Legal Question in Business Law in California
Is it legal for a seller of a Restaurant to list Fixtures as assets, water heater, hood fan, hood vent, custom awning over deck? They do not own the Real Property.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Assuming that when you use the word "list" in your question you mean as a schedule of assets being included in a business sale agreement, the answer is yes. Generally speaking, such things may be a part of the "tenant's improvements" to the commercial leasehold premises. Whether they inure to the landlord's ownership interests at the end of a lease turns on the terms of the lease and particularly the question on an item by item basis of whether the individual items are permanently affixed to the building. Insurance for the items may be the responsibility of the tenant or the landlord largely depending on similar questions. If the business sale is taking place during the middle of a commercial lease term, then those tenant improvement items are likely still the property of the selling restaurant and not yet the property of the landlord.
The law of trade fixtures may allow items such as those named to be removed by the restaurant owner at the end of the lease. One of the conditions would be that the restaurant paid for them. There would be other conditions for removal, but the basic answer here is yes, listing these items as assets of the restaurant business is potentially correct.
As a Franchise Attorney I can only add the following. I've seen language in some contracts of sale saying the trade fixtures included in the sale are fixtures and may belong to the lessor at the end of the lease. Consult with a good business or franchise attorney in your area for specific advice.
Mr. Franchise - Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D.
Franchise Foundations, a Professional Corporation
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