What about EV Chargers, are the fixtures or chattels?
They can be expensive running from $1,500 to $5,000.00. So, it’s best to know how to handle this issue when it comes up, which will be the case, more and more.
The first and most important question is whether the EV Charger is a fixture or a chattel. I see that there were lots of different views, but which of the 15 legal rules related to that determination did you apply in order to arrive at your conclusion?
While my hunch is a “fixture”, I don’t have any of the facts that would allow me to apply any of the legal test rules.
And, you have to remember that: 1) upside down house shaking, and 2) it takes a tool, are not legal rules. That’s just “real estate talk” and helps you reinforce your “hunch”.
What does the Ontario Court of Appeal say about EV Chargers? Actually, nothing, they have not considered a case. So, that means that we really don’t know the answer.
In some cases, EV Chargers are chattels. In other cases, EV Chargers are fixtures. Would you know the difference?
The best course of action would be to place them in the “uncertain category”. That means spell it out in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. One day, perhaps 10 or 15 years from now, we may have that decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal, and you won’t have to deal with it in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker