It is not easy to survive in a new country. Many Chinese immigrants have bought some properties after a long period of unremitting struggle. Many people will invest their money in the real estate, hoping to maintain or increase the value, and sometimes rent it out to others to collect rent to obtain rental income. It is certainly a joy to have tenants who keep their promises. But sometimes the landlord also has to face some tenants who often default on rent or utility bills. At this time, the expected rental income may be reduced or even disappear. Some tenants fail to sanitize or maintain the room, or intentionally damage the room itself, which may result in a decrease in the value of the property. What’s more, some tenants do not abide by the lease and use the premises for illegal purposes, putting the landlord at legal risk. The above-mentioned tenants will undoubtedly cause headaches and trouble for every landlord. At this time, you should take legal action to protect your rights.
The modern legal system generally considers that tenants are in a weaker position than landlords, and therefore will provide some protection to tenants. The landlord must not think that since the house is owned by him, if he is not satisfied with the tenant, as the owner, he can evict the tenant, change the locks, or discard personal belongings at will. Not only will this not solve any problems, but it will cause unnecessary legal troubles.
The legal relationship between landlords and tenants is generally regulated by the state laws of each state. Of course, this does not mean that federal laws are not applicable to this issue. For example, the federal law (“The Fair Housing Act”) stipulates that landlords cannot discriminate against tenants when they are looking for tenants. Since the regulations of each state are different, we only use the specific regulations of Ohio as an example to explain.
As mentioned above, the landlord’s rights are not unlimited, but subject to the law. Ohio’s code (the “Ohio Revised Code”) has a separate chapter dealing with tenancy disputes. When the tenant fails to pay the due rent or violates the specific terms of the lease, the landlord has the right to evict the tenant, but must follow the legal procedures and cannot use personal relief (“Self-help”) without authorization. For example, Ohio law requires landlords to serve a “Three-Day Notice” before evicting tenants, and the notice itself must meet specific format requirements. If the tenant does not move out of the house as scheduled, the landlord still cannot act on his/her own at this time, but needs to go to court to sue and submit a complaint. Generally, the landlord needs to go to the municipal court where the real estate is located. Various municipal courts require supporting documents in addition to the landlord’s complaint for the lawsuit to evict the tenant. Courts have discretions, so the specific documents required will vary from court to court. After the landlord files the Complaint and the supporting documents, the court will serve all the documents to the tenant and notify the tenant of the location and date of the hearing in court. During the hearing, the judge will ask the parties about the specific circumstances of the dispute and then make a judgment. After the landlord wins the lawsuit, he can legally evict the tenant.
Our law firm has extensive experience in handling numerous tenancy disputes and is familiar with the unique requirements of different courts. Our success rate is 98%. If you encounter a case related to rental dispute, please contact us.