Wallen v. Cryder

2019 Ohio 2945
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 19, 2019·No. 28232·Published

Opinion

[Cite as Wallen v. Cryder, 2019-Ohio-2945.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

KELLI WALLEN, et al. : : Plaintiff-Appellant : Appellate Case No. 28232 : v. : Trial Court Case No. 2018-CVR-700 : RON CRYDER : (Criminal Appeal from : Municipal Court) Defendant-Appellee : :

...........

OPINION

Rendered on the 19th day of July, 2019.

KELLI WALLEN, P.O. Box 752266, Dayton, Ohio 45475 Plaintiff-Appellant, Pro Se

RON CRYDER, 15659 Schoolhouse Road, Brookville, Ohio 45309 Defendant-Appellee, Pro Se

.............

DONOVAN, J. -2-

{¶ 1} Kelli Wallen and Donovan Baker (“the tenants”) appeal from the November

1, 2018 order of the Municipal Court of Montgomery County, Western Division, which

ordered rent money that had been held in escrow be returned to Ron Cryder, their

landlord. For the following reasons, the judgment of the muicipal court will be affirmed.

{¶ 2} On May 31, 2018, the tenants filed an application to deposit rent in escrow,

which stated that the rent due under their rental agreement was current for their Denlinger

Road address and that rent is due on the first of each month in the amount of $800. At

the bottom of the application was a “Notice to Landlord or Agent” that a rental payment

was deposited in the municipal court clerk’s office on May 31, 2018. The record reflects

that the tenants also deposited $800 in escrow on June 29, 2018.

{¶ 3} A hearing on the application was scheduled for July 5, 2018. The record

before us contains the exhibits from that hearing, but not the transcript. According to the

municipal court’s July 10, 2018 entry, both parties appeared pro se at the hearing. The

municipal court granted the tenants’ application to deposit rent in escrow, stating: “Rent

is abated, per lease between parties, until repair work is accomplished.”

{¶ 4} On July 16, 2018, the municipal court clerk filed a copy of a July 12, 2018

email message sent by Cryder to the clerk. The email stated: “Repairs have been

completed and I request a hearing to be set to review[.]”

{¶ 5} A hearing was held on August 16, 2018, and the record contains a transcript

of that hearing, at which the following exchange occurred:

THE COURT: * * * So we have a rent escrow case and we have an

eviction. Mr. Cryder, have you talked to an attorney about this?

MR. CRYDER: No. -3-

THE COURT: You know you can’t evict somebody when you’re in

the middle of a rent escrow case?

MR. CRYDER: No, I did not know that.

***

THE COURT: * * * But apparently part of why we’re here, Mr.

Cryder, is because you say you’ve repaired everything; is that right?

MR. CRYDER: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: * * * Do you folks agree that he’s fixed everything?

MS. WALLEN: No, we do not.

THE COURT: * * * Let’s talk about that then. Yeah. So the, the

forceful entry and detainer case set for today is going to be dismissed. I

mean, you may be able to refile it, but you can’t file this while there’s a rent

escrow in process. Okay?

MR. CRYDER: I thought the rent escrow ended at the first of the

month.

THE COURT: No. The rent escrow continues until the Court’s

satisfied that the repairs have been made.

MR. CRYDER: But I understand they didn’t put money in escrow

this month.

THE COURT: Because you abated the rent. You gave up the rent

until the repairs were accomplished. That was in your lease.

MR. CRYDER: * * * Well, the repairs were made. I don’t know the -4-

exact date - -

MR. CRYDER: - - but the repairs were made like right after we got

out (unintelligible).

THE COURT: * * * So what do we have here? We have something

from JFK Heating and Cooling. It’s a bill for 1350. Install flue liner.

THE COURT: * * * Do you folks dispute the fact that the flue liner was

installed per this receipt?

MS. WALLEN: No, sir.

MS. WALLEN: What I dispute is that the full repairs were

completed.

THE COURT: * * * Now, let’s go back then. Now we have a

plumbing call here. Replace drain pipe in the basement at the bottom of the

waste stack. Cut out, clean out tree tee fittings and replace new PVC fittings.

Connect the cast iron with new mission bands. Was that accomplished?

MS. WALLEN: Yes, sir.

THE COURT: * * * Now, we have before pictures of the - - it looks

like the bathroom and certain areas of the house. And now we have some

after pictures. So they’ve - - you acknowledge that these pictures are

accurate as to what’s been done so far?

MS. WALLEN: As of the date that he was in our home, yes. -5-

THE COURT: What date was that, ma’am?

MS. WALLEN: * * * July 7th.

THE COURT: * * * So those * * * things have been accomplished

as far as we know?

{¶ 6} When the court asked Wallen what else needed to be repaired, she testified

that she provided Cryder with a list of repairs and he “left it at my home and told me that

it was too complex of a list.” She stated that she had “photos as of this morning” to show

that his attempted repairs were not complete. According to Wallen, there was still mold

in the bathroom and paint cracking and falling through the bathroom “because he did not

complete the repairs. All he did was scrape off what was already loose and hanging and

then throw primer on top of it.” Wallen further stated that, “[a]s far as the center wall over

the fireplace chimney, all he did was, again, scrape off what was loose and then put primer

over the top of it.”

{¶ 7} Wallen further stated that she had the estimate from the chimney sweeps

that Cryder “sent out to estimate the damages originally way back in April”; the estimate,

which was sent to Wallen because the chimney sweeps could not reach Cryder, stated

“that there was water being held in the mortar around the chimney and also that there

was moss growing.” She testified that Cryder had “chosen not to remove that area that

was contaminated by the water and the moss growing. He just put primer over top of it.”

{¶ 8} Cryder responded that “everything we talked about on the court date has

been completed.” He stated that the bathroom at issue has no windows and a ceiling

fan. He stated that he told the tenants that they would “have to keep that area with the -6-

air circulating, let that stuff dry” after showering. As far as the mold and moss in the

chimney, Cryder said that, when he had “that company come out and do the chimney

repairs, they said that would * * * stop the moisture from growing in the chimney.”

{¶ 9} Wallen responded that there was still mold showing through Cryder’s primer

and still mold on the walls, and that “[t]here’s now paint falling and cracking through the

primer that he put on.”

{¶ 10} In response to a question from the court, Wallen indicated that the lease

was month-to-month by the time of the hearing and that the tenants were trying to find

another place to live. She stated that “it is difficult because I have three adults, one of

which is a disabled child * * *.” She testified as follows:

I have photos that are taken as of this morning where you can clearly

see the mold. * * * [T]here’s a picture in the dining room where he never

even addressed where the water had been pouring through the ceiling

above the closet in the dining room.

And then the center walls of the house where the furnace was you

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Wallen v. Cryder, 2019 Ohio 2945 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).

2019 Ohio 2945 (Wallen v. Cryder) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.