Landlords' omissions justified tenants' decision to rent elsewhere

On March 3, 1997, Michael Whitt and Angelina Collins entered into a written agreement to rent a house and two barns from Jerry and Rena Shoemaker in Xenia, Ohio. Rent was to be $1200 per month, and the term of the lease was to be two months. To terminate the lease, the tenants had to provide 60 days notice of their intent to leave.

The tenants were initially not satisfied with the condition of the premises and requested the landlords to remove junk from the property, remove a large pile of horse manure outside the house, fix a leaky roof, rid the barn of a pack of wild cats and improve the quality of the well water. The landlords did not attend to these complaints. The tenants never took possession and were sued in small claims court for the unpaid rent. That court found in favor of the landlord.

The tenants argued on appeal that they were relieved from honoring the lease because the landlords had failed to perform their duties specified under Ohio Revised Code section 5321.

Under that section a landlord must (1) comply with all requirements of all applicable building, housing, health and safety codes; (2) make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition; (3) keep all common areas of the premises in a safe and sanitary condition; and (4) maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning fixtures and appliances, and elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him.

If a landlord fails to remedy any of these problems or if the tenant believes that a landlord has failed to remedy such a condition within a reasonable time after a tenant provides written notice to the landlord of the problem, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. If the lease fails to contain the name and address of the landlords, no written notice of the problem is required - only oral notice.

In this case, because the lease did not contain the address of the landlords, oral notice was sufficient. The appeals court focused on the pile of horse manure outside the house as well as the wild cats in the barn in concluding that the Shoemakers had failed to keep the common areas in a safe and sanitary condition. It also found that the landlords had failed to make repairs and do what was necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition. Because of this failure to honor statutory obligations, the appeals court found that the tenants were justified in terminating the rental agreement.

Shoemaker v. Whitt (1998), 129 Ohio App.3d 591.

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