Use of security deposit

[ulpageo]

My question concerns the legality in the state of Ohio of using a tenants security deposit when the house is vacated to pay for telephone bills that are left unpaid. The situation is that there was a verbal agreement at the time of signing the lease that the renter would assume responsibility for the telephone. It was also stated in the lease that the landlord would not pay for utilities. What happened was that the tenant did not follow through with changing the telephone over into his name; and the bill kept being paid directly from the landlord's bank account. Now the tenant refuses to pay the landlord for his expenditure on telephone bills during his tenancy. He also claims that his lawyer has advised him that it is not legal to withold the security deposit to pay for these telephone bills. Any advice would be appreciated.

[eewillison]

In Ohio, if the written lease agreement states that the tenant will get telephone service for free, then an oral agreement to the contrary will not be considered by the court. But if the lease is silent upon who pays the phone bill, then most Ohio courts would find that this is the tenant's responsibility under the oral agreement.

If the tenant breached the oral agreement by not paying the bill, then you have a good argument that this is a lawful deduction from the deposit. But if it is not a large amount, you might be better off to just pay the charge yourself rather than risk a lawsuit over the matter.

To learn more about your rights as a landlord, you might consider taking a look at our book online at http://www.ohiolandlordtenant.com/landlordbook.html