Disposition of furniture included in lease on sale of property

[William Hochstedler]

We have a furnished office building under contract (acting as an agent).  The furniture is included in the existing lease that will remain in place with the new owner.

The clause in the lease states that the tenant will "return furniture to landlord at the expiration of lease."

This would mean that the furniture would be returned to the new owner, right?  The seller wants to keep the furniture or sell it for an unreasonable premium and the buyer wants it included in the purchase.

We're talking about $10-20K of furniture on a $200K contract.

Any tips to keep this from complicating the sale?

Thanks in advance,

Wm

[Bill S.]

@William Hochstedler I am not a Utah broker but I would bet that Utah law addresses the situation. In Colo, furniture is personal property and is not real estate so it is not part of a real estate contract unless stated as such in the contract. "Furniture" is a board term and can get tricky. Here a mirror hanging on a wall with a wire over a nail is furniture and not included in the sale. A mirror fastened to the wall with screws to hold it in place is part of the real estate.  So things like tables and chairs (in the traditional sense) that are not attached to the structure would not be included.

I would read your situation to be that the tenant has leased the furniture and property for the term of the lease. After the lease is up the furniture and property return to the owner. In this case, the real estate would be owned by the buyer and the furniture by the seller.

I am not a lawyer and have never been on TV so this is not legal advise.