What is Residential Rental Property?
Residential rental property is any residential property in which money is exchanged, meaning the dwelling unit is leased or otherwise rented to tenants solely for residential purposes. Examples include, but are not limited to, an apartment, single-family home, or multi-family units. The exceptions are a hotel or a college or university dormitory.
All real property parcels on which at least one residential living unit is leased or rented as described above are considered residential rental property, regardless of other improvements (e.g., apartment over retail space) that are located on the parcel.
Who Must File?
Ohio Revised Code Section (O.R.C.) 5323.02 requires an owner of residential rental property to file certain information with the auditor of the county in which the property is located. If the residential rental property is owned by multiple individual owners, then only one of them is required to file as the contact person. If the property is owned by a business entity, then one of the following individuals must register the property as the contact person:
- A trustee, in the case of a trust or business trust;
- The executor or administrator, in the case of an estate;
- A general partner, in the case of a partnership or a limited partnership;
- A member, manager, or officer, in the case of a limited liability company;
- An officer, in the case of a corporation;
- A member, manager, or officer in the case of any other business entity
What Information Must Be Filed?
- In the case of an individual owner: the name, address, and phone number of the owner.
- In the case of multiple individual owners: the name, address, and phone number of the owner who is filing as the contact person.
- In the case of an owner other than an individual or individuals: the name, address, and phone number of the individual who is filing as the contact person.
- In all cases, the street address and parcel number of the residential rental property.
**NOTE: An owner of residential rental property who resides outside of the State of Ohio must designate an individual who resides in the state to serve as the management or agent contact or provide a certified copy of their Ohio statutory agent filing.
What Information May Be Filed?
- Out of state owners must provide an in-state management contact, but an in-state owner may provide a management contact in addition to owner information.
- This information can be provided or updated via the online rental registration portal www.franklincountyauditor.com/real-estate/rental-registration.
- All of the same information required for an owner contact is required for a management contact.
- The property owner can desginate if owner information, management information, or both will be displayed on the property search website.
When Must Information Be Filed?
An owner must file the required information with the county auditor within 60 days after notification following the property transfer or when the property tax bill is received, or after any change in the information occurs.
Failure to comply with the initial filing or updating of the information is considered a violation of the law, and each property is then subject to a fine of $150 per tax year.
If you have any questions, please contact the Franklin County Auditor's office at 614-525-HOME (4663) or RentalRegistration@franklincountyohio.gov.
All information is considered public record (ORC 149.43).