Court Opinion

ID: 9670355
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:19:23.507546+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:04.051228
License: Public Domain

Griffin, J.
I respectfully dissent. In Sequist v Fabiano, 274 Mich 643, 645-646; 265 NW 488 (1936), the items in question were a heating plant, electric light fixtures, and an awning on the front of the building. Explaining its reliance on Sequist, the Court of Appeals reasoned that those items "were intended to facilitate the use and occupation of the building, were complementary to the real property, and therefore became part of the freehold . . . .” Velmer v Baraga Area Schools, 157 Mich App 489, 497; 403 NW2d 171 (1987).
The milling machine used for classroom instruction in this case did not become part of the building like a furnace, electric light fixtures, or an awning. Rather, a milling machine used for instructional purposes is akin to such items of removable personal property as a word processing machine, a copy machine, or a mainframe computer. Such machines, like the teacher’s desk, may be heavy and not easily moved, but they do not become part of the real estate just because they are heavy. If that were to be the test, perhaps we should go further and identify the point on the *397scale at which personalty will be separated from real estate.
As the majority explains, the owner’s intention is one of the factors to be considered in deciding whether an article is a fixture and therefore a permanent accession to the realty. In determining intention, a court should look to objective, visible facts. See Dick & Don’s Greenhouses, Inc v Comstock Twp, 112 Mich App 294, 297; 315 NW2d 573 (1982). With that standard in mind, I cannot say the Court of Appeals clearly erred when it held that the classroom equipment used for instructional purposes in this case was not part of the building.