Tenant-Landlord Services

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The Tenant\Landlord Help line receives between 200-400 phone calls a month on various issues affecting the rights and responsibilities of both tenants and landlords.  Some of the services we provide include information regarding your rights under the Ohio Tenant\Landlord Law, referrals to other agencies, and mediation services.  

    Probably the most common problem we hear on the T\L Help line involves a landlord's failure to make repairs.  Other issues FHCS address are utility shutoff, illegal entry, damage to the property, security deposits, and eviction issues, among others.   Often the tenant and landlord are unclear of their obligations to each other another under the Tenant\Landlord Act.  Although we are not attorneys and cannot provide legal advice, we do try to provide general information on resolving a landlord or tenant's particular problem.  Hopefully we can provide the caller with options that will enable him or her to make a more informed decision as to how to proceed.

 

 Tenants and landlords in the greater Akron region can call the Tenant-Landlord Helpline to be informed of their housing rights and responsibilities according to the Ohio Landlord-Tenant Law and local ordinances.  This service will address those areas that directly affect the health and safety of the  residents including, but not limited to-

• Evictions

• Repairs

• Maintenance

• Utilities

Residents may be referred to agencies that can more directly assist with specific problems or to appropriate sources to help with mediation or litigation.  This service is our most direct method for reaching and educating tenants and property owners of the requirements of the state law governing rental properties.

An example of a typical tenant/landlord situation would involve a duplex that was owner-occupied on one side, with the other side rented out.  The tenant was told by the water company that her water might be shut off if she did not persuade the landlord to pay the water bill.  The unique part of this situation was that each side was separately metered, with the tenant and landlord each getting their own water bill.  The problem was that there was only one shutoff valve to both units, which would cut off water to the paying tenant as well as the landlord who was delinquent!  A phone call to the utility revealed that the water company was not really going to shut the water off, but wanted the tenant to put pressure on the landlord to pay the bill.  It was not proper to hold the tenants liable for the landlords’ responsibilities and it was suggested to the tenant that the rent escrow process might be the only way to protect herself.  If she gave the landlord notice of the payment problem and time to pay it and she could then use the rent escrow process and ask the court to release part of her escrowed rent to pay the bill.

 

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441 Wolf Ledges Parkway, Suite 200, Akron OH, 44311
Office: (330) 376-6191    Fax: (330) 376-8391
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