54 Iowa 531 | Iowa | 1880
The important question in the case is whether the com elevator was real estate, or personal property. .If it was real estate the judgment off $1,000 rendered by the Circuit Court was a lien upon it, and the plaintiff’s title thereunder would be valid. If it was personal property-the levy made under the judgment recovered before the justice of the peace was valid, and the sale of the property inade under such levy invested the defendant with the title.
It is claimed by the appellant that the corn elevator was a fixture aj>purtenant to the mill because it was operated by a shaft connected with the mill. This position, we think, is not tenable. The corn elevator was, so far as appears, a separate structure, in which an independent business was carried on, and it was not merely an appurtenance to the mill.
It will be seen that the authority thus given was not a lease of the land upon which the elevator was erected. It
“ A house erected by one man upon the land of another by his assent, and upon an agreement or understanding that the builder may remove it when he pleases, does not become a part of the real estate, but remains a personal chattel and removable.” Wait’s Actions and Defenses, Yol. 3, 381.
Even if said Stein had held a lease of the land upon which the building was erected, and had built it for the purpose of carrying on his business therein, lie wóuld have had the right of removal, and in such case it has been held that the building would have been personal property during his term of lease, and liable to be levied upon and sold as personal property for his debts. Heffner v. Lewis, 73 Pa. St., 302; Lemor v. Miles, 4 Watts, 330; Amos & Ferrard on Fixtures, p. 250, and authorities cited. And see Wait’s Actions and Defenses, Yol. 3, 391, and authorities there cited. The building, then, being a personal chattel, was not the subject of a judgment lien, and having been first seized upon the execution issued upon the judgment rendered by the justice of the j>eaco, under which the defendant holds, we think the court correctly held that his title was superior to that of the plaintiff.
Affirmed.