LexisNexis (July 5, 2018, 2:16 PM EDT) -- In a notable case from Illinois, the court ruled that various replacement items of property used in a bowling alley were “fixtures” rather than “equipment.” As a result, the holder of the first mortgage on the real estate prevailed over the secured purchase-money financer of the replacement items. In reaching that conclusion, the court focused entirely on drawing the proper line between “fixtures” and “personal property” under Illinois case law. The big takeaway from the case is that the financer of the replacement items could have had priority if it had made a fixture filing under Article 9 of the UCC. Alas, the secured lender never took advantage of the priority rules for fixtures of Article 9....