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Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5701.03

Personal property and business fixture defined

Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Funtime, Inc. v. Wilkins (2004)

Most recently applied in Viola Assocs., L.L.C. v. Lorain Cty. Bd. of Revision (March 2021)

Effective: October 5, 1999; Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 3 - 123rd General Assembly

How often courts cite this section

200420102020202120
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

As used in Title LVII of the Revised Code:

(A) "Personal property" includes every tangible thing that is the subject of ownership, whether animate or inanimate, including a business fixture, and that does not constitute real property as defined in section 5701.02 of the Revised Code. "Personal property" also includes every share, portion, right, or interest, either legal or equitable, in and to every ship, vessel, or boat, used or designed to be used in business either exclusively or partially in navigating any of the waters within or bordering on this state, whether such ship, vessel, or boat is within the jurisdiction of this state or elsewhere. "Personal property" does not include money as defined in section 5701.04 of the Revised Code, motor vehicles registered by the owner thereof, electricity, or, for purposes of any tax levied on personal property, patterns, jigs, dies, or drawings that are held for use and not for sale in the ordinary course of business, except to the extent that the value of the electricity, patterns, jigs, dies, or drawings is included in the valuation of inventory produced for sale.

(B) "Business fixture" means an item of tangible personal property that has become permanently attached or affixed to the land or to a building, structure, or improvement, and that primarily benefits the business conducted by the occupant on the premises and not the realty. "Business fixture" includes, but is not limited to, machinery, equipment, signs, storage bins and tanks, whether above or below ground, and broadcasting, transportation, transmission, and distribution systems, whether above or below ground. "Business fixture" also means those portions of buildings, structures, and improvements that are specially designed, constructed, and used for the business conducted in the building, structure, or improvement, including, but not limited to, foundations and supports for machinery and equipment. "Business fixture" does not include fixtures that are common to buildings, including, but not limited to, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems primarily used to control the environment for people or animals, tanks, towers, and lines for potable water or water for fire control, electrical and communication lines, and other fixtures that primarily benefit the realty and not the business conducted by the occupant on the premises.

Official source: Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Legislative Service Commission). Reproduced from public-domain Ohio statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.