May 16th, 2007 4:35 PM

Attention home sellers, buyers: If it's a 'fixture,' it stays there

In a real estate transaction, chandeliers are generally considered 'fixtures,' a category that covers anything attached to a building, such as the plumbing. They are included in the sale of a house.

By Mary Ellen Slayter,

The Washington Post

That lovely chandelier hanging over your dining room table could also wind up hanging over your closing.

In a real estate transaction, chandeliers are generally considered "fixtures," a category that covers anything attached to a building, such as the plumbing. They are included in the sale of a house. Anything that isn't affixed, such as furniture and draperies, is "chattel," or personal property, and doesn't convey. The difference between the two is a common point of confusion in a sale.

"It really is a peculiar area of the law, and you want to be careful as a buyer or a seller," said Barrett Kime, a lawyer with the Washington office of DeConcini, McDonald, Yetwin and Lacy.

It's also an area in which real estate agents must be sure they understand their client's intentions. Bill Brozoski, an agent in Long & Foster's Roland Park office in Baltimore, had clients who inadvertently included in the sales listing a chandelier that they had received as a wedding gift. When the house sold, the chandelier transferred, too, but the sellers had already moved it with them cross-country. At settlement, the buyer wanted thousands of dollars in cash to compensate for the missing light fixture.

Brozoski said he and his clients learned their lesson the hard way. "It doesn't matter if it was Grandma's chandelier. If it wasn't tagged as not part of the sale or removed and capped, then that buyer is entitled to it," he said.

Appliances are another common point of misunderstanding. Is a washing machine a fixture? How about a stove? The basic test for a fixture is whether the item can be removed from the property without causing irreparable harm to the structure. A window AC unit can be easily removed, for instance. A central cooling unit bolted to a concrete pad? Not really. Free-standing bookshelves are personal property; built-ins are fixtures. Don't assume woodwork is built-in, though, Kime said. Ornate fireplace mantels can appear attached when they really aren't.

Local custom can be as important as the letter of the law.

"People from the West Coast tend to cart their fridges, washers and dryers from house to house with them. We don't. They're surprised that we don't do that," Brozoski said.

In the Wilmington area, a fixture is anything permanently attached to the home, said Jonathan Barfield Jr., president of the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors - that is, bolted down, screwed in or built in, like a built-in microwave. Fixtures include ceiling fans, curtain rods and medicine cabinets, he said. With major appliances, a stove is typically seen as a fixture and conveys with the property unless stated otherwise. In Wilmington's market, refrigerators, washers and dryers typically do not convey with the property, so buyers should plan on purchasing their own.

There are fixtures outside as well, Barfield said: basketball goals, mailboxes, storage buildings, as well as outdoor plants and trees, unless they are in movable containers.

To prevent confusion, Kime said, sellers should take an inventory of everything they intend to remove from the property. Discuss anything that could be debatable with your agent or a real estate lawyer.

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