Title: Cincinnati Metro. Hous. Auth. v. Morgan

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as Cincinnati Metro. Hous. Auth. v. Morgan, 104 Ohio St.3d 445, 2004-Ohio-6554.] 
 
 
CINCINNATI METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY, APPELLANT, v. MORGAN, 
APPELLEE. 
[Cite as  Cincinnati Metro. Hous. Auth. v. Morgan, 104 Ohio St.3d 445, 2004-
Ohio-6554.] 
Landlords and tenants — Forcible entry and detainer — R.C. 1923.04(A) — Three-
day notice to vacate may be posted on outside door to premises. 
(No. 2003-2102 — Submitted October 13, 2004 — Decided December 15, 2004.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County, No. C-030078, 2003-
Ohio-5671. 
_______________________ 
SYLLABUS OF THE COURT 
R.C. 1923.04(A) permits a landlord to post a three-day notice to vacate the 
premises on the outside of the door to the premises. 
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MOYER, C.J. 
{¶ 1} Pursuant to R.C. 1923.04, at least three days before bringing an 
action for forcible entry and detainer against a tenant, a landlord must give a tenant 
notice to vacate the premises. Division (A) of the statute provides three means by 
which a landlord may serve the notice: “by certified mail, return receipt requested, 
or by handing a written copy of the notice to the defendant in person, or by 
leaving it at his usual place of abode or at the premises from which the defendant 
is sought to be evicted.” This case requires us to decide whether the posting of a 
three-day notice to vacate on the outside of the door to the premises is sufficient 
notice under R.C. 1923.04(A). 
{¶ 2} Cassandra Morgan, defendant-appellee, leases an apartment owned 
by Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (“CMHA”), plaintiff-appellant. 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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Morgan’s lease requires rent payments to be made on the first day of each month 
and affords an additional six-day grace period during which Morgan may make her 
rent payment. After Morgan failed to pay her rent by July 7, 2002, CMHA initiated 
the eviction process by serving Morgan with notice of termination of the lease. 
CMHA then served Morgan with a three-day notice to vacate the premises by 
posting it on the outside of the door to her apartment. On August 14, 2002, CMHA 
filed a forcible entry and detainer action in Hamilton County Municipal Court, 
seeking a writ of restitution of the premises. The Hamilton County Municipal 
Court adopted a magistrate’s recommendation and issued the writ. 
{¶ 3} Morgan appealed to the First District Court of Appeals. In her first 
assignment of error, Morgan asserted that if a landlord chooses to serve a three-day 
notice to vacate the premises under R.C. 1923.04(A) “by leaving it at [the tenant’s] 
usual place of abode or at the premises from which the [tenant] is sought to be 
evicted,” the notice must reach the interior of the premises. The First District agreed 
and held that the posting of the three-day notice to vacate on the outside of the door 
to the premises was insufficient notice under R.C. 1923.04(A). 
{¶ 4} This cause is now before this court upon the acceptance of a 
discretionary appeal. 
{¶ 5} CMHA presents three propositions of law for our consideration. In 
its first proposition, CMHA argues that because a three-day notice to vacate is 
different from a complaint for forcible entry and detainer, notice need not be served 
in the same manner as a complaint. In its second proposition, CMHA asserts that 
R.C. 1923.04(A) does not impose an “actual notice” requirement. In its third 
proposition, CMHA contends that posting a three-day notice on the outside of the 
door to the premises satisfies due process. We will consider all three propositions 
together in deciding the basic question whether the posting of a three-day notice to 
vacate on the outside of the door to the premises is sufficient service under R.C. 
1923.04(A). 
January Term, 2004 
3 
{¶ 6} We begin our analysis by examining the relevant statutory 
language. Unless words are otherwise defined or a contrary intent is clearly 
expressed, we give words in a statute their plain and ordinary meaning. Coventry 
Towers, Inc. v. Strongsville (1985), 18 Ohio St.3d 120, 122, 18 OBR 151, 480 
N.E.2d 412; Youngstown Club v. Porterfield (1970), 21 Ohio St.2d 83, 86, 50 
O.O.2d 198, 255 N.E.2d 262. R.C. 1923.04(A) permits a landlord to serve a tenant 
with a three-day notice to vacate the premises “by leaving it at his usual place of 
abode or at the premises from which the defendant is sought to be evicted.” 
Morgan asserts that the General Assembly’s use of the word “at” in R.C. 
1923.04(A) indicates intent to require the notice to reach the interior of the 
premises. We disagree. 
{¶ 7} R.C. 1923.04 is clear and unambiguous, and we must refrain from 
adding or deleting language. Dougherty v. Torrence (1982), 2 Ohio St.3d 69, 70, 2 
OBR 625, 442 N.E.2d 1295. The delivery of notice inside the premises is a 
specific requirement that is not reflected in the wording of R.C. 1923.04(A). Had 
the General Assembly intended to require a three-day notice to reach the interior 
of the premises, that intention would have been manifested by use of a word other 
than “at.” That intention would have been aptly reflected by use of the word 
“inside.” Accordingly, we hold that R.C. 1923.04(A) permits a landlord to post a 
three-day notice to vacate the premises on the outside of the door to the premises. 
CMHA properly served Morgan with notice to vacate the premises. 
{¶ 8} In support of her position, Morgan also argues that, based on the 
holding of the United States Supreme Court in Greene v. Lindsey (1982), 456 U.S. 
444, 102 S.Ct. 1874, 72 L.Ed.2d 249, R.C. 1923.04(A) cannot constitutionally 
permit a landlord to leave a three-day notice to vacate on the outside of the door to 
the premises. Greene involved a Kentucky forcible entry and detainer statute that 
permitted service of process by posting a summons on the door to the premises. The 
court held that, in the circumstances of that case, that means of service did not 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
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satisfy minimum standards of due process. Greene, 456 U.S. at 453, 102 S.Ct. 
1874, 72 L.Ed.2d 249. We are aware that we must read R.C. 1923.04 in a way that 
will “permit it to operate lawfully and constitutionally.” Buchman v. Wayne Trace 
Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 260, 269, 652 N.E.2d 952, 
citing Schneider v. Laffoon (1965), 4 Ohio St.2d 89, 97, 33 O.O.2d 468, 212 N.E.2d 
801. Our determination that R.C. 1923.04(A) authorizes a landlord to post a three-
day notice on the outside of the door to the premises does not render the statute 
unconstitutional. 
{¶ 9} The court in Greene stated that “posting notice on the door of a 
person’s home would, in many or perhaps most instances, constitute not only a 
constitutionally acceptable means of service, but indeed a singularly appropriate 
and effective way of ensuring that a person who cannot conveniently be served 
personally is actually apprised of proceedings against him.” Id., 456 U.S. at 452–
453, 102 S.Ct. 1874, 72 L.Ed.2d 249. The court nevertheless held that, under the 
particular facts before it, such notice was not sufficient, basing its holding on 
specific evidence that “notices posted on apartment doors in the area where these 
tenants lived were ‘not infrequently’ removed by children or other tenants before 
they could have their intended effect.” Id. at 453, 102 S.Ct. 1874, 72 L.Ed.2d 249. 
In the instant case, Morgan offers no evidence that tenants in the area have 
experienced the removal of notices from apartment doors. Moreover, Morgan does 
not contend that the notice to vacate was removed from her door. Thus, our 
determination that R.C. 1923.04(A) permits a landlord to post a three-day notice to 
vacate on the outside of the door to the premises does not render the statute 
unconstitutional. 
{¶ 10} For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the judgment of the court of 
appeals. 
Judgment reversed. 
January Term, 2004 
5 
 
RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’CONNOR and 
O’DONNELL, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Joy E. Gazaway and Richard S. Rust IV, for appellant. 
 
Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, Marcheta L. Gillam and Elizabeth 
A. Mulcahy, for appellee. 
 
Katz, Greenberger & Norton LLP and Stephen E. Imm, urging reversal for 
amici curiae, Ohio Apartment Association, Greater Cincinnati and Northern 
Kentucky Apartment Association, and Cincinnati Real Estate Investors Association. 
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