Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: tenant's property rights

There is a law or more accurately a body of law affecting this situation. It is the law of fixtures. Essentially, the principle is that a thing that was originally a "chattel" or personal property becomes part of the real property when it is attached to the real property.

Whether particular personal property becomes a fixture in a given situation depends on a number of factors, most of which are grounded on common sense. Some of these factors are: What was the intention of the parties? How was the thing attached? What damage does its removal cause? What is the usefulness of the thing? etc.

As an example, suppose the tenant buys a gallon of paint. As long as the paint remains in the bucket, it's the tenant's. When it dries on the walls of the apartment, it's the landlord's, and the tenant clearly has no right whatsoever to peel it off and take it with him.

At the other extreme, consider a washer and dryer. The tenant installs both in the rented house's previously-empty laundry room. Installation consists of plugging them in and attaching the appropriate water and exhaust hoses.

In this case, the tenant should be allowed to take the "installed" items with him at the end of the lease, since the installation is a minimal process, it was clearly the tenant's and landlord's intention that the tenant supply laundry machines during the tenancy, and their removal is simple and causes no damage to the house.

In between cases like installation of fans and drapery poles would probably be decided in favor of the landlord, but it's not a slam dunk. Most courts would let a tenant take a refrigerator unless the tenant had it built in, since just plugging something in is not considered affixing it to the real estate.

So, there are few hard-and-fast rules, but in many cases tenant improvements will belong to the landlord.

The tenant may lose his claim to doubtful items unless he removes them immediately at the end of the lease term. If the tenant leaves something semi-built-in behind at the end of the lease, a court is more likely to treat it as a fixture and to deny the tenant any right to come back later and claim it. Do not confuse this rule with the rule requiring a landlord to care for, and return, the personal effects (not fixtures) of a departed tenant.