Can Landlord Maintain a Retaliatory Eviction
Q. I recently complained to my landlord about some problems at the apartment, and now he has placed a notice
of eviction on my door. Can he evict me in retaliation for complaining?
A. No. Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.02 forbids a landlord from evicting a tenant for exercising his rights as a
tenant. If the Court finds that the landlord's eviction was motivated by a desire for retaliation, then the eviction
action will be dismissed, the tenant's actual damages (if any) will be awarded to the tenant, and the landlord will
have to pay for the tenant's attorney fees. The problem with all of this is that intent is a subjective thing. It
is difficult to read a landlord's mind to see what motivated him. Once the landlord realizes that he cannot evict
you for complaining, he will likely tell the court that he was evicting you for some other reason such as excessive
noise.
Proximity in time between your complaint and the eviction action is one good piece of proof in Court, but it
is not decisive proof. If your landlord is asserting a reason that you feel is pretextual (a lie), then ask him
to back it up with documents once you get to court. If the neighbors were complaining about noise, where are
he police reports or phone log messages to the landlord's secretary to back this up? Why were no witnesses
willing to come in to support the landlord's version of the facts? In the end the judge is going to make the call,
and he could rule either way, so both the landlord and the tenant are playing a dangerous game when they go to war
on this one.
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Disclaimer: The information provided on ohiolandlordtenant.com is not intended to be legal advice, but general information related to legal issues commonly encountered. The law in your state may be different from that discussed here. The facts in your case may be different too.
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