Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

In Ohio, a landlord can enter the apartment for the purposes of inspection or repair so long as he gives reasonable notice to the tenant (reasonable notice presumed to be 24 hours) pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.04(A)(8).

The exception to the notice requirement is when there is an emergency condition or when it is impracticable to give the notice (for instance, the tenant tells the landlord that he will be crab fishing in the Bering Sea for the next two weeks).

So if the lanldord argues that this person claiming to be your relative convinced him that there was an emergency situation, and a judge buys that argument, then the landlord may be in the right.

But if the judge buys the tenant's argument that the landlord was just being nosy and should have respected your right to possession instead, then the judge might find that the landlord trespassed into the apartment.