Cornell

The principal questions involved on this appeal are (1) the right of a conditional vendor of air conditioning units, installed in a commercial building at the request of the tenant without the consent of the owners, to a mechanic’s lien against the realty for labor and materials, and (2), if the vendor is entitled to such lien, the effect thereon of his removal of the equipment, without the consent of the owners, after filing an action to establish and foreclose the lien.

Facts

In July 1967 defendants Frank Sennes and Mary Lou Sennes leased their restaurant property to Spectrum Enterprises—L.A. One, a California corporation, for five years. On August 1, 1967, defendant Hanneford, an officer of the corporation, in his individual capacity, entered into a contract with plaintiff for the purchase and installation of supplementary air conditioning units at a cost of $9,995, payable $2,000 down, $1,995 payable within six weeks, and the balance payable in equal monthly payments.

The contract provided in pertinent part: “All equipment and parts to be on rental until paid for. . . . All material and equipment sold under this Contract, whether affixed to realty so as to become…