ohiolandlord
02-08-2006, 05:47 PM
Hi, I have been renting the same home for 10 years. After being a stay at home mom/wife my husband left me pennyless. Since 2004 to current I have been late with rent payments off and on. My agreements says one late fee of 25.00 after the first of the month. Every month after the 5th she begins calling my home, when I return her call and explain she says okay and excepts the payment. Recently I asked her if I could switch payments to the 15th as it when i can get it to her on time. I paid Nov. 15 and am Paying Dec. 15. She stated in order to do this I had to pay the 750.00 on the 15th and an additional half of next months rent as I would be living rent free for 2 weeks in Jan. because the lease say the 1st of the month. The past three months she has excepted the rent on the 15th. Does this seem odd. and can she evict me. She states she can have me out in 3 days for making late payments. However in the last two years she has excepted all my late payments. What do I do?
In Ohio, if the lease calls for payments to be made on the first of the month, then the tenant is responsible for making the payments at that time.
However, if the landlord and the tenant engage in a course of conduct which is contrary to the terms of the lease agreement, then the landlord has waived the right to strict compliance with the prompt payment clause of the lease agreement.
As such, if the landlord tries to evict you without having put you on notice that prompt payment would be required, then you will have the defense of estoppel to the eviction.
To learn more about fighting evictions, as well as how they work procedurally, you might wish to download our guide to fighting evictions in Ohio at http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/fightkit.html
You can learn about your rights as a tenant in general in Ohio by downloading our book on the subject at http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/book.html
In Ohio, if the lease calls for payments to be made on the first of the month, then the tenant is responsible for making the payments at that time.
However, if the landlord and the tenant engage in a course of conduct which is contrary to the terms of the lease agreement, then the landlord has waived the right to strict compliance with the prompt payment clause of the lease agreement.
As such, if the landlord tries to evict you without having put you on notice that prompt payment would be required, then you will have the defense of estoppel to the eviction.
To learn more about fighting evictions, as well as how they work procedurally, you might wish to download our guide to fighting evictions in Ohio at http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/fightkit.html
You can learn about your rights as a tenant in general in Ohio by downloading our book on the subject at http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/book.html