Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Ohio

Re: Verbage in a lease

Generally the term "fixtures" refers to anything that is permanently attached or "affixed" to the real estate. Pretty much anything can be a fixture if the intent is for it to remain with the property. For instance, if you install a new built-in shelving unit, that is probably going to always stay with the house and therefore it would be a fixture. But if you merely screwed some shelves into the wall to hold some decorations, you would most likely plan to take that with you and therefore the shelves would probably not be considered a fixture.

A furnace is usually considered a fixture because once it is installed it is usually meant to stay with the property until it needs to be replaced.

What is important here is the "damaged" part of that lease provision. Did your grandmother do something that damaged the furnace, or is it just going bad due to old age? If something happened to the furnace that damaged it and is causing it to not work properly, then your grandmother might be responsible to repair or replace the furnace under that lease provision. However, if the furnace is just going bad on its own, then that shouldn't qualify under "damaged" and therefore would not be something your grandmother is responsible for.

On a related note, in Ohio a landlord is responsible to provide tenants with heat and running water. Unless it can be shown that your grandmother has done something to affect her ability to get heat (e.g. caused damage to the furnace), the landlord is required by law to provide heat in the home.

If you have any other questions or would like to discuss this situation further, feel free to contact me.