Fixtures Flashcards
What is a fixture?
Articles in the nature of personal property which have been so annexed that they become real property. Fixtures are conveyed with the real estate. Mortgage extends to all fixtures, in the absence of an agreement to contrary.
What is the test for a fixture?
Majority rule – manifest intent of the annex or at the time of manifestation controls Did the annexor intend to permanently improve the property at the time? Factors: realigns between the annex or and the premises, degree of annexation, nature and use of the chattel.
IN other words:
the intention of the person who attaches the article determines whether or not the article is a fixture. The individual is not required to verbalize the intent, although the courts will evaluate such expressions. The courts consider the tenant’s intent, which is inferred from all of the facts and circumstances concerning the actual annexation of the object, such as the nature of the article affixed, the method of annexation, and the extent to which the object has been integrated into the real estate.
What happens with fixtures installed by Tenant?
What was T’s intent at time? Did T intend to remove? How attached is the fixture? How hard would it be to remove? Will damage likely result? If so, court more likely to find a fixture. Examples of installed materials that are in the gray area between fixtures and non-fixtures include chandeliers, large kitchen appliances (eg. stoves) and bookcases that are built into the walls. For example:
Mozart rents an apartment into which he brings a large grand piano. At one point, he builds a wall that blocks the piano’s exit from the room. When Mozart’s lease runs out, the landlord claims that the piano is a fixture because removing the piano would require removing a wall and thus causing severe damage to the property. If Mozart can show that he intended to take the piano with him and can show that the wall can be torn down and replaced without having the house sustain permanent damage, a court would probably rule that the piano is not a fixture.
What are trade fixtures?
Trade fixtures are articles affixed to rented buildings by merchants, in order to pursue the business for which the premises are occupied. Courts tend to hold they can be taken by T. They encompass those items that merchants annex to the premises to facilitate the storage, handling, and display of their stock for sale to the public—such as booths, bars, display cases and lights—that are usually removable without material damage to the premises. Intent may be to remove, implied partly bc useable elsewhere, but T has no right to disengage a trade fixture if its detachment would cause substantial damage to the premises (or T must repair damage).
What are ornamental fixtures?
These are fixtures that T installs that relate to T’s particular tastes or uses. Usually can be removed without significant damage. Courts tend to apply the same rules they do for trade fixtures and tend to hold they can retain their character as personal property.
