rental-property ohio
Landlord Maintenance Notice
<p>I rent an apartment in Ohio and I have had numerous occasions where I reported a maintenance issue (AC unit, washing machine, etc) only to receive an email stating someone will be there today, someone enters my home, fixes the issue and no note, work sheet, etc is left. My lease states that 24 hours notice must be given for non-emergencies. </p>

<p>On some instances less than 3 hours notice were given and the only indication that someone was in my home was that the appliance in question was no longer broken. </p>

<p>Do they have to leave some kind of communication as well as give proper notice? Is there anything I can do about this?</p>

<p>Under <a href="http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321" rel="nofollow">ORC 5321.04(8)</a>, the landord must</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to do so,
  give the tenant reasonable notice of the landlord's intent to enter
  and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours is presumed to
  be a reasonable notice in the absence of evidence to the contrary.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In case of a violation of landlord obligations such as this, under 5321.07(A), </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>the tenant may give notice in writing to the landlord, specifying the
  acts, omissions, or code violations that constitute noncompliance. The
  notice shall be sent to the person or place where rent is normally
  paid</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and then (B) specifies that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If a landlord receives the notice described in division (A) of this
  section and after receipt of the notice fails to remedy the condition
  within a reasonable time considering the severity of the condition and
  the time necessary to remedy it, or within thirty days, whichever is
  sooner, and if the tenant is current in rent payments due under the
  rental agreement, the tenant may do one of the following</p>
</blockquote>

<p>followed by options to terminate the lease, seek a court order to remedy the condition, or "Deposit all rent that is due and thereafter becomes due the landlord with the clerk of the municipal or county court having jurisdiction in the territory in which the residential premises are located" (there is no indication what happens to that money). On the face of it, your only remedy is to terminate the lease, since it is impossible to change the past-tense fact that the landlord gave less than 24 hours notification. </p>

<p>None of the 14 cases to hit the Ohio Supreme Court regarding ORC 5321.04 have pertained to the advance notice requirement. I would guess that if you were to pursue a court order for a remedy that the most you could hope for would be an injunction requiring them to wait at least 24 hours until effecting the repair.</p>

<p>There is no requirement that you be given notice that the work was done.</p>
