Benedict Firelands Platt, L.L.C. v. FTFT Supercomputing, Inc.

2026 Ohio 678
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 27, 2026
DocketH-25-016
StatusPublished

This text of 2026 Ohio 678 (Benedict Firelands Platt, L.L.C. v. FTFT Supercomputing, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Benedict Firelands Platt, L.L.C. v. FTFT Supercomputing, Inc., 2026 Ohio 678 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

[Cite as Benedict Firelands Platt, L.L.C. v. FTFT Supercomputing, Inc., 2026-Ohio-678.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT HURON COUNTY

Benedict Firelands Platt, LLC Court of Appeals No. {39}H-25-016

Appellee Trial Court No. CVG2401623

v.

FTFT Supercomputing, Inc. DECISION AND JUDGMENT

Appellant Decided: February 27, 2026

*****

Linda B. Ebersole and John J. Rutter, for appellee.

Paul V. Wolf, for appellant.

***** MAYLE, J.

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant, FTFT Supercomputing, Inc., appeals the July 23, 2025

judgment of the Norwalk Municipal Court, striking its Civ.R. 60(B) motion for relief

from judgment entered in favor of Benedict Firelands Platt, LLC. For the reasons that

follow, we reverse the municipal court judgment.

I. Background

{¶ 2} FTFT Supercomputing entered into a commercial lease agreement with

Benedict Firelands Platt. Under that agreement, FTFT leased an industrial building owned by Benedict located at 55 North Garfield Avenue, Norwalk, Ohio. The initial

term of the lease was December 2023 through August 2028.

{¶ 3} On November 18, 2024, Benedict filed a complaint for forcible entry and

detainer in the Norwalk Municipal Court. Benedict alleged that it terminated the lease

agreement effective October 24, 2024, after FTFT defaulted, but despite posting a notice

to leave the premises on October 29, 2024, FTFT had not vacated or removed all its

personal property from the premises. Benedict alleged that FTFT continued to

unlawfully holdover and forcibly detain possession of the premises. It asked the

municipal court to issue a writ of restitution and possession in its favor and against FTFT.

It made no claim for money damages.

{¶ 4} Service of process was completed on November 27, 2024, and a hearing was

set for December 5, 2024. Despite proper service and additional notices, FTFT failed to

appear at the court hearing. In a judgment entered on December 6, 2024, the Norwalk

Municipal Court granted a writ of restitution of the premises. A notice of eviction was

posted on the entry door of the building that same day.

{¶ 5} FTFT did not appeal the ruling of the Norwalk Municipal Court or move for

relief from judgment under Civ.R. 60(B). Instead, on December 20, 2024—two weeks

after the December 6, 2024 judgment was entered—FTFT filed an answer and

counterclaims and a motion for temporary restraining order and permanent injunction.

On December 23, 2024, it filed a first amended answer and counterclaims, with a request

for damages in excess of $25,000, together with a Civ.R. 13(J) motion to transfer the case

2. to the Huron County Court of Common Pleas, on grounds that its counterclaims exceeded

the jurisdiction of the municipal court.

{¶ 6} Despite having already entered judgment on Benedict’s complaint, the

municipal court granted FTFT’s motion to transfer and certified the case to the Huron

County Court of Common Pleas on December 24, 2024. Benedict moved the common-

pleas court to strike and to dismiss FTFT’s pleadings and motions. It argued that because

FTFT filed its counterclaims after the municipal court entered judgment on the sole count

of Benedict’s complaint, there was no cause of action pending in the municipal court. As

such, Benedict claimed, FTFT’s counterclaims must be dismissed for failure to state a

claim under Civ.R 12(B)(6), and its answer and motions must be stricken as moot under

Civ.R. 12(F).

{¶ 7} In a judgment journalized on February 28, 2025, the Huron County Court of

Common Pleas granted Benedict’s motion. It found that FTFT’s answer and

counterclaims, first amended answer and counterclaims, motion for temporary restraining

order and permanent injunction, and motion to transfer were “untimely having been filed

after the conclusion and final judgment on the sole cause of action before the Norwalk

Municipal Court.” It ordered them “stricken and denied pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6) as

they fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”

{¶ 8} FTFT appealed the February 28, 2025 judgment of the Huron County Court

of Common Pleas. On June 4, 2025, while that appeal was pending, FTFT filed a Civ.R.

60(B) motion in Norwalk Municipal Court seeking relief from the municipal court’s

3. December 6, 2024 judgment. In a judgment journalized on July 23, 2025, the Norwalk

Municipal Court struck the motion, finding that because the motion was filed in the

municipal court after the case was transferred to the common-pleas court, the municipal

court lacked jurisdiction to address it.

{¶ 9} FTFT filed the current appeal from the Norwalk Municipal Court’s July 23,

2025 judgment. On October 14, 2025, it voluntarily dismissed its appeal from the

February 28, 2025 judgment of the Huron County Court of Common Pleas. In the

present appeal, FTFT assigns the following error:

The trial court erred to the prejudice of Defendant-Appellant in holding that it was without jurisdiction to hear and consider Defendant- Appellant’s Motion for Relief from Judgment and, therefore, striking that Motion.

II. Law and Analysis

{¶ 10} In its sole assignment of error, FTFT argues that the municipal court erred

when it concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to consider its Civ.R. 60(B) motion. It

argues that the December 6, 2024 judgment of the municipal court was a final judgment

on the merits of the claims, which disposed of all the issues and left nothing for further

adjudication. Although FTFT—through its previous counsel—filed counterclaims then

sought a transfer of the case to common-pleas court, FTFT maintains that the municipal

court lacked jurisdiction to transfer the case because it had already entered a final

judgment on Benedict’s complaint. Likewise, it insists, the common-pleas court lacked

jurisdiction to consider the transferred case because the municipal court had already

4. disposed of all claims against all parties. FTFT contends that the Norwalk Municipal

Court retained jurisdiction to grant relief from its own final judgment.

{¶ 11} Benedict acknowledges that the December 6, 2024 judgment of the

municipal court was a final judgment on the merits, but it maintains that the time to

appeal the municipal court’s transfer order has passed, so “[a]ny arguments on this appeal

concerning the transfer to the Huron County Court are therefore time-barred.” It urges

that under the invited-error doctrine, FTFT cannot now seek reversal of the order granting

its request to transfer. Benedict complains that the appeal of the common-pleas court’s

February 28, 2025 judgment deprived the municipal court of jurisdiction. It claims that

FTFT’s Civ.R. 60(B) motion would interfere with this court’s ability to “reverse, modify,

or affirm” the February 28, 2025 judgment because it would nullify the municipal-court

judgment that formed the basis for the common-pleas court judgment. Finally, Benedict

argues that FTFT was not prejudiced by the municipal court’s judgment striking its

Civ.R. 60(B) motion, and it characterizes FTFT’s motion as a disguised appeal of the

municipal court’s December 6, 2024 judgment.

{¶ 12} FTFT replies that its Civ.R. 60(B) motion was timely-filed, and it timely

appealed the municipal court’s judgment striking its Civ.R. 60(B) motion. It disputes

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2026 Ohio 678, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benedict-firelands-platt-llc-v-ftft-supercomputing-inc-ohioctapp-2026.