To enact section 5321.20 of the Revised Code to require that notice of foreclosure and related sale of residential rental property be given to tenants at that property and to specify that a rental agreement for a residential property that is sold pursuant to a foreclosure action converts to a month-to-month rental agreement.

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

Sec. 5321.20. (A) 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 2329.31 of the Revised Code.

(B)(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 twenty-one days before it takes place.

If there is a sale of this property at auction, your current rental agreement will convert to a month-to-month rental agreement upon the sale of the property.

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.

(C) 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 date, time, and place of the sale of the foreclosed property at least twenty-one days before the date of the sale at auction.

(D) 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 division (A) of this section requires;

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

(E) The rights and remedies provided for in this section are in addition to, and do not preempt, any other rights and remedies that a tenant may be entitled to under this chapter.