‘Expensive,’ but not ‘impossible’: 500-foot turbine ruled non-lienable trade fixture

Commercial Litigation

By Paul B. Porvaznik

Paul B. Porvaznik is an attorney at Davis, McGrath LLC and practices primarily in the areas of commercial litigation, landlord-tenant law, mechanic’s liens and post-judgment enforcement.

Posted December 1, 2016 1:33 PM

Surely a multistory wind turbine that can be removed only by detonating several bombs at a cost topping a half million dollars qualifies as a lienable property improvement, does it not?Not if the turbine is a “trade fixture” that remains its manufacturer’s personal property.That’s the essential holding from AUI Construction Group LLC v\ Vaessen, 2016 IL App (2d) 160009, a recent 2nd District Appellate Court case that examines issues including the property improvement-versus-trade fixture dichotomy …

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