The Rameys are selling their home. They did not set forth in the sales agreement whether the washer and dryer, the draperies, and a cherry corner cabinet that was in the dining room were to be included in the sale or whether they were planning to take

Question

these items with them. The buyers are claiming these items are fixtures and should stay with the house. The Rameys are claiming they are movable goods and they should not be part of the real estate which was sold. Define "fixtures," identify the tests used to determine whether an item is a fixture, and explain whether you think each of the contested items is a fixture and why or why not.

Answer 1

Fixtures are goods that have become so attached to real property that they have become a part of it. When an owner sells real property, the buyer normally obtains the fixtures, unless the parties specify otherwise. The general rule is that an object is a fixture if a reasonable person would consider the item to be a permanent part of the property. Tests used to determine whether an item is a fixture are: attachment, adaptation, and other objective manifestations of permanence which indicate intent of the owner for the item to remain with the realty. The washer and dryer are probably not fixtures because they are not ordinarily attached to the realty in such a way that removing them would damage the property. The draperies could be fixtures if they were custom-made to fit the particular windows in that house and would be unlikely to fit other windows. Unless the cabinet was so attached to the house that removing it would damage the house or cabinet, or it was made or adapted especially for attachment to that particular house, or there was some other manifestation indicating that the property owners clearly intended the cabinet to remain permanently, it is probably not a fixture and the sellers could take it with them.