Ohio Landlord/Tenant Law

If you are a Landlord:
First, you must think of your rental property as your "business".  You are in the "business" of being a landlord whether you own one rental unit or several hundred units.  You are in the "business" of being a landlord no matter how you acquired the property you rent.  Too many people inherit a house and rent it out without any awareness at all of the fact that they are in a "business" and, worse still, that there are specific laws which govern their conduct towards their tenant.  The landlord who is so sick and tired of telling the tenant who has not paid rent for several months to move out that he stops at the property one day and, in anger and frustration, turns off the water to force the tenant to leave, has just made a serious and probably very costly mistake.  Shutting off any utility in an effort to force a tenant to leave is a violation of the Ohio Landlord/Tenant Act.  There is only one way to evict a tenant and it must be followed to the letter.
Once you accept that you must look at your rental property as your business, you are off to a good start.
Ohio law requires a number of specific things of landlords and those requirements are found in Chapter 5321 of the Ohio Revised Code.

If you are a Tenant:
If you've just read the Landlord section and think you can get away with just about anything, think again.  Tenants have specific responsibilities under the law and under the terms of the lease agreements they sign. A tenant's failure to conduct himself in conformity with the law and with the terms and conditions of the Lease Agreement can have serious and costly consequences.  I like to tell tenants that apartment living is truly communal living and that all of the advantages and disadvantages of communal living will be evident to one degree or another in your experience as a tenant.  Radios, stereo systems and Television sets should not be so loud as to be noticed by your neighbors.  While this is especially true at night, you should also keep in mind that some of your neighbors may work nights and sleep during the day.  As a tenant, you should become familiar with your landlord's policies and procedures for requesting that work or repairs be done in your apartment.  A telephone message left for a resident manager will not get the job done if the landlord requires that "work orders" be submitted in writing.  Emergency situations will, of course, be the exception to this rule but what you think is an "emergency" may be a "routine request" to your landlord.  Tenants also cause themselves problems by acting as if the landlord's rules and regulations (often a part of your lease and therefore binding on you) shouldn't apply to their particular situation or that exceptions to the rules should be frequently made.  Tenants must remember that those rules are generally made for the benefit of all the tenants and not just for the landlord. 
Tenants, too, have duties set forth in Chapter 5321 of the Ohio Revised Code.