COLUMBUS, Ohio — A property management company in the Ohio State campus area is being sued.
The class-action lawsuit against NorthSteppe Realty was filed Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
Six plaintiffs - who are either current or former students - claim for years, NorthSteppe has been systematically shortchanging its tenants when returning security deposits.
The lawsuit claims NorthSteppe charges its tenants standard inflated amounts for cleaning and repairs inconsistent with the amount it owes its tenants at the end of their leases.
The lawsuit claims under Ohio law, at the end of the lease, a landlord is only entitled to deduct actual damages from the security deposit. In other words, a landlord is not permitted to make a profit on the deductions from the tenant's security deposit.
According to its website, NorthSteppe operates hundreds of properties in OSU's campus area, Clintonville, Short North, German Village and Worthington.
As of Tuesday afternoon, NorthSteppe had not responded in court. 10TV reached out to NorthSteppe for comment via phone and email multiple times and did not hear back.