Gibson v. Exch. Nat. Bank of Pauls Valley
| Decision Date | 05 February 1935 |
| Docket Number | Case Number: 22039 |
| Citation | 42 P.2d 511,1935 OK 110,172 Okla. 106 |
| Parties | GIBSON v. EXCHANGE NAT. BANK OF PAULS VALLEY |
| Court | Oklahoma Supreme Court |
¶0 1. Fixtures - Rights in Trade Fixtures Annexed to Real Estate by Tenant.
Articles of personal property annexed to real estate by a tenant for the purpose of aiding in the conduct by the tenant of a calling or business conducted on the leased premises are regarded as trade fixtures, and may be removed by the tenant (or his mortgagee under proper circumstances), if the removal can be accomplished without substantial injury to the premises.
2. Same - Surrender of Possession by Lessee - Mortgagee of Tenant Entitled to Reasonable Time to Remove Mortgaged Personalty.
The mortgagee of a tenant, who, by agreement with the landlord, has surrendered possession of the leased premises before the expiration of the term of the lease, is entitled to a reasonable time and opportunity to remove mortgaged personal property left on the premises by the tenant.
3. Same - Mirrors and Fans Installed by Tenant Held Trade Fixtures Removable by Tenant's Mortgagee.
Record examined, and held: That certain mirrors and fans installed in a building by a tenant who occupied the same and conducted a restaurant therein were trade fixtures capable of being removed without substantial injury to the premises, and were therefore removable by the mortgagee of the tenant.
Appeal from District Court, Garvin County; W.G. Long, Judge.
Action by the Exchange National Bank of Pauls Valley, Okla., against John W. Gibson. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals. Affirmed.
Blanton, Osborn & Curtis, for plaintiff in error.
R.E. Bowling, for defendant in error.
¶1 This action was commenced in the district court of Garvin county on April 27, 1929, by the Exchange National Bank of Pauls Valley, Okla., a corporation, as plaintiff, against John W. Gibson, as defendant.
¶2 The plaintiff sought to recover the value of certain alleged personal property on the theory that the same had been wrongfully converted by the defendant. The trial of the case to a jury in the court below resulted in a verdict and judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the value of the property fixed at $287.50. The defendant has perfected his appeal to this court and appears herein as plaintiff in error. For convenience we will refer to the parties as they appeared in the trial court.
¶3 The record discloses that the defendant, John W. Gibson, was the owner of a business building in the city of Pauls Valley, and that for a number of years prior to March 1, 1929, the building had been occupied by one Scott Morley, as tenant, who operated a restaurant therein.
¶4 Morley was indebted to the plaintiff bank and had given a chattel mortgage on the restaurant furniture and fixtures to secure the payment of the debt, which had been past due for some time on March 1, 1929.
¶5 On the date last above mentioned, Morley closed the doors of his restaurant and quit doing business. He was at that time occupying the building under a three-year lease executed on January 1, 1928, and providing for monthly rental of $70 per month payable in advance. He also quit paying rent at the same time. On March 20, 1929, he delivered the key to the building to the defendant and surrendered possession, leaving the furniture and fixtures in the building.
¶6 On or about the 10th day of April, 1929, the plaintiff bank was formally notified in writing by the defendant Gibson to remove from the building any property in which it claimed an interest. On or about April 29th the bank started to remove the property which it claimed by virtue of its mortgage. The defendant, however, refused to permit the removal of 29 mirrors, which were attached to the building by wooden pegs inserted in the wall, three ceiling fans, which were attached to the ceiling by screws, and a suction fan, which was attached to the building by bolts.
¶7 The plaintiff then commenced this action to recover the value of the articles mentioned, as well as a few other articles which it was unable to obtain possession of. The resulting judgment in favor of the plaintiff has already been mentioned.
¶8 It is contended by the defendant that the mirrors and fans became a part of the building by reason of being affixed thereto, and were, therefore, the property of the defendant.
¶9 The plaintiff bank, on the other hand, urges that it was properly decided in the court below that the mirrors and fans remained personal property; that they are properly classified as trade fixtures and removable as such.
¶10 The position of the plaintiff bank is well taken. Unquestionably, the...
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Weisberg v. Loughridge
...a California authority on our precise problem we have been but partially successful. However, the case of Gibson v. Exchange Nat. Bank of Pauls Valley (1935), 172 Okl. 106, 42 P.2d 511, is of the same pod. Even the language of the applicable Oklahoma code section (§ 11730, O.S.1931) is subs......
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Carte-Caldwell v. Berryhill
... ... Gibson v ... Exchange National Bank of Pauls Valley, ... ...
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Carte-Caldwell v. Berryhill
...the expiration of his lease where this can be done without any substantial injury to the leased premises. Gibson v. Exchange National Bank of Pauls Valley, 172 Okla. 106, 42 P.2d 511; Quality Milk Products Co. v. Young, 175 Okla. 98, 51 P.2d 547. In a replevin action plaintiff, in order to ......
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In re Producers Energy Corp.
...and the premises is not injured. § 334, supra. This right of removal includes the tenant's mortgagee. Gibson v. Exchange Nat. Bank of Pauls Valley, 172 Okl. 106, 42 P.2d 511 (Okl.1935). The instant pump was a portable unit mounted on a two-wheeled trailer and its removal could not have caus......