Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

In Ohio, the landlord can only charge a residential tenant for damages beyond normal wear and tear. This is true even if there is a clause in the lease authorizing the charge. In the case of Albreqt v. Chen, there was a clause in the lease agreement allowing the landlord to charge for carpet cleaning automatically whether the carpets needed cleaning or not. The court did not allow enforcement of the clause for the automatic charge. The same would be true in your situation.

Further, the collection agency needs to be careful in their collection efforts since misrepresenting that someone owes a debt is a violation of the fair debt collection practices act.