Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

In Ohio, that is a bad idea. Usually the lease has a clause in it that says that the security deposit is not to be used that way. But the worse thing is that by doing that the tenant gives up the protections of the Ohio Landlord Tenant Act of 1974 which allows him to recover double damages and attorneys fees if the landlord cheats him out of any portion of the deposit after getting written notice of his forwarding address.

Further, if the landlord makes up a bunch of bogus damages that go well beyond the security deposit, then the tenant can hire an attorney to fight those charges, secure in the position that if the attorney wins the case, then the landlord has to pay the tenant's attorney fees if any portion of the security deposit is shown to be withheld.

But if the tenant fails to pay the last months rent and says "take it out of the security deposit" then no portion of the security deposit will be wrongfully withheld and the tenant will be on his own to fight a crooked landlord who overcharges beyond the deposit.

So the best thing is to pay the last months rent on time, on the last check's memo section put in "Sec. Dep. Forwarding Address: [then write in the address]. Then move all of the stuff out as the last day of the lease approaches and clean up the place and fix any damages beyond ordinary wear and tear that the tenant did. Lastly, take a video of the place as you are about to lock it up and drop off the keys. That way if the landlord makes up stories about how the place was full of garbage you will have him right where you want him.