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In late July 2015, Individual A entered into a lease with Managing Company X. This was a one year lease, scheduled to end in July 2016. In April 2016, a representative of X approached A about signing a new lease to go in to effect for when the current one was up. The representative and A agreed on a 6 month lease that would end in January.

Between April and June, Managing Company X sold the property which contained over 150 units, to Managing Company Y.

Since then, the individual has been unhappy with the services provided by the new landlord entity. Hot water was gone from their individual unit for 7 days, and there is a mold problem that has been known for 10 days, with no move made by anyone from Y to fix the issue.

Tenant A has given written and digital notice that they are counting to the thirty day cap for landlords to make repairs, as Ohio law states, before escalating the issue.

Assuming that the mold issue is resolved before the thirty day cap, does tenant A have any other legal reason to terminate the lease since they are unhappy with the new landlord, and their current lease was signed under the idea that Managing Company X would still be the owner of the property?

Clarification as questioned by Nate: There is no mention of ownership changes in the lease, and (if relevant) the lease specifies leasing "from Managing Company X, the property ___".

Subquestion: There are laws that protect the tenant from having their lease terminated by the new landlord, but is there similar logic or law that restricts the tenant from breaking the lease?

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    Have you read your lease to see if it addresses this? Mine contains an explicit clause that says the landlord may transfer it to a new owner or manager. The tenant's obligations stay the same, except that all their responsibilities to the old landlord are now owed to the new landlord.
    – Nate Eldredge
    Jul 27, 2016 at 17:24
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    There is no mention of ownership changes in the lease, and (if relevant) the lease specifies leasing "from Managing Company X, the property ___". I will update the original post.
    – Fritz
    Jul 27, 2016 at 17:33

1 Answer 1

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The terms of the lease are subject to Ohio's law. The only option for a tenant terminating a rental agreement is ORC 5321.07(B)(3), in response to failure to fulfill obligations under 5321.04. Those obligations relate to safety and health, keeping things in good working order, not abusing access and privacy rights. There is no obligation to make the tenant happy.

As a general rule, when you sell real estate, rental agreements transfer from seller to buyer. If they did not, tenants could be evicted as trespassers or rents could be raised massively within the period of the lease. The tenant's obligation remains the same, and it has simply been transferred to another person.

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  • This is the conclusion I came to in my research as well. I do wonder if there is grounds because the tenant is upset with the following of 5321.04, although I doubt it. Thank you, I appreciate the response.
    – Fritz
    Jul 27, 2016 at 19:15
  • We said. I am a landlord and when purchasing a property from another, it has been my responsibility to review the leases, tenant backgrounds, applications, assume deposits, and abide by the laws of he state. If the leases are unacceptable, then I do not buy the property or simply require a new lease at the termination of the current lease which is ordinary in most cases. If the tenant is unacceptable however living within the lease agreement, then I can opt not to renew the lease when the current lease expires. @Fritz
    – closetnoc
    Jul 29, 2016 at 18:44
  • Here is the funny thing about the above answer as it relates to Texas. The same applies in that the rental agreement transfers from seller to buyer, but the new buyer or landlord could be a company that does not give a damn and all of a sudden say, "hey because of a national crisis, we will not be making any repairs", most people accept it. If you go to a Texas attorney they will say, "its just a broken garbage disposal, deal with it". Nevermind that a broken garbage disposal unit that may be connected to a septic system that backs up and causes stagnant water, sanitation issue.
    – Daniel
    Jun 8, 2020 at 15:18
  • And apparently sanitation issues are not a concern of the Texas tenant-landlord court system.
    – Daniel
    Jun 8, 2020 at 15:18
  • Even if there isn't a change of ownership, the landlord can have a change of heart and make the same decision. The sanitation issue that you mention isn't really about the courts, it's a political one about the legislature. I don't know of a jurisdiction where landlords are statutorily required to provide a garbage disposer, but it's certainly a possibility, if the legislature is willing to make it a law.
    – user6726
    Jun 8, 2020 at 16:02

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