E. The Doctrine of Substantial Performance

If you have complied with the terms of your rental agreement, but the landlord is alleging that you are in breach because you did not perform in exact accordance with the terms of the rental agreement, you can argue that you have substantially performed under the contract. For example, your rental agreement states that you will mow the grass at your apartment every week. At the end of the rental term, the landlord points out that there is a tiny area behind the garage that never got mowed. You go back there, and it is a small gravel area with one or two weeds poking up near the garage. You can argue that you substantially performed the lawn mowing duties under the rental agreement.

In the case of Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. v. Cox (2000), 133 Ohio App.3d 543, the Fourth District Court of Appeals in Jackson County stated that:

A party does not breach a contract when that party substantially performs the terms of the contract. Ohio Farmers’ Ins. Co. v. Cochran (1922), 104 Ohio St. 427, 135 N.E. 537, paragraph two of the syllabus. Nominal, trifling, or technical departures from the terms of a contract are not sufficient to breach it. Id. A court should confine the application of the doctrine of substantial performance to cases where the party has made a honest or good faith effort to perform the terms of the contract. Ashley v. Henahan (1897), 56 Ohio St. 559, 47 N.E. 573, paragraph one of the syllabus.

This last bit about an honest and good faith effort means that you must be seen by the Judge as the good guy who tried her best, but it just wasn’t barely enough to be in strict compliance with the terms of the contract. So be conscientious as to your responsibilities if you want to gain the benefit of the doctrine of substantial performance.