Chapter 8 - Property

Property

right to use public authorities to keep others from interfering with what you own

allows tou to exlcude others from what you own unless given permission

Real Property

immovable property (land, home)

Personal Property

movable property

can be tangible or intengible

physical objects or patents, trademarks, etc

Bundle of Rights

right to possess, use, and transfer resources

absolute but not infinite

Air Rights

own the air above the land to the extent the owner can use it in connections to the land

(drones are testy subject, depends on how owner uses their land)

Subsurface Rights

own the liquid, gases, and minerals beneath the land you own

Rule of Capture

you as the property owner have the right to ALL resources beneath you

right to water underneath you, and you can take it all and now allow others to use it

Riparian Rights

right to water right in front/next to you

access to build dock on water in front of your lake home

Types of Ownership

allows division of resource ownership into various types or degrees

Estates

the legal and beneficial rights and interests a person has over land/property

Possessory Interest

person does not own property but has control over part

Ex: apartment lease

Fee Simple

highest control abd most common allowed under law

complete controll

right to sell, use, lease

Fee Simple Absolute

unconditional power to dispose

Fee Simple Defeasible

condition attached to transfer

if violated, rights are terminated and transferred to previous owner, lose your money

infinite

can be anulled or voided

Fee Simple Defeasible Example

If I sell my house to someone with a Fee Simple Defeasible such as no one in the house can say Roll Tide, if the new people in my house say Roll Tide, I get my house back

Life Estate

possessory interest for the lifetime of the person

sold to the person who can possess it until they die

Leasehold Estate

temporary right to hold land/property in which tenant has rights to real property by leasehold

(apartments)

Concurrent Estates

any estate in land previously discussed can be held by other people

(roommates)

Concurrent Estates - Joint Tenancy

must be equal

right to survivorship (marriage)

Concurrent Estates - Tenancy in Common

any %

no option for irght of survivorship

portion owned goes to heirs

Georgia Slayer Statue

murder severs the joint tenancy

if you kill your husband, you don’t automatically get their ownership or part of their house: cannot make money off murdering

Fixtures on Land

piece of personal property that becomes real property

physically attached so it becomes attached by association

need to write in if a fixture is excluded in a sale

if it will damage the property to remove it, its a fixture

Ex: recess lighting, cabinets in a kitchen

Exchange

rulee of contract apply

a sale (money in exchange for an object)

Possession

first person to reduce previously unowned things to possession becoms the owner

look for intent

stake a claim on land, its yours

Lost Items

personal property that was unintentionally misplaced

Mislost Items

personal property that was intentionally palced but owner forgot to pick it up

Who keeps a lost/mislost item?

Lost: finders keepers

Mislost: personal property that was intentionally placed but owner forgot to pick it up

Ill-gotten Gains

police auctions

In Re Seizure of 82k more or less

In Re Seizure of $82,000 More or Less

civil asset forfeiture where law enforcement seizes cash suspected to be linked to illegal activity (drug sales)

In Re Seizure with the Chappells

US Gov. seized a Volkswagon, the Chappell’s purchased the car, fule problems occured, the mechanic found $82k in the fuel chamber, government tried to get the cash but the Chappell’s ultimately were able to keep it

Adverse Possession

legal way for non-owner/trespasser to obtain property without permission from owner

trespasser must be using property in a open and notorious way

continuous and actually happens for a long period of time

punishes bad land owners

Example of Adverse Possession

not realizing over 20 years that someone is living in your home, trespasser must sue for ownership

Steuck v Easley

Easely regularly used his large piece of land, and the Steuck’s used a few acres for 29 years and the Easely’s never noticed (because the land was so large)

The Steucks only used land during deer season, so since it was not continuous used, they were not granted adverse possession

Confusion

fungible goods are mixed together

Fungible Goods

goods that are sold by weight/meausre and when combined, you cna’t identify one person’s from another’s

Accession

When people apply effort/labor to any raw materials and change/improve its nature into a finished product, they now own said finished product

Example of Accession

you have two sheep that make a baby, you now own a lamb too

Resources throguh Gift

owner/donor gives the property to the donee, who becomes owner

Requirements for Resources through Gift

owner intends to gift

delivers the gift by physical transfer (can be constructive, like giving keys to a car)

Testamentary Gift

gift given through a will

delivery is when they die

Kenyon v. Abel

Kenyon bought a painting for $25 from Salvation Army, which turned out to be worth $15k

Abel ahs been cleaning out his deceased mother’s home and hired movers to take things his home and the Salvation Army

The movers took the wrong pile to Salvation Army and Abel never intended to give the painting away

Abel got his painting back. No intent but delivery

Nonpossessory Interests in Land

do not amount to an estate, but affect the owner’s use of the property

License

temporary grant of authority to fo a specifed thing on the land that belongs to another

permission, NOT A RIGHT

Example: hunting license

Easement

allows the holder of the easement the right to use a tract of land for a special purpose, but not the right to possess and enjoy the land

Affirmative Easement

gives the holder of the easement the right to do something specific on the land

can sell land with easement, can sell easement back to landowner

Ex: utility easement

How to Acquire an Affirmative Easement

through exchange

purchased through landowner or reserved by deed as part of purchase of land

Natural Easement

allows an owner to get to their land by the closest public road

Easement by Prescription

prevents a landowners from blocking someone who has wrongfully used the landowner’s property for a long time

must be open and notorious, adverse, and continuous

Ex: putting in a cattle guard in your driveway so your neighbors cows can’t get to the river, even though they’ve been doing so for 10 years

Duke Energy v. Gray (Easement Case)

Wallace previously owned a piece of land and sold an easement to Duke Power Company. It was for them to maintain power lines, but had to be free of structures. Wallace sells land to Jon Weiland Homes to subdivided the land. Weiland sells a home to Gray (defendant).

3 years later, Duke Power company sends a letter to Gray saying that 3 ft of his house is on their easement. Gray had to remove a portion of his home.

Gray sues everyone.

Bailments

legal relationship in common law, where owner of personal property transfers physical possession of that property for a period of time

only for personal property

Ex: borrwoing, loaning, renting

Bailor

owner who lends

Bailee

who is borrowing, renting, or being lended to

Sole Benefit of Bailor

Bailor is storing furniture in someone’s garage

Bailor is better off (benefiting)

Bailee must use slight care

Sole Benefit of the Bailee

You loan your mower to your neighbor

Bailee is better off

Bailee has high duty to care for the property

Mutual Benefit

Benefits both parties

Ex: rental agreement

Bailee must exercise reasonable care

Rights of the Bailor

end bailment at any time and ask for property back

be compensated for damage to property

sue for breech of bailment contract

Bailor has duty to pay the Bailee and warn of any hidden damages (latent defect) on the property

Limitations on Property

owners right to use resoruces and exclude others from resources

Nuisance

when an owner’s use of their property unreasonably infringes on another’s use and enjoyment of their own property rights

must be unreasonable and/or customary interference

Private Nuisance

unreasonable use of what belongs to one that causes substantial interference with one’s enjoyment

can be invasion of intangibles (light, sound, smell)

depends on who was there first

Ex: the Bradley’s dog kennel and Papa complaining

Public Nuisance

damage that interferes with the enjoyment of publics health and safety

can only be broguht by a public official (governor, mayor) unless there is specific damage to private property

Cook v. Sullivan

Cook owned property in New Hampshire and built a home. Their neighbors purchased property next to them, and then 40 years alter decides to build a home, but had to completely redo the soil for the home. The Cook’s water lines were continuously messed up because of the change in soil structure.

Cook won with private nuisance case because it interfered with their private property

VA College v. SSF Savannah Properties

VA College was operating in a mall and decided to operate a Go-Kart track inside the college. Court ruled to “Split the Baby”, so the Go-Kart can only operate when class is not in session

Splitting the Baby - giving a little to both sides

Zoning

public limitations to protect the public’s health, safety, wellness, and morals

example of police powers

seperates uses of property that are incompatible

can be changes in zoning rules

Ex: strip club next to elementary school