Property Law: Rights, Torts, and Contract Principles

Property

Legal right to exclude others from resources that are originally possessed or acquired without force, theft, or fraud

Legal fence

Property is known as... infinite

Bundle of rights

Rights to exclude, right to possess, right to use, right to sell, right to control, right to gain income.

Tyler v. Hennepin County Minnesota

Someone owned a condominium. She stopped paying her property taxes and accrued a tax debt of 15k. To satisfy the debt, Hennepin County foreclosed on Tyler's property and sold it for 40k keeping the net profits. She sued the county, arguing that its actions violated her constitutional rights.

Communist Countries

State makes major decisions about the production and distribution of resources (they can direct people in how, when, and where to work) assuming rights over the resources' people have and their talents.

Private Property system

State recognizes and enforces an individual's rights to acquire, possess, use, and transfer scarce resources. (people determine how resources are distributed)

Real property

Land and interest in land (includes buildings)

Personal property

All movable resources. Divided into tangible and intangible.

Tangible property

Personal property that we can touch.

Intangible property

Thing we can't touch (intellectual property) type of personal property.

Surface of the property

Land ownership consists of more than the...

Air rights

Owner of real property possesses the air above the land to a certain extent. Can be given to another for development.

Subspace rights

Landowner owns the liquids, gasses, rocks, and minerals beneath the land. (can be separately sold to another)

Rule of capture

Saying if my property is here, and the liquids and gasses and stuff flow to another property. The owner of the other property has the right to extract those gases.

Briggs V. Southwestern Energy Production Co.

Case that establishes rule of capture; does the rule of capture allow a party to extract natural gas from an adjacent property using hydraulic fracturing. YES.

Fixture

Personal property that has been converted into real property. This becomes one with the real property.

Free simple estate

Type of ownership; maximum estate allowed under the law.

Fee Simple Absolute

"to Juanita"

Fee Simple Defeasible

"to Juanita as long as it's used as a manufacturing plant"

Life estate

"to Sally May for life" Grants an ownership in land for the lifetime of a specified person.

Reversion interest

If the land reverts to the original grantor upon the death of Sally, the original grantor has a ________.

Remainder interest

If the property goes to someone other than the original grantor upon Sally's death, that person has a __________.

Future interests

Reversion and remainder interest in life estate ownership are called this.

Leasehold Estate

Property right granted to tenants by a landlord. Land can be leased for a definite duration or an indefinite duration.

Concurrent Ownership

More than one person owns the same property.

Joint Tenancy

Must be equal, rights of survivorship, can be partitioned.

Rights of survivorship

A characteristic of joint tenancy- upon one owner's death his share passes to surviving co-owners - heirs have no claim on the property.

Tenancy in common

Can have different shares, does not automatically have 100% ownership if one dies (no rights of survivorship) can be partitioned.

Easements

Right of someone other than the owner to cross over the land or use the land.

Ways of acquiring Easements

Buying directly from a titleholder or reserved in a deed.

Natural Easement

Wanted when dealing with a landlocked property, need the person in front of you to grant you natural easement to reach the road.

Negative Easement

Ask your neighbor to not do something on their own property that would have a negative impact on your own property.

Easement by Prescription

3 elements, first is to use the land openly. Second is to use the land wrongfully. Third is to use the land continuously.

Openly

You're boldly walking there (not hiding the fact that you are using the property) element of easement by prescription.

Wrongfully

You're using the property without permission element of easement by prescription.

Continuously

Using the land often. Element of easement by prescription.

Duke Energy Carolinas v. Gray

An easement is entitled to the same legal respect as other forms of real property.

Bailments

Goods Placed into another's Possession to be returned in the future.

Bailor

Owner of the goods.

Bailee

Temporary possessor of the object.

Key question for bailments

Did the Bailee intend to take possession of the object?

Slight duty of care (bailment)

For the sole benefit of the bailor. Ex: watching someone's pet for a weekend.

Reasonable duty of care

Mutually beneficial Ex: goods left at a storage facility.

High duty of care

For the sole benefit of the bailee. Ex: if your friend loans you their jacket or lets you stay at their cabin for the week.

Burden of Proof (Bailment)

Once the bailor has proven the existence of a bailment and loss or harm to the goods, a presumption of negligence arises, and the burden shifts to the bailee to prove adequate care.

Property Acquisition

Exchange, Possession, Adverse Possession, Confusion, Accession, Gift, Title and Property Registration.

Exchange

Contract rules: control the way owners make agreements to exchanging resources in the property based legal system.

Possession (property acquisition)

Includes: Rule of first possession, abandoned property, lost items, and mislaid things.

Rule of first possession

First person to reduce previously unowned things to possession becomes their owner.

Abandoned Property

First person to reduce abandoned thing to possession owns it.

Lost items

Finder becomes owner by reducing the item to possession and following a statutory procedure.

Mislaid things

Must be given to the owner of the premises where the item was placed (intended to place an item for future use)

Adverse possession

Provides ownership of land under state statute when the possession is: open and notorious, actual and exclusive, continuous, wrongful, and for a prescribed period of time.

Open and notorious

Not hiding that you are there

Actual and exclusive

Only person who is physically occupying the land

Continuous (adverse possession)

cannot be interrupted

Wrongful (adverse possession)

do not have permission to be here.

For a prescribed period of time

Varies by state, most states are anywhere from 10-20 years.

Confusion

Occurs when fungible goods are mixed together. owners hold a proportional share of goods if this occurs by honest mistake.

Accession

Something that is added, when people apply efforts to any raw material and change its nature into finished products, they own the finished products.

Gift

does not take place until the donor intends to make it and delivers it by physical transfer to the donee.

Testimentary gift

gift through a will, not complete until the donor's death.

Title (title and property registration)

Document registered with the state for certain types of personal property that represents ownership.

Deed (title and property registration)

Document of title that transfers ownership of land

Warranty Deed

promises the grantee that the grantor has good ownership and the full power to convey it.

Special (limited) warranty deed

Limits the liability of the grantor/seller.

Quitclaim Deed

Makes No guarantees other than the grantor surrenders all claim's against the land.

Recorded at the courthouse

Deeds are __________ to put others on notice regarding ownership/ transfer of title.

Security Interest in Land

mortgages, deeds of trust, land sales contract

Security deed

Pledge of real property to secure repayment of a loan used in Georgia.

Deed of Trust

Similar except that the deed is in favor of a trustee, for the benefit of the lender.

Land Sales Contract

Owner sells land to buyer but retains title until purchase price is paid.

Recording Statutes

Security deeds and deeds of trust must be recorded at the courthouse in the country where the land is located.

Foreclosure

Process by which a creditor exercises its secured property interest when the obligation is owed to them is not satisfied usually in the form of a public sale.

Judicial Foreclosure

allows the property to be sold by court order after the mortgagee has given sufficient public notice.

Non-Judicial Foreclosure

foreclosure that does not require court proceedings or a judgment of foreclosure.

Deficiency

Balance owed by the debtor to the creditor

Right of redemption

Allows mortgagor to get back land upon payment of the full amount of the debt including all interest and costs.

Liens

A charge or claim which one person has upon the property of another as security for a debt or obligation.

Artisan's Liens

arises when someone contributes parts and or services to personal property and is not paid.

Mechanic' Lien

Arises when someone contributes materials and/or services to real property and is not paid.

Nuisance

a person, thing, or circumstance causing inconvenience or annoyance.

Public Nuisance

Arises from use of land that causes inconvenience or damage to the public.

Private Nuisance

unreasonable use of one's property to cause substantial interference with the enjoyment or use of another's easland.

Cook v. Sullivan

The trial court ruled that the defendants' construction activities constituted a nuisance that damaged the plaintiffs' property.

Zoning

Laws that divide counties into use districts designated residential, commercial, or industrial.

Variance

Allows you to put a commercial building in a residential area.

Taxation

Government provides numerous services for welfare of the nation, these services are expensive.

Common good

Idea that property, which promotes the ____________, is also limited by the ____________.

Contract

Legally enforceable promise or exchange of promises (to do or not to do something).

Exchanging valuables

Enables buyers and sellers to account for future risks or have confidence in exchanging valuables.

Contract law in private enterprise

Contracts DON'T need to be formal, written documents.

Legislation (source of contract law)

Uniform Commercial code, and contracts for goods (tangible movable products).

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

Body of laws governing commercial transactions in the United States.

Common Law (sources of contract law)

Judges' decisions, and all other contracts (not including contracts for goods).

Bilateral Contracts

An agreement of mutual promises (promise for a promise), both parties have duty to perform when contract is formed.

Unilateral Contracts

An agreement with only one promise, only one party is obligated to perform.

Express contracts

the parties show their agreement in words (written or oral).

Implied-in-fact Contracts

Arise from the conduct of the partiers rather than from words.

Implied-in-law (Quasi) contracts

Judicial remedy to prevent one party from receiving unjust enrichment.