Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Courses
  • Find a Job
  • Tutoring
  • Home
  • Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
  • Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property

Fixtures and Real Property - Explained

When do items attached to real property become a fixture?

Written by Jason Gordon

Updated at September 24th, 2021

Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR
    Principles of Marketing Sales Advertising Public Relations SEO, Social Media, Direct Marketing
  • Accounting, Taxation, and Reporting
    Managerial & Financial Accounting & Reporting Business Taxation
  • Professionalism & Career Development
  • Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
    Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts
  • Business Management & Operations
    Operations, Project, & Supply Chain Management Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Global Business, International Law & Relations Business Communications & Negotiation Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior
  • Economics, Finance, & Analytics
    Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy Research, Quantitative Analysis, & Decision Science Investments, Trading, and Financial Markets Banking, Lending, and Credit Industry Business Finance, Personal Finance, and Valuation Principles
  • Courses
+ More

Table of Contents

What is a Fixture on Real Property?Discussion QuestionPractice QuestionAcademic Research

What is a Fixture on Real Property?

A fixture is personal property that is converted into real property by physical annexation to (attachment to or close association with) the land or its buildings.

  • Example: A piece of equipment that is physically installed into the floor of a factory building would become a fixture and is one with the property. It is no longer personal property and cannot be removed from the real property without the consent of the real property's owner.

Related Topics

  • Appurtenance
  • Readily Removable Fixtures

Next Article: Ownership and Property Rights Back to: PROPERTY LAW

Related Topics

  • Tangible and Intangible property?
  • Real and Personal Property?
  • What is ownership?
  • Role of Government in ownership of property?
  • Role of property rights in economic activity?
  • What are the limitations on property ownership rights?

Discussion Question

Should personal property that is permanently attached to real property become part of the real property? Would this have any effect on businesses that sell or rent personal property?

Practice Question

Megan owns a warehousing business. She purchased a $1 million storage facility and financed it with a bank mortgage. She purchased heavy steel shelves to stack heavy pallets of goods and installed them in the factory. The shelves cost approximately $200,000 and are financed by the seller. The steel shelves are anchored to the floor of the building with a heavy steel bolts that are driven into the concrete floor. Has the steel shelving become a fixture of the warehouse building?

  • A fixture is an asset that is installed or otherwise fixed in or to a building or land so as to become part of that building or land in law. Awnings, bookcases, lighting, plumbing etc that are attached to a real property in a manner that it becomes a part of that property. Fixtures are sold and transferred with the real property, even if they are not mentioned in the deed. However, if the life of the article (such as a water pump or heater) is assumed to be less than the life of the building, it is classified as an equipment and not a fixture. In the example from the book, steel shelving has become a fixture. 

Academic Research

  • Lower, Michael L., A Brief Explanation and Evaluation of the Law on Fixtures (April 12, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1807786 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1807786 
  • Luther, Peter, Fixtures and Chattels: A Question of More or Less... ( 2004). Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 24, pp. 597-618, 2004. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=815100 
  • Schroeder, Milton R., Security Interests in Fixtures (1975). Arizona State Law Journal, Vol. 1975, p. 319, 1975. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1407637


fixtures real property

Was this article helpful?

Yes
No

Related Articles

  • Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure - Explained
  • Eminent Domain - Explained
  • Listing Agreement (Real Estate) - Explained
  • Role of Government in Property - Explained



©2011-2023. The Business Professor, LLC.
  • Privacy

  • Questions

Definition by Author

0
0
Expand