Also known as: personal properties · chattel · chattels · movables
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Movable property other than land and things permanently attached to land. Tangible items such as vehicles, equipment, and goods qualify when they can be possessed and carried away.
Pierce Patterson left his portable generator at a job site overnight. Pedro Pacheco entered the site after dark, loaded the generator into his truck, and drove away intending never to return it. Because the generator is tangible personal property capable of being carried away, the taking satisfies the elements of common-law larceny.
Preston Pratt operated a fleet of fuel tankers that state officers suspected were used in an environmental violation. Officers seized the tankers at dawn without prior notice because the vehicles could be driven away or hidden. The mobility of the personal property justified immediate seizure followed by later procedural safeguards.
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Pearl Porter held identified machinery under a contract requiring her to transfer it to Patrick Phan. Phan later told Porter he no longer wanted the machinery and released her from the obligation. The manifested assent discharged Porter's duty to transfer the personal property without the need for new consideration.
Pierre Poulin removed Progressive Healthcare's diagnostic scanner from its clinic loading dock without permission. The scanner remained in Poulin's possession for several days. The unauthorized removal of the chattel from the possessor's control constitutes a dispossession of personal property.
After the death of Pacific Bank's founder, the appointed personal representative demanded delivery of the decedent's collection of rare coins from the heirs. The representative determined that possession was necessary for proper administration of the estate. The statute authorizes the representative to take control of the tangible personal property.
Prism Analytics adopted a resolution authorizing the purchase of specialized servers and software licenses. The corporation completed the acquisition and recorded the items as corporate assets. The governing statute expressly permits a corporation to acquire and hold personal property for its business purposes.
Only tangible items capable of being possessed and carried away qualify. Real property and fixtures attached to land are excluded until severed and reduced to possession as personalty.
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Seizure without prior notice is permitted when the property's mobility creates a risk of removal, concealment, or destruction. Post-seizure safeguards must still be provided.
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The obligee may manifest assent to discharge the duty without new consideration. The manifestation must be communicated to the obligor in possession of the property.
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Dispossession occurs by taking the chattel without consent, obtaining it by fraud or duress, barring access, destroying it while in another's possession, or taking it into custody of law.
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The representative must take possession or control except when the will or circumstances allow the property to remain with presumptive heirs. The representative may sue to recover possession when administration requires it.
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A corporation has express statutory power to purchase, receive, own, hold, and deal with personal property wherever located.
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…every State and Territory, as is enjoyed by white citizens thereof to inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real and personal property.”[^maj-9] This Court has given specific recognition to the same principle. Buchanan v. Warley , 245 U.S. 60 (1917). It is likewise clear that restrictions on the right of occupancy of…