Opinion ID: 2445730
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fixtures and Personal Property

Text: [¶ 15] The proper analysis, based upon our precedent, is to determine whether the bleachers are fixtures or personal property. Id. ¶¶ 9, 11, 850 A.2d at 328-29. Personal property consists of [a]ny movable or intangible thing that is subject to ownership and not classified as real property. Black's Law Dictionary at 1337. As explained above, the bleachers are not a building. Therefore, if the bleachers are not fixtures to the high school building, then they are the School Department's personal property and cannot be an appurtenance for the purpose of 14 M.R.S. § 8104-A(2). See Sanford, 2004 ME 73, ¶¶ 9, 11, 850 A.2d at 329; Black's Law Dictionary at 1337. [¶ 16] There is no single criterion by which an object can be deemed a fixture. See Bangor-Hydro Electric Co. v. Johnson, 226 A.2d 371, 375 (Me.1967) (quoting Readfield Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Cyr, 95 Me. 287, 289, 49 A. 1047, 1047 (1901)). However, common law authorities uniformly start with the proposition that objects change from being personal property to being fixtures when they have become so closely connected to land that they are regarded as an irremovable part of the real property with which they are associated. Sanford, 2004 ME 73, ¶ 9, 850 A.2d at 329 (quotation marks omitted); see also 8 Powell on Real Property § 57.05[1], at 57-25 (Michael Allan Wolf ed., 2006). An object has made this shift when it is (1) physically annexed, at least by juxtaposition, to the realty or some appurtenance thereof; (2) adapted to the use to which the land to which it is annexed is put; and (3) annexed with the intention on the part of the person making the annexation to make it a permanent accession to the realty. E.g., Enerquin Air, Inc. v. State Tax Assessor, 670 A.2d 926, 929 (Me.1996).
[¶ 17] Physical annexation occurs when an object is affixed to the realty, see Bangor-Hydro Electric Co., 226 A.2d at 376, or simply through the object's sheer weight, Hinkley & Egery Iron Co. v. Black, 70 Me. 473, 480 (1880); see also United States v. County of San Diego, 53 F.3d 965, 968 (9th Cir.1995) (concluding that a nuclear device weighing between 400 and 500 tons was annexed to the ground by gravity); Pritchard Petroleum Co. v. Farmers Co-op. Oil & Supply Co., 117 Mont. 467, 161 P.2d 526, 531 (1945) (finding that four-ton tanks held in place by their weight were affixed to the ground). [¶ 18] The School Department's bleachers were disassembled, moved to the visitors' side of the field and reassembled, disassembled again, and removed. They were neither affixed to the ground [1] nor did their weight prevent them from being freely relocated. On the contrary, they are as readily relocatable as a tent, a modular stage, or any other temporary structure. Therefore, the bleachers were not annexed in any fashion to the high school or its field. Compare Lewiston Bottled Gas Co. v. Key Bank of Me., 601 A.2d 91, 94 (Me.1992) (concluding that heating and air-conditioning units attached to walls with bolts were physically annexed), and Bangor-Hydro Electric Co., 226 A.2d at 376 (concluding that telephone poles set into the ground were physically annexed to the realty), with Sanford, 2004 ME 73, ¶ 12, 850 A.2d at 329 (concluding that a freestanding trash bin outside of [a] waste facility was personal property).
[¶ 19] The second element of the fixture test, adaptation of the object to the use of the land, is met when the object and the real property are united in the carrying out of a common enterprise. Lewiston Bottled Gas Co., 601 A.2d at 94 (concluding that heating and air-conditioning units installed in hotel rooms were adapted to use of the realty because they helped to create a livable atmosphere for guests). Items of personal property are united to the realty if they contribute to the purposes of the realty in the sense that they are necessary or useful for the proper operation or utilization of the realty. 8 Powell on Real Property § 57.05[4](a), at 57-39. [¶ 20] Bleachers unquestionably fill a role at sporting events. While bleachers are not strictly necessary for conducting outdoor sporting events, they are welcomed by spectators, who use them to watch events unfolding on the field. Although they are, in a general sense, adapted to use on a sports field, these particular bleachers were never designed or manufactured for use on the Bucksport High School football field or any other specific site. By contrast, permanent seating is clearly adapted to the unique needs of a particular field or setting. Architects design permanent seating after reviewing the requests of the owner and the physical setting and needs of the location. Concrete foundations unite the land with the structure. Easily dismantled bleachers, like those at issue, are utterly generic and reflect no particular or unique adaptation specific to this football field. See Enerquin Air, 670 A.2d at 929 (concluding that an air process system . . . designed and installed to perform functions essential to the operation of the realty, where the system and realty had a common owner, was adapted to the realty's use).
[¶ 21] Finally, to determine the owner's intent, the controlling intention is not the owner's stated intent at the time of acquisition, or some unspoken plan for the future of the structure or the property, but the intention that the court deduces from external facts. See Enerquin Air, 670 A.2d at 929-30; Cumberland County Power & Light Co. v. Hotel Ambassador, 134 Me. 153, 158, 183 A. 132, 134 (1936). In other words, the test for intent is an objective one based on the totality of the circumstances. See Enerquin Air, 670 A.2d at 929-30; Hotel Ambassador, 134 Me. at 158, 183 A. at 134. In determining intent, courts consider, among other factors: (1) The mode of annexation; (2) The removability of the article without injury to the premises; (3) The extent to which the article is specially adapted to the premises; (4) The extent to which the [owner] has treated the article as an essential part of the premises . . .; [and] (5) The actual essentiality of the article to the accustomed use or operation of the premises. . . . 8 Powell on Real Property § 57.05[5](b), at 57-42 to 57-45. [¶ 22] Addressing these factors seriatim: the bleachers are not annexed to the ground by physical fasteners or weight; the bleachers have twice been removed without damage to the premises; these generic bleachers have no specific adaptation to the Bucksport football field; by moving the bleachers on two occasions, and ultimately removing them, the owner has clearly not treated them as an essential part of the realty; and these particular bleachers are not essential to the use of the realty. Accordingly, it cannot be shown that the School Department had the requisite intent to make these bleachers an irremovable part of the realty. See Enerquin Air, 670 A.2d at 929-30; 8 Powell on Real Property § 57.05[5](b), at 57-42 to 57-45. On the contrary, the record suggests that the School Department treated these bleachers as mobile, modular units that could be, and were, moved and ultimately removed as the School Department wished. See Hotel Ambassador, 134 Me. at 158, 162, 183 A. at 134-36 (holding that there was no intent to make refrigerators fixtures because, among other factors, they were not designed for the building and were moved between apartments in the building). [¶ 23] Because we conclude that the visitors' bleachers meet none of the requirements necessary to qualify as fixtures, and because they clearly do not constitute a building, they constitute personal property and cannot be considered appurtenances for purposes of 14 M.R.S. § 8104-A(2). The Town and the School Department are entitled to immunity pursuant to 14 M.R.S. § 8103(1).