Station Realty Co. v. Englewood Laundry, Inc.
Station Realty Co. v. Englewood Laundry, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
The claim was for expenses incurred and paid in removing a certain boiler and connecting pipes from a building belonging to the plaintiff and which had been rented to the defendant and the lease surrendered. The case is briefed for appellant as though the question is, whether the boiler and pipes are fixtures and part of the real estate, but under the terms of the contract between the parties, this seems immaterial.
The story of the case is as follows: The plaintiff owned and had run a laundry in the building and had installed the boiler and pipes as part of the laundry plan. Then it rented the building equipped as a laundry to the defendant and sold to defendant the machinery, boiler and fixtures, giving a bill of sale for the same and taking a chattel mortgage thereon.
The defendant did remove all the fixtures except the boiler and pipes and explained that they were attached so firmly to the building that in order to remove them it would have been necessary to tear a large hole in the wall and do a lot of damage. However, the plaintiff, deeming that the defendant was under obligation to do this very thing and finding it had not been done, removed the boiler and' pipes itself without any prior notice or demand, and then sued the defendant for the cost, and recovered judgment therefor.
No point is made of the want of notice or of demand. The sole argument for the appellant is that the boiler and pipes are “fixtures” and could not be removed without substantial damage to the real estate. But that fact does not seem to exonerate the defendant. The contract calls for the removal of all the fixtures, machinery and fittings appurtenant to their business. The appellant says that the boiler is a fixture. No doubt it is, and that is just what the contract said was to be removed. The paper is drawn as a legal document and its language seems to be entirely clear.
This is the only point made on this appeal. The judgment will be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.