## Facts

- Cox Cable Cleveland Area (Cox) and Metropolitan Cablevision, Inc., d.b.a. MetroTen Cablevision (MetroTen) competed for cable customers in Parma and other parts of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
- MetroTen provided “wireless” cable service via a home antenna (MMDS technology) and then used in-home wiring to connect the signal to the subscriber’s television(s).
- When Cox began service for a subscriber, it installed wiring on and in the subscriber’s home: running wire from a pole to the house, drilling holes through walls when needed, and fastening wiring to parts of the home using staples, screws, clips, and similar fasteners (including along baseboards, walls, and basement joists).
- Cox installed a grounding device and attached it with screws, leaving a ground block that could later be used as a connection point.
- Under Parma Ordinance 717.22, Cox was not required to remove the internal wiring when a subscriber cancelled service unless the homeowner requested removal in writing.
- Cox commonly left the wiring in place after termination because many customers later re-subscribed, new occupants moved into “pre-wired” homes, and Cox asserted that removal often cost more than the wiring was worth.
- When a former Cox subscriber switched to MetroTen, MetroTen frequently reused Cox’s existing internal wiring, connecting MetroTen’s line from its antenna to Cox’s ground block and then using the existing wiring to reach the television set.
- The City of Parma’s law director concluded that Cox’s internal wiring was not a fixture and that MetroTen could not use it without Cox’s express permission.
- MetroTen filed an action in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Cox (and initially also against the City of Parma) concerning whether the internal wiring left by Cox was a fixture.
- After initial proceedings, the trial court stated the wiring was a fixture and also discussed abandonment if Cox did not remove it within a reasonable time; Cox then began removing wiring from homes of cancelling subscribers.
- MetroTen amended its complaint to add Dawn Mueller, a homeowner and former Cox subscriber who had cancelled Cox service and refused Cox entry to remove the internal wiring from her home; Mueller sought to stop Cox from removing the wiring.
- After a further hearing, the trial court again determined the wiring was a fixture and entered injunctive relief restraining Cox from removing the wiring and from pursuing civil or criminal actions against MetroTen for using the wiring or against Mueller based on her refusal to allow removal; the court dismissed Cox’s counterclaim.
- Cox appealed to the Eighth District Court of Appeals.

## Issues

1. Whether cable wiring installed in and on a subscriber’s home by a cable company is a fixture (part of the realty) rather than the cable company’s removable personal property.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
- The internal cable wiring installed by Cox in subscribers’ homes was a fixture and therefore part of the real property.
- The injunction barring Cox from removing the internal wiring and from pursuing civil or criminal actions against MetroTen and Mueller based on the use or retention of that wiring was upheld.

## Legal Principles

- Ohio fixture analysis considers multiple factors, including the nature of the item, the manner and purpose of attachment to the real estate, the installer’s intention as shown by objective facts, the difficulty of removal, and the likely damage from removal.
- Attachment by running wires through drilled holes and fastening them to structural components (such as walls, baseboards, and basement joists), together with the presence of a permanently mounted ground block, supports classifying in-home wiring as part of the premises rather than a movable item.
- Where wiring is installed to serve the home in receiving cable service and is commonly left in place for later occupants or later service, the circumstances support a finding that it is meant to remain with the property.
- A contract clause stating that “internal wiring remains the property” of the cable company is not controlling when the physical installation and customary treatment of the wiring show it functions as a permanent part of the residence.
- Fixture classification turns on whether the item becomes part of the real estate and passes with the land, not simply on who paid for it or claims ownership after installation.
- When the wiring is a fixture, the homeowner may refuse removal, and a competing provider’s use of that in-home wiring is not, by itself, a basis for the installer to pursue civil or criminal claims tied to ownership of personal property.

## Conclusion

The Ohio Court of Appeals held that Cox’s in-home cable wiring—installed by drilling through walls and fastening wiring to the home’s structure—became a fixture and part of the realty; as a result, Cox could not remove the wiring over the homeowner’s objection, and the trial court properly enjoined Cox from removing the wiring or pursuing actions against MetroTen and the homeowner for using or keeping it.


Metropolitan Cablevision, Inc. v. Cox Cable Cleveland Area, 604 N.E.2d 765 (1992)