even served, could he still evict me???

Thanks for any input.

[sunlover]

If he accepts the rent no he cant in most states. However he can give you a notice to vacate which will force you to move within 30 days (again in most states) When you rented this property you agreed to pay rent when it was due. Failure to do so is a breach of that agreement. The Landlord has bills to pay as well

I understand he has bills to pay. I have been very apologetic about the whole thing, I am only late by one week. It was a payroll issue from my office but basically, I got paid a week later than I was supposed too. I have offered my apolgies, I have assured him it would not happen again and I have been in constant communication. He is first time landlord and I feel he is being unreasonable. The courts around here are full of eviction cases with tenants who won't or can't pay.....and here I am with cash in hand and he still threatens to evict.

So even if I go down do the rental office and pay the remainder of the August rent, he can still evict us????

[sunlover]

I am not up on Ohio law. Now in many states if the Landlord "accepts" rent thenno he cannot evict. That might not be true in your state. Even if he does accept rent and stops eviction he can still give you a notice to vacate if he feels your going to be a problem tenant. I am not accussing you of that just saying. Contact a Tenant/Landlord Attorney ask them about this

Thanks for your response. I am not an expert by any means, but after doing some searched and reading some laws, I am pretty sure that in Ohio, he cannot evict if I pay the rent. In fact, I found a blurb on one website about Ohio law that says that (and I am paraphrasing here) if the tenant has the rent and can PAY IN FULL, then the landlord has to accept.

But I still uncertain about the Notice to Vacate, if he thought I was going to be a problem tenant. Wouldn't he have to prove that in court? He can just demand I vacate the premise and I have no rights to defend myself?

[sunlover]

He can 'assume" your going to be a problem because you failed to pay rent on time. I realize you say this is one time thing and it might well be. He has right to give you this notice. Even if you have a lease, you breached lease when you fail to pay rent on time

Ok, I now understand he can give me the notice.

But is that it? He gives me the notice and I have to move in 30 days? There is no hearing, no court date, no way to appeal or defend myself?

[sunlover]

He has the legal right to do this. Failure to leave within time period will likely resul tin eviction process being started. You can fight it but you wont win

The landlord does not have to accept payment even if the tenant has the money to pay once the lease agreement is broken and the tenant doesn't pay when the rent is due. How is he supposed to know you do have the money to pay? Your word? The whole reason he threatened to evict in the first place was because you broke the lease agreement.

I understand you were only one week late, but it's only one week to you. And again, it was a breach of the lease agreement.

He has every right to evict. Once a tenant is late once, this raises a red flag for the landlord that it will become a common occurrence. Many landlords depend on rental income to live, and your lateness may have put him in arrears with one of his creditors. It's a trickle down effect.

You're better off to start looking for another place to live. Your business relationship with your landlord is already strained. It is not going to get better from here.

Sorry to disagree, but this isn't OH law. OH is a very LL friendly state. If rent is not paid in OH, the LL can give you a 3 day Unconditional Quit notice. This is NOT a Pay or Quit notice. Once the 3 day is served, you will have no option to pay, only to move. OH is a no second chance state. It has no Pay or Quit laws. OH has no grace period. He can serve this notice the day after rent is due. The LL does not have to accept any rent after this notice is served. (But if the office accepts your rent, he cannot evict.) Keep in mind though, he does not HAVE to accept late rent. You will not have 30 days to move out. You will have 3! The 30 day notice is for terminating month to month tenants only and does not apply to non-payment.

Once served, the tenant has only 3 days to move out. These days do not include the day it is served, weekends, or holidays. Service can be made by handing it to you, mailing it to you, or just by posting it on your front door (most common). All are legal forms of service. Watch your doors. Once it is posted, your time is very limited. If served on a Monday, you need to be out by Thursday, and he can file eviction on Friday.

After it expires, the LL can file for eviction. Eviction for non-payment is quick in OH. (That's why there are so many cases, LLs KNOW they can get evictions.) Court dates must (by law) be set within 30 days, so the first hearing will be in less than a month. The LL can refuse all rent in the interim. That hearing will be to give him possession. The hearing will last no more than about 15 minutes! A set out of your belongings by the sheriff will occur approximately 48 hours later. (May be quicker or slower depending on how busy the sheriff is.) A second hearing will occur about 30 days after that. This hearing will determine how much money you will owe the LL. You will owe the rent, late fees, damages, unpaid water or sewer bills, etc. If you broke a lease, you will also owe rent until re-rented and advertising fees. Failure to attend either hearing will result in an automatic ruling against you.

Once the eviction is filed with the court, it becomes a permanent court record, even if it is later dropped or you win the case. It will still show that eviction was filed against you. This will be enough to get you denied for future housing. Any LL who runs background checks will deny you. Not a good thing.

I suggest you borrow that money and pay the LL immediately before you get the 3 day notice. Whatever blurb you found on that website is wrong. He does not have to accept. You need to get paid up now. Borrow that money and pay up now. If you can't afford the pet deposit, get rid of the dog. But get paid up immediately.