To amend section 2329.26 and to enact section 5321.20 of the Revised Code to specify that, upon proper notice, a rental agreement for a residential property that is the subject of a foreclosure action converts to a month-to-month rental agreement unless that residential rental agreement was entered into after the initiation of foreclosure proceedings and notice of an ongoing foreclosure action and subsequent sale date is not provided, and to create penalties for a landlord or a successor in interest who violates the bill's provisions.

Section 1. That section 2329.26 be amended and section 5321.20 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2329.26.  (A) Lands and tenements taken in execution shall not be sold until all of the following occur:

(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, the judgment creditor who seeks the sale of the lands and tenements or the judgment creditor's attorney does both of the following:

(i) Causes a written notice of the date, time, and place of the sale to be served in accordance with divisions (A) and (B) of Civil Rule 5 upon the judgment debtor and upon, each other party to the action in which the judgment giving rise to the execution was rendered, and, if the lands and tenements are residential property, any tenant residing in the residential property who is not a party to the action;

(ii) At least seven calendar days prior to the date of the sale, files with the clerk of the court that rendered the judgment giving rise to the execution a copy of the written notice described in division (A)(1)(a)(i) of this section with proof of service endorsed on the copy in the form described in division (D) of Civil Rule 5.

(b) Service of the written notice described in division (A)(1)(a)(i) of this section is not required to be made upon any party who is in default for failure to appear in the action in which the judgment giving rise to the execution was rendered.

(2) The officer taking the lands and tenements gives public notice of the date, time, and place of the sale for at least three weeks before the day of sale by advertisement in a newspaper published in and of general circulation in the county. The court ordering the sale may designate in the order of sale the newspaper in which this public notice shall be published, and this public notice is subject to division (A) of section 2329.27 of the Revised Code.

(3) The officer taking the lands and tenements shall collect the purchaser's information required by section 2329.271 of the Revised Code.

(B) A sale of lands and tenements taken in execution may be set aside in accordance with division (B) of section 2329.27 of the Revised Code.

(C) The written notice this section requires shall be served to a tenant of a residential property at the address of that property at least thirty days before the sale date.

(D) "Tenant" has the same meaning as in section 5321.01 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5321.20. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, any rental agreement for a residential property that is the subject of a foreclosure action shall convert to a month-to-month rental agreement upon the approval of a sale at auction by a court pursuant to section 2329.33 of the Revised Code.

(B) If a tenant enters into a rental agreement after foreclosure begins and the tenant is not provided the notice of a foreclosure action as division (C) of this section requires or the notice of sale as division (D) of this section requires, an owner who purchases the property at auction shall, within fourteen days after that purchase, offer to honor the existing rental agreement. If the tenant does not accept that offer within fourteen days, the rental agreement shall convert to a month-to-month rental agreement.

(C)(1) Any landlord of a residential property that is the subject of a foreclosure action shall provide each tenant at that property with written notice of the foreclosure action. The notice shall include a statement in substantially the following form:

"This property is undergoing foreclosure. For more information on this action, you should contact the ..........(your county) Clerk of Courts for the Court of Common Pleas, ..........(address), at ..........(phone number).

A sale at auction may or may not occur as a result of this foreclosure. Currently, the sale of this property has been set for ..........(time, date, and place) or no date for sale of this property has been established. You will receive written notice of the sale at least thirty days before it takes place.

If there is a sale of this property at auction, the following will occur:

If you entered into your rental agreement before ...............(date the foreclosure action was initiated), your current rental agreement converts to a month-to-month tenancy upon the sale of the property.

If you entered into your rental agreement after .............. (date the foreclosure action was initiated) and the agreement included a notice of the foreclosure, your rental agreement will become a month-to-month rental agreement on the date a court approves the sale. The new owner may offer to honor your current rental agreement but is not required to do so. You may accept or reject any such offer.

If you entered into your rental agreement after ............... (date the foreclosure action was initiated) and the agreement did not include a notice of the foreclosure, within fourteen days after purchasing the home the new owner must give you a written offer to honor your current rental agreement. If you do not accept that offer, your rental agreement will become a month-to-month agreement.

Note: With a month-to-month rental agreement, either the tenant or the landlord may terminate the agreement by providing written notice of termination to the other at least thirty days prior to a date on which the rent payment normally is due. The rental agreement then terminates on that date."

(2) If the rental agreement is entered into before the foreclosure action is initiated, the landlord shall provide the written notice of foreclosure within thirty days after the foreclosure action is filed. If the rental agreement is entered into after the foreclosure action is initiated, the landlord shall include the written notice of foreclosure in the rental agreement.

(D) Any landlord of a residential property that is the subject of a foreclosure action shall provide each tenant at that property written notice of the date, time, and place of the sale of the foreclosed property at least thirty days before the sale date.

(E) In addition to any other remedy under law, a tenant may recover the greater of actual damages or one month's rent plus the security deposit amount and reasonable attorney's fees, obtain injunctive relief to enforce the rental agreement, or both, if a landlord or a successor in interest does either of the following:

(1) Fails to honor a rental agreement as divisions (A) and (B) of this section require;

(2) Fails to provide the written notices that divisions (C) and (D) of this section require.

Section 2. That existing section 2329.26 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.