Craig Wrecking Co. v. S.G. Loewendick & Sons, Inc.

Craig Wrecking (plaintiff) remained on a leased landfill for years after its lease term ended, continuing to pay (and the landowners continuing to accept) rent late, until the landowners informed Craig that Loewendick (defendant) would take over as landfill manager; days later, Loewendick entered and altered the landfill's lake, and Craig, which kept possession for months afterward and eventually bought the property, sued for trespass over a year later. The trial court directed a verdict for Loewendick on the real-property trespass claim, ruling Craig was a holdover tenant bound by the original lease's self-help reentry provision, and the jury found no damages on the personal-property trespass claim; Craig appealed, arguing Ohio's statutory eviction requirements, not the lease, should control.