Landlord Threw Away Entire Contents Of Apartment While Tenant Was Gone (ohio)

Location: Ohio

My elderly father has been living in a rent-controlled apartment in a multistory building. He suffered a stroke a few months ago and temporarily has been staying with his ex-wife (my mother) for the last couple of months, as she has been caring for him. During this time, he has continued to pay rent for his unit, for utilities, and even renewed the lease agreement a month ago, as he planned to resume living there in the next month. He last visited his apartment 2 weeks ago.

Today, my mother stopped by to pick up the mail and entered the unit to discover the doors open and the apartment completely empty. All of the belongings, furniture, decorations, etc. were completely gone, and the unit looked like it's being prepped for changing tenants. She attempted to find out what happened from the leasing office, but they were closed and did not answer calls. Several hours later, my mother finally reached someone on the phone and was informed that the unit had some kind of 'flooding event', and all my father's belongings were removed and left out on the curb. They cannot clarify when the flood happened exactly, where his belongings ultimately went, and why he hasn't been contacted by anyone. He has not received any calls or written notifications. He unfortunately did not have renter's insurance.

The whole situation is very suspicious and I think my father needs to seek legal help. What kind of attorney would be best - tenant law, personal injury, something else? He lost everything - clothing, furniture, irreplaceable photo albums, etc. The cost of replacing the belongings would be well above the small claims limit, and obviously the sentimental items wouldn't be replaceable at all.