Introduction: Personal Property and Fixtures

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand the following:

  • The difference between personal property and other types of property
  • How rights in personal property are acquired and maintained
  • How some kinds of personal property can become real property, and how to determine who has rights in fixtures that are part of real property

In this chapter, we examine the general nature of property rights and the law relating to personal property—with special emphasis on acquisition and fixtures. We discuss intellectual property, a kind of personal property that is increasingly profitable. We focus on real property, including its nature and regulation, its acquisition by purchase (and some other methods), and its acquisition by lease (landlord and tenant law).