Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

A woman came to my door saying she was the legal owner of the property I am renting. She told me that my landlord is in default of their land contract deal and that I was now supposed to pay my rent to her instead of my landlord. She had a letter that she had typed out on her personal stationary and it was signed only by her. It was not notarized and there was no attorney signature. She also showed me a copy of the land contract agreement that said that my landlord had until August of 2015 to pay the loan. She said I need to start paying the rent to her immediately and that she would cash the check but she would personally hold onto it for escrow until things went to court and were settled with the landlord. I questioned this and she admitted it that it was "legally murky" but she stated that my landlord had not been paying her and if I choose to give the rent to him, it will be going into his personal bank account and she will come back in two weeks to collect rent from me. She also said that if I do pay her instead, the landlord has the right to begin the process of evicting me. I called my landlord and he said that, yes, the woman is the owner of the property but that nothing has gone to court and that I should still pay the rent to him as detailed in our rental lease. The lease makes no mention of the landowner at all.


Asked on 6/01/15, 6:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Eric Willison Eric Eastman Willison

In Ohio, when you know that one of multiple persons are entitled to something in your possession (in this case the rent) but you don't know whom to pay, you can file a case with the court and interplead the parties who might be entitled to is as defendants. Then they can file an answer and fight of the money themselves before the court.

You should speak to an attorney about this in your area. If you can't get one to help you at an affordable rate, you can email me at [email protected] and I may be able to help you out.

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Answered on 6/01/15, 7:23 am


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