Opinion ID: 4539980
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Reservation Clause

Text: {¶ 16} We now turn our attention to the deed involved here and decide whether it reserved to B.E.B. Properties and subsequently the Birds the right to receive future rental payments from the owner of the cell tower located on the transferred property. {¶ 17} When interpreting a deed, the primary goal of this court is to give effect to the intentions of the parties. Koprivec v. Rails-To-Trails of Wayne Cty., 153 Ohio St.3d 137, 2018-Ohio-465, 102 N.E.3d 444, ¶ 23. The best way to do that is to look at the words found within the four corners of the deed itself and to adhere to the plain language used there. See id.; see also Jolliff v. Hardin Cable Television Co., 26 Ohio St.2d 103, 106, 269 N.E.2d 588 (1971), citing Hinman v. Barnes, 146 Ohio St. 497, 508, 66 N.E.2d 911 (1946). {¶ 18} The language that the Eleventh District focused on in the deed before us provides: “B.E.B. Properties    the said Grantor, does for its self and its successors and assigns, covenant with    Grantees [Baker and Cyvas]    that it will warrant and defend said premises    against all lawful claims and demands whatsoever, such premises further to be subject to the specific encumbrances on the premises as set forth above.” (Third ellipsis and emphasis sic.) 2018-Ohio-2887, 118 N.E.3d 260, ¶ 39. {¶ 19} The Eleventh District believed that the “specific encumbrances on the premises as set forth above” language was a reference to the previously recorded lease and easement and therefore reserved the right to receive future rental payments in favor of B.E.B Properties, giving the Birds that right by way of 5 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO B.E.B. Properties’ subsequent assignment. Id. at ¶ 40-42. We disagree with the Eleventh District’s interpretation and the conclusions it drew from that reading. {¶ 20} Black’s Law Dictionary defines a reservation as “[t]he creation of a new right or interest (such as an easement), by and for the grantor, in real property being granted to another.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1500 (10th Ed.2014). While no magic words are required to create a reservation, typically a reservation clause will contain the words “reserve,” “reserving,” or “reservation.” See Gill v. Fletcher, 74 Ohio St. 295, 304, 78 N.E. 433 (1906). Parties will also use the words “except” or “excepting” to achieve the same ends, see, e.g., id., although it should be noted that an exception is technically distinct from a reservation, see Black’s at 683 (defining “exception” as “[t]he retention of an existing right or interest, by and for the grantor, in real property being granted to another”). Sometimes, parties will even use the words “reserve” and “except” together. See, e.g., Gill at 304. So, for example, a reservation may be stated by simply acknowledging that the conveyance of the property is subject to a reservation and then including a description of the thing the grantor is reserving. See, e.g., Ohio Transaction Guide, Section 188.200. {¶ 21} Crucially, in this case, no words of reservation appear on the face of the instrument in connection with the words “rent” or “rental payments,” which are entirely absent from the deed. Unlike the Eleventh District, we do not read the words “subject to the specific encumbrances on the premises as set forth above” to make up for the lack of a specific reservation clause or some language in the deed reserving the right to receive future rental payments. Accordingly, in the absence of such wording, B.E.B. Properties did not reserve the right to receive future rental payments for the leased land when it conveyed the property to Baker and Cyvas and its subsequent assignment of that interest to the Birds was thus ineffective. After all, it is impossible to assign an interest that one does not possess. Smith v. Barrick, 151 Ohio St. 201, 85 N.E.2d 101 (1949), paragraph 6 January Term, 2020 five of the syllabus. Consequently, we reverse the Eleventh District’s judgment concluding otherwise.