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How much does it cost to file an eviction in Ohio?

Filing a forcible entry and detainer (FED) eviction in Ohio costs $133 in Franklin County Municipal Court — the same for a one-cause (possession only) or two-cause (possession plus money) complaint — $125 plus a $15 writ of restitution in Trumbull County, and $130 for one cause or $155 for two in Mentor. Ohio eviction fees are set by each municipal or county court, and the spread between neighbouring courts is wider than the fee itself suggests once writ and set-out charges are added.

Ohio eviction fees at a glance

Read the four schedules together and the Ohio pattern emerges: the complaint itself is a $105–$133 filing everywhere on this page, but courts unbundle the end of the case differently. Trumbull County's Central District Court charges the writ of restitution at $15 and allows ten days after service of the writ before the bailiff enforces it; Mentor charges $100 to file the writ with the bailiff after judgment; Franklin County folds ordinary mail plus one further service type for up to three defendants into its $133 and charges additional service from its fee schedule. A landlord comparing courts on the complaint fee alone will misprice the case — the honest comparison is complaint plus service plus writ, which is the arithmetic the table above is built for. The national picture is on the eviction filing costs hub and the state picture on the Ohio court costs guide.

Before you file: the 3-day notice

Ohio eviction starts before the courthouse. Under R.C. §1923.04 a landlord must serve a notice to leave the premises at least three days before filing — the notice period excludes the day of service and, in practice, courts count three full days — and the statute requires the notice to carry conspicuous statutory language warning the tenant that they are being asked to leave, that an eviction case may be filed, and that they should consult an attorney. A complaint filed before the notice period runs is premature and liable to dismissal, which wastes the entire filing fee: erring a day late costs nothing, erring a day early costs a refiling. Different defaults can require different predicate notices elsewhere in the Ohio code — a month-to-month tenancy terminated without cause runs on the 30-day notice in §5321.17, and drug or sex-offence defaults have their own provisions — so the three-day figure on this page is the §1923.04 notice for the ordinary nonpayment and lease-violation case, not a universal Ohio number.

How the case runs

1. Serve the §1923.04 notice to leave the premises and wait the full three days (longer where another statute's notice applies)
2. File the FED complaint in the municipal or county court where the property sits, with a copy of the notice and proof of its service, and pay the filing fee $133 in Franklin County $125 in Trumbull County
3. The clerk serves the summons and complaint — the summons must reach the tenant at least seven days before the hearing under §1923.06 — by bailiff, certified mail or ordinary mail as the court's schedule provides
4. Attend the first-cause hearing on possession (Trumbull hears FED cases on Fridays and targets a hearing within 14 days of filing); any second cause for rent and damages is heard separately, about 30 days later in Trumbull's practice
5. On judgment, obtain the writ of restitution $15 in Trumbull County $100 in Mentor and arrange the bailiff-supervised set-out if the tenant does not vacate

What eviction really costs beyond the clerk

Two Ohio rules shape the real bill. First, self-help is forbidden: R.C. §5321.15 prohibits lockouts, utility shutoffs and seizing a tenant's belongings, and makes a landlord who tries them liable for the tenant's actual damages plus attorney fees — the court route, at $105–$133 to file, is not merely the legal option but the cheap one. Second, the money judgment is a separate cause of action: pleading it costs nothing extra in Franklin County ($133 either way) but $25 in Struthers and $25 more in Mentor's two-cause price, and collecting on it — garnishment and execution — carries its own later clerk charges. Attorney fees, lost rent during the statutory notice and hearing periods, and turnover costs are real but market- and fact-driven, and no Ohio schedule publishes them. Compare Illinois eviction costs and Georgia eviction costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Fee waivers in Ohio municipal courts are uncommon for landlord plaintiffs, who are presumed to be pursuing a business claim, but an individual filer who is genuinely indigent may ask the clerk about a poverty affidavit to defer costs; tenants defending an eviction pay no filing fee to appear and answer at the hearing. Legal aid organisations in every Ohio metro area staff eviction dockets and can advise either side on the notice defects that decide many cases before fees matter. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Franklin County Municipal Court — landlord/tenant eviction guidance and civil cover sheet (FED filing fee $133 for one or two causes, including ordinary mail plus one service type for up to 3 defendants) · Trumbull County Central District Court — Forcible Entry & Detainer guidance (eviction filing $125; writ of restitution $15; vacate within 10 days of writ service) · Mentor Municipal Court — Forcible Entry filing information (one cause $130; two causes $155; additional defendant $10; writ of restitution $100) · Struthers Municipal Court — FED Information for Filing (filing $105; additional defendant $25; second cause $25) · Ohio Rev. Code §§1923.04 (3-day notice), 1923.06 (summons at least 7 days before hearing), 5321.15 (lockout prohibition), 5321.17 (month-to-month termination notice). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the court where the property is located.