How do I count the three days for purposes of an Ohio Eviction Notice?
The basic rule in Ohio is the day of posting, weekends and holidays do not count when calculating the three days of an Ohio Eviction Notice.
For example, if I posted a three day notice on Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, I would not count Friday, Saturday and Sunday as part of the three days. I would count Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This means that I could file an eviction complaint with the court on Thursday, Dec. 22, if the tenant was still at the premises on Thursday.
If I filed the eviction on Wednesday (the 3rd day of the eviction notice), the court would dismiss my eviction case for having been filed prematurely. A properly served and aged three day eviction notice gives the court jurisdiction (authority) to hear and rule upon the eviction case. If I filed the eviction case before the 3 day notice expired, the court would not have jurisdiction (authority) to hear the case and would have to dismiss it.
Meanwhile, I would have to refile the case, pay another filing fee, and wait 2-3 weeks for another hearing.
If for some reason I served the eviction notice on December 16 but gave my tenant until Dec. 23 to vacate (more than 3 days), then I would have to wait until December 24 to file the eviction case. I couldn’t review my eviction notice, realize that I gave my tenant more than 3 days, and then file on Dec. 22. If I wrote in the wrong date, I have to live by it otherwise the court will dismiss my case for not waiting the specified period.
Another scenario is serving the eviction notice on Dec. 16; listing the 3rd day on the notice as Dec. 20; but then filing the eviction on Dec. 22. In this example, I wrote in the wrong date on the three day notice as the final day. I should have written Dec. 21 and not Dec. 20 but I waited until Dec. 22 to file the case. Could the tenant argue that my notice was invalid and request that the court dismiss the case on those grounds? I’m not sure but will look into it further.
I know many landlords are confused about the three day notice and what days to count and what days not to count and when to file the eviction. Hopefully, this helps with the notice and filing process in Ohio.