Lease agreement/ deposit ?

[fortherecord]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? OHIO
I own a rental house and am in the process of writing a 1 year lease agreement. The rent will be $600.00 per month and the deposit will be $600.00. I was wondering what penalties (can I keep the deposit?) I can apply if the tenant breaks the lease by moving before the 1 year lease is up. I see on alot of leases it says if the lease is broken the tenant is responsible for the rent and utilities until owner rents the property. What utilities can they be held responsible for? What if someone wants to rent the property but there references are not as good as the current renters? Do I still have to rent it to them? Some leases also state that the security deposit will be forfeited if the lease is broken by the tenant. I was wondering what I should call the deposit so that I could use it if needed for repairs, cleaning, or delinquent rent.I think I read in this forum that the name you apply to the deposit is important. If you call it security/cleaning deposit then you can only use it for that pupose and you cannot use it to pay delinquent rent. What if I call it security/cleaning/delinquent rent deposit? Could I also use it for breaking the lease? If I find a renter immediately would I still be legally able to keep the deposit for breaking the lease? Thanks if you can help with any of these many questions.

[john123456]

Originally Posted by fortherecord

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? OHIO
I own a rental house and am in the process of writing a 1 year lease agreement. The rent will be $600.00 per month and the deposit will be $600.00. I was wondering what penalties (can I keep the deposit?) I can apply if the tenant breaks the lease by moving before the 1 year lease is up. I see on alot of leases it says if the lease is broken the tenant is responsible for the rent and utilities until owner rents the property. What utilities can they be held responsible for? What if someone wants to rent the property but there references are not as good as the current renters? Do I still have to rent it to them? Some leases also state that the security deposit will be forfeited if the lease is broken by the tenant. I was wondering what I should call the deposit so that I could use it if needed for repairs, cleaning, or delinquent rent.I think I read in this forum that the name you apply to the deposit is important. If you call it security/cleaning deposit then you can only use it for that pupose and you cannot use it to pay delinquent rent. What if I call it security/cleaning/delinquent rent deposit? Could I also use it for breaking the lease? If I find a renter immediately would I still be legally able to keep the deposit for breaking the lease? Thanks if you can help with any of these many questions.

I recommend you familiarize yourself with the Ohio L/T law before venturing into the business. Remember, Google is your friend. You will save yourself tons of unnecessary anguish.

[Who's Liable?]

Thouroughly READ and UNDERSTAND your states LL/T laws BEFORE you post questions here...

All your answers to ALL your questions are answered in the laws...

Come back when you have a more specific question...