Phipps v. State

69 Misc. 295, 127 N.Y.S. 260
CourtNew York Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 15, 1910
DocketNo. 9,727
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 69 Misc. 295 (Phipps v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phipps v. State, 69 Misc. 295, 127 N.Y.S. 260 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1910).

Opinion

Rodenbeck, J.

The State of New York appropriated from the claimant certain land situate at Eagle Harbor, Orleans county, N. Y., upon which he had constructed a factory for the manufacture of fertilizer and used in connection therewith an engine-house in which there were a ten horse-power, double cylinder, single drum engine and derrick.

The engine rested upon a foundation of concrete which was about four and .one-half feet .thick, sunk in the earth, and was connected by means of six three-quarter-inch bolts four feet six inches long with metal bars laid .on the bottom of the concrete, the concrete covering the bottom flange -of the engine base. The derrick was set up in the earth and was supported by five metal guys, the lower end of each be[296]*296ing anchored to a beam buried in the ground. Both the engine and derrick were used for a number of years in connection with the business carried on by the claimant upon the property in the manufacture of fertilizer, the derrick being employed to transport material from the canal boats into the building, the power being furnished by the engine.

The State, at the close of claimant’s ’ case, conceded that the claimant was entitled to an award of $3,000, if the engine and derrick were fixtures;'so that the only question presented is whether or not the engine and derrick formed a part of the realty.

The law of fixtures which applies to this case is án attempt to protect the interests of those having a lesser estate than a freehold in land. In the early history of English jurisprudence there was no such thing as a fixture. The relationship of the owner and occupier of the soil did not recognize it under the system of land tenures then prevailing. The tenant was considered as a mere agent of the owner, and this relationship was not subject to contract. Whatever the occupier placed upon the soil belonged to the owner. But as society advanced and the commercial spirit developed, modifications crept in to protect the interests of. those who made improvements upon land for purposes of trade or business. The change froiii personalty to realty was determined by the manner and the extent to which property became attached to the freehold. If it was firmly or permanently attached, so that its removal would injure the freehold, it was regarded as having changed its character from personal property and to have become a part of the realty. This rule, however, did not work out satisfactorily in all cases, since in many business enterprises fixtures are required to be substantially and firmly attached to the freehold. This rule may now be stated as follows: “As between landlord and tenant the placing of machinery or other appliances by the tenant upon the leased premises, for the purpose of trade or manufacture to be -carried on by the tenant, does not make the property so affixed a part of the freehold, but it still remains personalty, to such an extent at least that the tenant retains tho right to remove it” [297]*297(p. 279). Massachusetts Nat. Bank v. Shinn, 16 App. Div. 286; Moore v. Wood, 12 Abb. Pr. 393.

An additional element in determining the character of the attached property was introduced, and the question of the purpose for which the property had been affixed to the realty was examined. In Berliner v. Piqua Club Assn., 32 Misc. Rep. 470, Mr. Justice Russell says: The courts have advanced in the last half century, from the inspection as to how firmly articles have been attached to the realty, in the ascerlainment as to whether they pass with it by conveyances, to the more important consideration- of union in usefulness for llie purposes of the structure and permanence of the association.” P. 472.

In the latter cases, however, greater stress is placed upon the intention of the parties; and the inquiry now is, what was the relation of the parties and what did they intend when the personal property was attached to the realty. Washburn says in his work on Real Property: “ Whether a fixture becomes a part of the land and therefore realty, — ■ real fixture,’— or remains personalty, — ‘ chattel fixture,’ — ■ depends, according to the prevailing American doctrine, upon the reasonable intention of the annexor at the time of the annexation. . This intention is to he inferred from the nature, intended use, and mode of annexation of the fixture; the situation of the annexor and his relation to the fee; and the policy of the law.” Yol. 1 (6th ed.), p. 4.

In McRea v. Central National Bank, 66 N. Y. 489, Judge Rapallo says: But, as between vendor and vendee, the mode of annexation is not the controlling test.- The purpose of the annexation, and the "intent with which it was made, is in ’ such cases the most important consideration. The permanency of the attachment does not depend so much upon the degree of physical force with which the thing is attached as upon the motive and intention of the party in attaching it. If the article is attached for temporary use with the intention of removing it, a mortgagee cannot interfere with its removal by the mortgagor. If it is placed there for the permanent improvement of the freehold he may.” P. 485.

[298]*298Cyc. says: “ Indeed it is sometimes said that the intent of the party annexing an article to the freehold is the most important criterion of its character as a fixture, and other circumstances or facts are valuable chiefly as evidence of such intention.” 16 Cyc. 1046.

Parties may, by express agreement, fix the character of the personal property more or less substantially affixed to the freehold; and in such a case the problem is easy of solution. “ By agreement between the owner of personal property and the owner of realty, made before annexation, the personal property may be made to retain its status after annexation, of an enforceable right to remove it may be conferred upon the former owner of the personal property. The agreement may be by parol. Such an agreement or an intention that the chattel shall remain personalty, may be implied from the circumstances under which the chattel is bought and affixed, as from a conditional sale, from a lease of a chattel, or from a chattel mortgage by the buyer to the seller, prior to and in some states subsequent to the annexation.” 16 Cyc., p. 1048.

But where there is no express agreement, all the facts must be examined for the purpose of arriving at the unexpressed intention; and in arriving at this intention the relationship of the parties, whether that of vendor and vendee, mortgagor and mortgagee, landlord and tenant (Moore v. Wood, 12 Abb. Pr. 393), must be considered. The rule as between landlord and tenant is the more liberal, and that between mortgagor and mortgagee (McFadden v. Allen, 134 N. Y. 489), condemnor and condemnee is the same as that between vendor and vendee. The manner of annexation will be considered as one of the elements in arriving at this intention, and sometimes slight annexation will be considered sufficient to indicate an intention to transform the property from personalty to realty. In Hart v. Sheldon 34 Hun, 38, Mr. Justice Barker says: “Mere intention to make an article personal a fixture, without annexation to the realty, will not make it one, but when such an intention does exist in the mind of the owner of the land and of the article, then the slightest affixing will make it a part of the [299]*299freehold.' Such intention often becomes the controlling fact in determining the question whether^ in law, the article in dispute is or is not .a fixture.” P. 42.

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Bluebook (online)
69 Misc. 295, 127 N.Y.S. 260, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phipps-v-state-nyclaimsct-1910.