Ohio Code 5311.03 – Condominium units deemed real property
(A) Each unit of a condominium property, together with the undivided interest in the common elements appurtenant to it, is real property for all purposes and is real estate within the meaning of all provisions of the Revised Code.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5311.03
- Body of water: means a stream, lake, pond, marsh, river, or other body of natural or artificial surface water. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium: means a form of real property ownership in which a declaration has been filed submitting the property to the condominium form of ownership pursuant to this chapter and under which each owner has an individual ownership interest in a unit with the right to exclusive possession of that unit and an undivided ownership interest with the other unit owners in the common elements of the condominium property. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Condominium property: means all real and personal property submitted to the provisions of this chapter, including land, the buildings, improvements, and structures on that land, the land under a water slip, the buildings, improvements, and structures that form or that are utilized in connection with that water slip, and all easements, rights, and appurtenances belonging to the land or to the land under a water slip. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Declaration: includes all amendments to that declaration. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Unit: means the part of the condominium property that is designated as a unit in the declaration, is delineated as a unit on the drawings prepared pursuant to section 5311. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Unit owner: means a person who owns a condominium ownership interest in a unit. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Unit owners association: means the organization that administers the condominium property and that consists of all the owners of units in a condominium property. See Ohio Code 5311.01
- Water slip: means a channel of water between piers or wharves. See Ohio Code 5311.01
(B) A unit owner is entitled to the exclusive ownership and possession of the unit and to ownership of an undivided interest in the common elements as expressed in the declaration.
(C)(1) Each residential and commercial unit shall have a direct exit to a public street or highway, to a common element leading to a public street or highway, or to a permanent easement leading to a public street or highway.
(2) Each water slip unit shall have a direct exit to a body of water, to a common element leading to a body of water, or to a permanent easement leading to a body of water. Each water slip unit also shall have a direct exit to a public street or highway or to a common element leading to a public street or highway.
(D) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration or drawings:
(1) The boundaries of residential and commercial units are the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings.
(2) Windows and doors, sashes, thresholds, frames, jambs, and hardware in the perimeter walls, floors, or ceilings of the unit are part of the unit.
(3) Supporting walls, fixtures, and other parts of the building that are within the boundaries of the unit but that are necessary for the existence, support, maintenance, safety, or comfort of any other part of the condominium property are not part of the unit.
(E)(1) Ownership of a residential unit includes the right to exclusive possession, use, and enjoyment of the interior surfaces of the perimeter walls, floors, and ceilings and of the supporting walls, fixtures, and other parts of the building within its boundaries, including the right to paint, tile, wax, paper, or otherwise finish, refinish, or decorate the unit.
(2) Ownership of a water slip unit includes the exclusive right to moor a watercraft in the portion of water above the water slip unit and the right to exclusive possession, use, and enjoyment of the piers or wharves that are within the boundaries of the water slip unit.
(3) Ownership of a commercial unit includes the right to exclusive possession, use, and enjoyment of the unit within the unit’s boundaries.
(F) Each unit is subject to the right of access for the purpose of maintenance, repair, or service of any common element located within its boundaries or of any portion of the unit itself by persons authorized by the board of directors of the unit owners association. No maintenance, repair, or service of any portion of a unit shall be authorized, however, unless it is necessary in the opinion of the board of directors for public safety or in order to prevent damage to or destruction of any other part of the condominium property.