Residential Rental Property Registration Notice

Ohio Revised Code section (R.C.) 5323.02 requires an owner of residential rental property to register a contact agent for that property with the county auditor’s office within 60 days (including weekends and holidays) following the day a real property conveyance form for that property is filed with the county auditor. Failure to file this information in a timely manner may result in the assessment of a penalty of up to $150 against the property that is the subject of the violation.

What is Residential Rental Property?

  • A real property parcel on which at least one dwelling unit leased or otherwise rented to tenants solely for residential purposes is located.
  • A real property parcel that is located in a mobile home park or other permanent or semi-permanent site at which lots are leased or otherwise rented to tenants for parking a manufactured home, a mobile home or a recreational vehicle used solely for residential purposes.
  • Residential rental property does not include a hotel or a college or university dormitory.

Who Must File?
R.C. 5323.02 requires an owner of residential rental property to file information about a contact agent with the county auditor.
If a property has multiple individual owners, only one owner is required to fi le as the contact agent. If the property
is owned by a trust, business trust, estate, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation
or any other business entity, then one of the following individuals,as indicated below, must fi le as the contact agent.

 If the property is owned by:

  • a trust – a trustee must file
  • an estate – the executor or administrator must file
  • a partnership or a limited partnership – a general partner must file
  • a limited liability company – a member, manager or officer of the company must file
  • an association – an associate must file
  • a corporation – an officer must file
  • any other business entity – a member, manager or officer must file

What Information Must Be Filed?
The contact agent must file the name, address and telephone number of the individual who is filing as the contact agent for the property, and the street address and permanent parcel number of the residential rental property.  Please contact your county auditor for additional information about how to register a contact agent.

To register your rental property please download and complete the following PDF form and send it to the Auditor's Office:

  • Fillable Rental Registration Form - enables you to download the form, complete it on your computer.  You can then email the form or print it out and mail it to- The Lorain County Auditor's Office, Second Floor, 226 Middle Avenue, Elyria, Ohio, 44035. This form requires Adobe Acrobat 7. Please be aware that some browser plugins do not support the electronic signature function.  In that case use the Adobe Acrobat application to complete the form.

*Ohio law requires owners of residential rental property to register such properties with the county auditor by providing the information requested in the forms available on this page. To view the official bill language click here.