What does chattels mean in regards to real estate?

Answer 1

A judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, who was trying to determine whether a trustee in bankruptcy or a mortgagee was entitled to restaurant equipment of a bankrupt, decided to restate the rules classifying an article as a fixture or chattel, with examples. His rules are summarized as follows: 1. An item unattached to property except by its own weight, which can be removed without damage or alterations, which will require repair to the fixture or land to which the item is attached, is a chattel. A walk-in freezer, or a large item built inside a structure that cannot simply be taken out of a door or window is a fixture, unless it can be removed without damage or alteration to the premises. Removal or replacement of a doorjamb or window would not constitute damage or alteration. 2. An item such as a telephone, toaster, or computer that can be removed by merely taking the plug out of the outlet is a chattel, while the electrical outlet, telephone or computer jack attached to a wall is a fixture. 3. An item that cannot be unplugged and which is attached even slightly so that it requires the, "removal of screws, nails, bolts, detachment of Plumbing or the cutting or capping of hardware," is a fixture. 4. If a piece of equipment which is attached to a structure can be removed, but would be useless in its separate state, then it is a fixture. Conversely, if it could be removed without damage or alteration and could be used even though not part of the structure to which it was attached, then it will be a chattel. An example is that of a crane which moves along tracks permanently attached to the structure. The crane can be removed, but without the tracks the crane would be useless and it is therefore a fixture. Pictures hanging onto the walls suspended by their own weight by a hook, a television set or stereo speakers mounted upon brackets attached to the wall are chattels. The nail or bracket is the fixture. 5. An item that is a fixture, but which is shown to be a tenant's fixture, can be removed during the tenancy, "provided that the tenant leaves the premises in exactly the same condition as he or she received them." 6. It is only in exceptional circumstances not covered by these rules that the purpose for which the object is affixed to property be examined. The example given by the judge was a mobile home that may be resting on land by its own weight, but it may also be clearly established that it was intended to be a fixture. The judge seemed to conclude that the purpose test would be used rarely and only in relation to very large or expensive items.

The judge's reasons for formulating these rules was that they provide commercial certainty and therefore