When a tenant installs an item in an apartment, such as track lighting, a chandelier, cabinetry, etc., which item is removable, but is attached to the wall, ceiling or floor of the premises, the installed item is known as a \u201cfixture.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The standard rule in real estate law is that a fixture becomes a permanent improvement to the premises and may not be removed without the consent of the owner of the premises.\u00a0 However, in the area of landlord tenant law the courts generally have a bias in favor of allowing a tenant to remove a fixture when the tenant vacates an apartment; although that bias is conditioned upon there being no material damage caused to the premises by the removal of the\u00a0fixture.\u00a0\u00a0If the landlord wants the fixture to remain then the\u00a0landlord must\u00a0show that the tenant intended or\u00a0agreed that the fixture would remain at the premises.\u00a0 Additionally, or alternatively, if\u00a0the landlord can show that the removal of the fixture would cause material\u00a0damage to the premises then the court will likely not allow the removal of the fixture unless the tenant pays for the necessary restoration of the unit after the removal of the fixture.\u00a0 So, in the area of landlord tenant law the general rule is if a fixture can be removed without causing any material damage to the premises then the fixture may be removed, unless the landlord can show it was intended by the tenant that the fixture become a permanent part of the premises or that the removal will cause material\u00a0damage to the premises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I advise all tenants to first check with their landlords before installing a fixture.\u00a0\u00a0 Indeed, most written tenancy agreements require the landlord\u2019s advance approval to install a fixture.\u00a0\u00a0 The landlord and the tenant should then enter into a written agreement to establish whether the fixture will stay or go when the tenant moves out.<\/p>\n
At Topkins & Bevans we have years of experience in handling commercial and residential evictions on behalf of\u00a0landlords as well as\u00a0tenants.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have need of an eviction attorney please contact Topkins & Bevans so that a skilled attorney may assess your case and guide you through the process<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When a tenant installs an item in an apartment, such as track lighting, a chandelier, cabinetry, etc., which item is removable, but is attached to the wall, ceiling or floor of the premises, the installed item is known as a \u201cfixture.\u201d The standard rule in real estate law is that a fixture becomes a permanent improvement to the premises and may not be removed without the consent of the owner of the premises. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,24,13,38,28,5462,37,22,27],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-14-day-notice-to-quit","tag-eviction","tag-evictions","tag-fixture","tag-landlord","tag-real-estate-law","tag-summary-process","tag-tenancy-at-will","tag-tenant"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":114,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=114","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":0},"title":"Evictions – An error in filing the complaint can result in dismissal of the case.","date":"March 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In handling evictions for landlords and tenants I often see some confusion regarding the process for filing the eviciton complaint. If the landlord properly follows the procedure then the the complaint is not subject to dismissal. But if there is an error in the process then the tenant will naturally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"14 day notice to quit\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":367,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=367","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":1},"title":"Being a Landlord in Massachusetts–The Perils are Real!!!!","date":"July 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"We are far removed from the time when the Landlord held all the cards in Massachusetts residential leases.\u00a0 it would be more accurate to say, \"Landlord Beware!!!\" Even before the recent economic downturn which Massachusetts has been experiencing began, Landlords hav\u00a0been on the run. Evictions for non-payment are certainly not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"landlords for residential dwellings in massachusetts evictions tenant scams\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=404","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":2},"title":"The Case of the Victimized School Teachers–Sometimes You just have to say “what the Heck!!!”","date":"July 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A few\u00a0months ago, I received a call from a client whose daughter lived with three other women in an apartment.\u00a0 The landlord, who had a chain of apartments in the Greater Boston area, was being neglectful.\u00a0 There was a rodent problem, a leak in the ceiling persisted, and in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Customer Service"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=347","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":3},"title":"Representing Same Sex Clients–Documentation at Purchase Is Generally a Worthwhile Enterprise","date":"July 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"In Massachusetts, where I practice real estate law, same sex marriage has been legally acknowledged. In a\u00a0situation where a same sex, married couple, purchases real estate, I suggest that the Grantee clause read \"a married couple, as tenants by the entirety\". Massachusetts law provides excellent protection from creditors to husbands\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"representing same sex couple in real estate situations\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":412,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=412","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":4},"title":"Acts of God Between the Signing of A Purchase and Sale Agreement and the Closing–The Buyer Really Doesn’t have a Lot of Remedies","date":"July 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It happened last evening in a bedroom community north of Boston. The tenant who had rented the home my clients are purchasing had vacated the dwelling on January 31, 2010\u00a0and informed all affected utilities,including the electric company.\u00a0For reason still unknown, the electric company immediately\u00a0shut off the electricity. The pipes froze,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "closing"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":375,"url":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/?p=375","url_meta":{"origin":117,"position":5},"title":"Is Your Massachusetts Client About to be Foreclosed Upon?–No Need to Start Packing Up Things Just Yet","date":"July 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This\u00a0is an actual situation which is confronting a client of mine who has not made a mortgage (or tax) payment in the last eighteen (18) months. The mortgage lender has finally gotten around to scheduling a foreclosure sale. This course of action has really been necessitated by the lender's unwillingness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Short Sales & Foreclosures"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.topbev.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}