Ohio: Paying tenants the 5% interest on deposits > 1 mo rent

[Account Closed]

I have a couple tenants with large deposits.  I knew there was a 5% annual interest on the part of the deposit in excess of one months rent, but I just read the law and it says you have to pay the tenant that 5% every year?  

What do fellow Ohio landlords do about this? Do you actually pay it every year, or credit their deposit for it, ignore it, charge another fee to offset it, etc?

Reference to law: https://codes.findlaw.com/oh/title-liii-real-property/oh-rev-code-sect-5321-16.html

[Jill F.]

I generally charge one month's deposit, and use pet fees and last month's rent for additional money in some situations. I have a couple of tenants that I inherited with large deposits, in normal circumstances I would just return it at the end of 6 months but now for those tenants that are weaker, I'll probably credit them the 5% and hold the extra money for another year due to coronavirus eviction moratoriums.