Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

In Ohio, if we are talking about a residential apartment, then the landlord does not have to accept late rent and can insist that you leave upon your breach of the lease agreement. However, the landlord also has a duty to mitigate his damages upon your breach of the lease, which means that he must take prompt steps to re-rent your apartment to someone else to avoid damages in unpaid rent (which, absent that new renter, you would have to pay through the end of the lease term).

In this situation, if you vacate before the eviction is filed, then the landlord will not file the eviction. But you should carefully document the condition of the apartment before you leave it (video is best but still pictures are better than nothing) so that you won't be charged for bogus damages you did not cause.

You should get a receipt for the keys if possible, or at least have a friend with you who will witness the turnover of the keys and can testify in court if the landlord denies that you returned the keys.

I would not deposit rent with the courts because doing that is for when you are current on the rent and the landlord is refusing to fix things around the place. In this case, you are not current on the rent so upon the lanldord's application for release of the escrowed funds, he could get them back and could still carry on with the eviction if you are still in possession of the property.

If the lanldord does file an eviction against you even though you have vacated, you should attend the hearing and tell the court that you moved out before the eviction was filed and that you would like to have the cause of action for possession dismissed since it is moot.