Free Ohio Commercial Lease Agreement Template

An Ohio commercial lease agreement rents non-residential property — a storefront, an office, a warehouse, a workshop — to a tenant who will run a business there. Ohio keeps two bodies of law apart: Chapter 5321 is the Landlords and Tenants Act covering residential premises, and Chapter 1923 supplies the forcible entry and detainer action.

Chapter 1923 is the route that reaches a business tenancy. It is procedural, and its notice rules distinguish residential from other premises in their own terms.

The pre-suit notice is where the commercial distinction shows up.

Three Days, and How to Serve It

R.C. § 1923.04(A) requires a party wanting to commence an action under the chapter to notify the adverse party to leave the premises three or more days before beginning the action.

Service can take one of several forms: by certified mail with return receipt requested, by handing a written copy of the notice to the defendant in person, or by leaving it at the defendant’s usual place of abode or at the premises from which the defendant is sought to be evicted.

The Warning Language That Does Not Apply

The same section requires a conspicuous warning in every notice given by a landlord to recover residential premises, telling the tenant they are being asked to leave and that an eviction action may follow.

That requirement is written for residential premises. A notice to recover commercial premises is not carrying the same statutory wording, which is one of the few places Ohio treats the two differently on the face of the section.

Almost all of the substance. Because Chapter 5321’s landlord duties, deposit rules, and notice periods are written around residential premises, an Ohio commercial lease agreement carries the rent terms, the repair obligations, and the cure periods on its own.

That includes the cure period for late rent. Section 1923.04 sets a minimum period before an action may be commenced; it does not give the tenant a statutory right to pay and stay. Whether a business tenant gets a chance to fix a default depends on what the lease says.

It also includes the tenancy’s shape. A fixed term with a stated expiry date removes most of the uncertainty about when notice is owed and how long it must run.

1. Lock the rent figure, the escalation formula, the term length, and the repair allocation.
2. Give the term a definite expiry date so the parties know when possession is owed.
3. Write in a cure period for late rent and for other defaults, since the chapter supplies none.
4. Name a notice address for each side and record who may accept service there.
5. Sign, and file the executed lease with the default timetable noted on the front.

Chapter 1923 governs the action, not the bargain, so an Ohio commercial lease agreement carries:

• Legal names of landlord and tenant, and the entity behind each signature.
• A description fixing the building, unit number, and any common corridors.
• Rent, the due date, and the basis and timing of increases.
• A definite term, renewal rights, and holdover terms.
• The events that constitute default and the cure period for each.
• Allocation of real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, and each class of repair.
• The trade permitted, transfer restrictions, and the address for serving notice.