Q: Is it my responsibility to make sure a tenant returns a new lease.
Tenants are in Ohio. I mailed 2 copies ofnew lease 1/2018 requesting they sign & return 1. Never received. Due to non-payment of Sewer bill which was their responsibility, I took over payment and advised they would have $25 increase in rent starting 12/18. Lease expires in 2/2019. Tenant says I cannot raise rent due to lease. I said there is no lease as they never returned signed copy. She advised that she did return it and “per Ohio Law” it was my responsibility to check with her when I didn’t get it back. Is this true? I live in California.
A: It is not a legal requirement for landlord to do that, but if landlord does not have a lease signed by tenant then landlord can say it is a month to month tenancy, which can be terminated at the end of any month by giving 30 days written notice. Written notice given now would be effective to terminate tenancy on January 31, and if tenant does not leave, then you could file an eviction. Tenant is likely to provide a copy of the lease to avoid that. But if it expires in 2 months in February, it might not be worth any of that hassle, especially over $25.
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