Chattel

Chattel is a term for movable personal property that is not land or buildings. In everyday use, chattels include goods such as furniture, vehicles, livestock, and equipment. Distinguishing chattel from real property helps determine how property is transferred, taxed, and regulated. Chattels are typically subject to possession, delivery, and title transfers rather than recording in land registries.

In law, chattel can be bought, sold, lent, or pledged. A chattel mortgage or security interest uses movable property as collateral for a loan. In lending and secured transactions, chattel paper refers to a document that evidences both a monetary obligation and a security interest in specific goods.

Historically, the term has also been used in the context of slavery, where enslaved people were regarded as property; the phrase chattel slavery underscores the property status assigned to enslaved individuals and is central to discussions of abolition and human rights.

Etymology: the term derives from Old French chatel, meaning property.