Unit 3: property ownership + the bundle of rights

The right of disposition

Gives the owner the right to sell or convey the property

The right of exclusion

Provides the owners with the right to decide who may or may not access the property (owners can exclude others from their property)

The right of enjoyment

Gives the owner the ability to use the property in any legal manner

The right of possession

Means that the property is owned by the title holder

The right of control

Allows the owner to control the use of the property, including how others may use the property

Surface rights include…

• Land rights

• Water rights

Subsurface rights

Allows the use of underground resources like natural gas + minerals, which is why they’re often called mineral rights

Air rights

Refer to the use of space above a property, up to a local height. w/o these rights, a tall building could block views, like of a mountain or lake, and reduce the enjoyment of the property

Right of profit

Allows someone to use part of another person’s land to take resources, like harvesting and selling timber

Categories of water rights

• Riparian rights

• Littoral rights

Riparian rights

Granted to landowners whose land abuts a river or stream

Littoral rights

Granted to landowners whose land borders closed bodies of water, such as lakes and oceans

Accretion

The process in which water carries rocks, sand, and soil and causes land build-up

Alluvion

New deposits of land that are the result of accretion (common at the mouth of large rivers)

Accession

The increase of land or property due to natural or man-made causes

Erosion

Gradual loss of land

Avulsion

Rapid loss of land

Reliction

Gradual receding of water, which uncovers new land

Prior Appropriation

Grants water rights to whoever uses the water first for beneficial purpose, like farming or city use, regardless of the land location