Does the installation of a mobilehome on a foundation make it a fixture of the underlying property it is affixed to?

Facts: A mobilehome was sold to a buyer and installed on a foundation on the buyer’s property. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, the seller retained the mobilehome as personal property until the buyer paid for it in full.  The buyer never paid for the mobilehome. Later, the buyer defaulted on their loan on the underlying property. The lender foreclosed and the property and mobilehome attached to it were sold to the successful bidder at a trustee’s sale.

Claim: The seller sought to recover possession of the mobilehome, claiming it was still the seller’s personal property since it was never paid for by the buyer  and thus the mobilehome was not conveyed with the underlying property to the successful bidder at the trustee’s sale.

Counterclaim: The successful bidder sought to retain possession of the mobilehome, claiming the mobilehome was conveyed with the underlying property to the successful bidder at the trustee’s sale since the mobilehome became a fixture and part of the buyer’s property once it was permanently affixed to it.

Holding: A California court of appeals held the seller cannot recover possession of the mobilehome, since the mobilehome was conveyed with the property to the successful bidder at the trustee’s sale as the mobilehome was affixed to the buyer’s property.