When the Landlord Will Not Fix It
ORC 5321.07 — rent escrow, and the condition that decides it
Withholding rent and escrowing rent are two different things, and only one of them is in the statute. Simply keeping the money is a default a landlord can evict on. Escrow is a procedure: the rent still gets paid, in full and on time, to the clerk of the municipal or county court instead of to the landlord, and the clerk holds it until the condition is dealt with.
Who handles this in Ohio: Alliance of Ohio Legal Aids and Community Legal Aid; and legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Not every tenancy has this section. It does not apply to a landlord who is a party to rental agreements covering three or fewer dwelling units and who says so in a written rental agreement, or, for an oral tenancy, in written notice delivered at the start of the tenancy. A duplex is two units, so a duplex lease can carry that notice. The section does not apply to a unit occupied by a student tenant either, as the chapter defines that term.
Being behind on rent ends this before it starts. The section is available to a tenant who is current in rent payments at the time the deposits begin. Where a tenant was not current, the landlord may apply for the escrow to be released, and on that finding the court is directed to order the release to the landlord. A tenant already a month behind, escrowing because the furnace has not worked since November, loses the money and the argument in one hearing.
The step before escrow is a written notice. It has to specify the acts, omissions, or code violations that make up the landlord's noncompliance, and it goes to the person or the place where rent is normally paid rather than wherever seems reasonable. A verbal complaint to a maintenance number is not this notice, which is where most of these attempts fail.
| Step | What the section requires |
|---|---|
| StepWritten notice | What the section requiresSpecifies the acts, omissions or code violations, sent where rent is normally paid |
| StepTime to remedy | What the section requiresA reasonable time considering how severe the condition is and how long the remedy takes, or thirty days, whichever is sooner |
| StepTenant current | What the section requiresRent paid up at the point the deposits begin |
| StepDeposit | What the section requiresAll rent due, and all rent that becomes due after, paid to the clerk |
| StepThe clerk | What the section requiresGives written notice to the landlord and holds the money in a separate escrow account |
Escrow is three applications, not one. Alongside depositing the rent, the section lets a tenant apply for an order reducing the rent until the condition is remedied, and for an order using the deposited money to remedy the condition itself. The deposit is the part everybody has heard of; the other two are in the same section.
Escrow is one of three choices the section gives a tenant who is current once the time to remedy has run. The others are applying to the court for an order directing the landlord to remedy the condition, and terminating the rental agreement.
What counts as the landlord's obligation is set out in its own section rather than left to argument. It covers keeping the premises fit and habitable, complying with housing, building, health and safety codes, keeping the common areas safe, and keeping the supplied heating, plumbing, electrical and appliances in working order.
“Is the rent current, and was the notice in writing and to the right address.”
Each clerk of courts runs its own escrow paperwork and its own filing fee, and the forms differ from one county to the next. Retaliation against a tenant for a code complaint is its own section and is not covered here. Whether a particular condition is a landlord obligation, whether a notice was sufficient, and what a court will do with a deposit are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and legal aid offices across the state handle landlord and tenant cases as a matter of course.
Sources for this section (4)
- ORC 5321.07 — Tenant remedies, including depositing rent with the clerk of court
- ORC 5321.04 — Landlord obligations, including notice before entry
- ORC 5321.08 — Rent deposits, and the duty of the clerk of court
- ORC 5321.09 — A landlord's application to have escrowed rent released, including where the tenant was not current
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.