Ohio Mold Law: Tenant Rights, Disclosure & Insurance
Does Ohio license mold work?
No Ohio statute or administrative rule licenses or certifies mold assessors or mold remediators. The Ohio Department of Health's only environmental-hazard licensing authority in this space is lead abatement under ORC Chapter 3742, which contains no mold licensure (verified: chapter text mentions 'fungus' only inside the definition of 'encapsulation'). ODH's Healthy Homes program provides education/guidance on mold only. Mold remediation firms are not separately licensed by the state; no dedicated agency, license type, or exam exists.
Habitability: what landlords must provide
Statutory implied warranty via the landlord's duties. ORC 5321.04(A)(1) requires the landlord to 'Comply with the requirements of all applicable building, housing, health, and safety codes that materially affect health and safety'; ORC 5321.04(A)(2) requires the landlord to 'Make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.' MOLD IS NOT NAMED — this is a general habitability statute that courts apply to mold, not a mold-specific statute. (Ohio Rev. Code § 5321.04(A)(1)-(2))
Notice and repair timeline
Tenant must give written notice to the person/place where rent is normally paid. The landlord must remedy 'within a reasonable time considering the severity of the condition and the time necessary to remedy it, or within thirty days, whichever is sooner.' ORC 5321.07(A)-(B). So: 30 days maximum, less if the condition is severe.
Tenant remedies
Under ORC 5321.07(B) a tenant who is current on rent may (1) deposit rent with the clerk of the municipal or county court (rent escrow), (2) apply to the court for an order directing the landlord to remedy the condition, for a reduction in rent, or to use the escrowed rent to pay for repairs, or (3) terminate the rental agreement. NO statutory repair-and-deduct remedy exists in Ohio. Constructive eviction is a common-law doctrine, not codified in ch. 5321. ORC 5321.07 remedies are unavailable in specified situations, including certain landlords owning three or fewer dwelling units who gave notice, and certain student-occupied units.
Selling a home: mold disclosure
Yes, indirectly by statute and directly on the mandated form. ORC 5302.30 requires a transferor of residential real property to deliver a Residential Property Disclosure Form covering 'any material defects in the property that are within the actual knowledge of the transferor'; the statute itself does NOT name mold. The form prescribed under Ohio Admin. Code 1301:5-6-10 does: Section D) WATER INTRUSION asks 'Do you know of any previous or current water leakage, water accumulation, excess moisture or other defects to the property, including but not limited to any area below grade, basement or crawl space?' and separately asks 'Have you ever had the property inspected for mold by a qualified inspector?' with the advisory 'Purchaser is advised that every home contains mold.' Buyer's statutory remedy for a missing form is rescission within the earlier of 30 days after acceptance or closing (ORC 5302.30). (Ohio Rev. Code § 5302.30; Ohio Admin. Code 1301:5-6-10 (Residential Property Disclosure Form, Section D 'Water Intrusion'))
Deadlines to bring a claim
Personal injury (incl. mold exposure bodily injury): 2 years — ORC 2305.10(A) ('an action based on a product liability claim and an action for bodily injury or injuring personal property shall be brought within two years after the cause of action accrues'). Personal property damage: 2 years — ORC 2305.10(A). Injury to REAL property / trespass on real property and residual torts: 4 years — ORC 2305.09 ('an action for any of the following causes shall be brought within four years,' including trespassing upon real property and injury to the rights of the plaintiff not arising on contract).
Insurance treatment of mold
No Ohio statute, administrative rule, or Ohio Department of Insurance bulletin was located that mandates, caps, or requires an offer of mold coverage. ODI publishes only a general Homeowners Insurance Guide advising consumers to review policy 'exclusions and limitations'; mold/fungi sublimits and exclusions in Ohio are contract terms, not regulatory mandates. Ohio federal courts have enforced mold exclusions: Honeybaked Foods, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., No. 3:08CV01686, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127502 (N.D. Ohio 2010) (mold exclusion enforced) — case identified via the Goldberg Segalla/Mealey's 'Fifty States of Mold Claims' survey (Jan. 2013), not independently pulled from the docket.
Leading cases
Terry v. Caputo, 115 Ohio St.3d 351, 2007-Ohio-5023 (Ohio 2007) — the controlling Ohio mold case. Holds that in a claim for injury from exposure to mold or other toxic substance the claimant must prove (1) general causation (the toxin is capable of causing the condition) and (2) specific causation (the toxin in fact caused this claimant's condition), and that both 'must be established by the testimony of a medical expert'; without expert testimony on both, no prima facie case. Applied in Finley v. First Realty Property Mgt., Ltd., 2009-Ohio-6797 (Ohio Ct. App.). On coverage, see Honeybaked Foods (N.D. Ohio 2010) above.