Security Deposit Alternative in Ohio
Ohio sets no dollar limit on a security deposit, but it charges you for holding a big one. Any deposit above fifty dollars or one month's rent, whichever is greater, earns the resident 5 percent a year on the excess once they pass six months in the unit, and you pay that out annually. You then have 30 days from the end of the tenancy and getting possession back to deliver an itemized written notice of every deduction along with the balance owed.
What Ohio law says about security deposits
Read from the Ohio statute on 2026-09-09. Deposit rules change, and this is general information rather than legal advice. Confirm the current text with your own counsel before you change a lease.
Can you require it of every Ohio resident?
Ohio has no statute written for a monthly fee charged instead of a deposit, so the arrangement rests on your lease and the general deposit rules rather than on anything drafted for it. What Ohio does is put a price on holding a large deposit. Any deposit above fifty dollars or one month's rent, whichever is greater, earns the resident 5 percent a year on the excess once they have been in the unit six months, computed and paid annually by the landlord. Offering residents the choice of a fee instead is straightforward. Writing it into every lease as a requirement is a conversation with your own attorney.
Rules differ by state and by city, and subsidized housing is its own question. This is general information for property managers, not legal advice. Get a written opinion before you make the fee a condition of tenancy anywhere.
How the program works in Ohio
The mechanics are the same in every state Beagle operates in. The program is designed to comply with applicable state and local regulations, and the rate is set by the deposit amount rather than by geography, so a Ohio property and one two states over are quoted the same way.
The resident chooses at signing
Instead of producing the full deposit, the resident pays a smaller non-refundable monthly fee that is billed with rent. Nothing is held, so nothing has to be returned.
The property keeps its protection
Damage beyond normal wear is reimbursed up to the deposit amount the unit would otherwise have required, so what you can recover does not shrink.
Move-out stops being a negotiation
A claim is filed against the program rather than deducted from money you are holding, which takes the itemised-deduction letter and the dispute that follows it off your team's desk.
You earn on every resident who takes it
You set an administrative fee on top of the premium, up to $5 per unit per month, and keep it.
Ohio security deposit alternative FAQs
Because a large deposit in Ohio is not free to hold. Anything above one month's rent accrues 5 percent a year to the resident, paid annually, once they have been in the unit six months. A deposit alternative lowers what a resident has to produce at move-in and takes that accrual off your books, without lowering what the property can recover.
See it on your Ohio units
Run the program against your own unit count, or walk through it with our team. No upfront fees, no onboarding charges, no long-term contracts.