What a Lease Cannot Say
ORC 5321.13 — three terms a residential rental agreement does not get to contain
A signature on a lease is treated, almost everywhere else in contract law, as agreement to what the page says. The landlord and tenant chapter carves out an exception, and it is worth knowing before an argument about a clause turns into an argument about how carefully the page was read.
Who handles this in Ohio: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
The chapter is not waivable by agreement. No provision of the chapter may be modified or waived by any oral or written agreement, except as the section's own division provides. A clause saying the tenant gives up a right the chapter grants is not effective because it was signed, and the same is true of one saying the landlord is released from a duty the chapter imposes.
No warrant of attorney to confess judgment. No warrant of attorney to confess judgment is recognized in any rental agreement, or in any other agreement between a landlord and tenant, for the recovery of rent or damages to the residential premises. That is the clause that lets a creditor take judgment without the other side appearing, and in this context it is not recognized at all.
No agreement to pay the other side's solicitor. No agreement to pay the landlord's or the tenant's attorney's fees is recognized in any rental agreement for residential premises, or in any other agreement between a landlord and tenant. The section names both directions, so it is not a protection running only one way.
A rental agreement, or the assignment, conveyance, trust deed or security instrument of the landlord's interest in it, may not permit the receipt of rent free of the obligation to comply with the section setting out the landlord's obligations. Rent and the duty to keep the premises in the condition that section requires are not severable by a document.
| The clause | What the chapter does with it |
|---|---|
| The clauseA waiver of a right or duty the chapter creates | What the chapter does with itNot effective, except as the section's own division provides |
| The clauseA warrant of attorney to confess judgment for rent or damages | What the chapter does with itNot recognized |
| The clauseAn agreement to pay the landlord's attorney's fees | What the chapter does with itNot recognized |
| The clauseAn agreement to pay the tenant's attorney's fees | What the chapter does with itNot recognized |
| The clauseReceipt of rent free of the landlord's obligations | What the chapter does with itNot permitted |
Outside those limits the parties are free. A landlord and a tenant may include in a rental agreement any terms and conditions, including terms relating to rent, the duration of the agreement, and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of the parties, that are not inconsistent with or prohibited by the chapter or any other rule of law.
Unenforceable is not the same as absent. A clause the chapter does not recognize can still be printed, still be signed, and still be relied on in a letter. What the section settles is what a court does with it, which is why the existence of the clause is not the end of the question and neither is the signature underneath it.
The chapter's own exceptions, agreements outside residential tenancies, commercial leases, and the separate rules for manufactured home park lots are not on this page. Which clauses in a particular lease are affected, and what follows from one, are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and legal aid offices in Ohio handle residential tenancy matters.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 5321.13 — Terms prohibited in a rental agreement
- ORC 5321.06 — Terms and conditions of a rental agreement
- ORC 5321.04 — Landlord obligations, including notice before entry
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.