1st Assessment

Question 1

2 Types of Property

Answer 1

1. Real Property
   (Land)
2. Personal Property
   (a) Personal - Chattel (b) Intangible - stocks, trusts, accounts

Question 2

Unowned Property

Answer 2

Property that has never been owned or has been abandoned by the owner

Question 3

Possession

Answer 3

Exercise Dominion + Control AND Intent to control + exclude all others from it

Question 4

Property in animals / wild things

Answer 4

Mortal Wounding and effective trapping

(acquired by occupancy) , land owner, capture, labor, reasonable prospects

Question 5

Pre-Possessory Interest

Answer 5

Actor undertakes significant BUT incomplete steps to

achieve possession of abandoned property + the effort is interrupted by the unlawful acts of others

Question 6

Right of 1st Possession

Answer 6

Rule of capture (wild animals / abandoned) , reasonable prospect , pre-possessory , etc

Question 7

Rights of Subsequent Possession

Answer 7

Possession is indicia of ownership, and rebuttable presumption exists that those in possession are rightly in possession - someone would have to overcome the presumption of ownership . Ownership is relative .

Question 8

Lost Property

Answer 8

Involuntary parted / accidentally misplaced - Finder Wins (except true owner)

Question 9

Mislaid Property

Answer 9

Intentionally placed and then forgotten where - - Landowner Wins (except true owner)

Question 10

Abandoned Property

Answer 10

Relinquished all rights to property - 1st person to come along and claim / possess , owns it

Question 11

Treasure Trove

Answer 11

Hidden gold, silver, currency with appearance of antiquity placed to be retrieved later - Finder Wins

Question 12

Trespassing Finder

Answer 12

Landowner wins (lost , mislaid, + abandoned)

Question 13

Embedded Property

Answer 13

Something Embedded in the dirt - Finder Wins

Question 14

Bailment

Answer 14

A temporary transfer of ownership for a specific reason from Bailor to Bailee w/ the intent that the property will be returned at the end of that reason

Question 15

Gift Elements

Answer 15

In Vivos (while living) Gifts :

1. Capacity - mental + ownership
2. Intend - to make present (immediate) irrevocable transfer of ownership
3. Delivery - Transfer of possession to point of no return
   (a) Actual physical
   (b) Constructive
4. Acceptance - Presumed Unless Rejected

Question 16

Rights by Creation

Answer 16

You have no ownership / property rights in cells removed form the body for the purposes of conversion (Moore Cell Line)

Question 17

Adverse Possession

Answer 17

A doctrine that allows a non-owner who actually possesses land w/o permission of the true owner (i.e. Formal title holder) to acquire ownership of that land.

Question 18

Elements of Adverse Possession:

Answer 18

1) Actual Entry
2) Exclusive Possession
3) Open and Notorious
4) Adverse and Hostile
5) Continuous

Question 19

Color Of Title
Vs
Claim of Title

Answer 19

Color or Title: a claim founded on a written instrument (deed, will) but this written document has a defect. It looks valid on it’s face, but it is in fact wrong. (A subjective state of mind)

Claim of Title: the hostile claim of right on the part of the adverse possessor. (An objective state of mind)

Question 20

Define: tacking

Answer 20

Tacking: add successive periods of AP by different trespassers together if these persons were in privity

Question 21

Define and explain: Privity

Answer 21

When the earlier possessor gives the next possessor a title document to transfer title to the next successor or if the successor is an heir to the AP possessor

Question 22

Hypo: rancher owns a huge ranch. Rancher knows that there is someone in the back corner deep in the woods, but doesn’t care because he isn’t hurting anything.
Is the adverse possessor open and notorious?

Answer 22

Yea, because the owner knows he is there so he actual knowledge trumps the constructive.
As long as the adverse possessor is arable, even if it takes effort, plus the actual knowledge of his existence, equals the open and notorious requirement.

Question 23

Hypo: A and B are neighbors. A puts up a fence 10 feet into B’s property. The statute runs. B then objects and threatens A. A Is scared and moves the fence back. Who owns the land?

Answer 23

The land belongs to A because the statute has already run. A cannot abandon his right to the land.
** not sure **

Question 24

Hypo: a 3 foot encroachment, P thinks it’s only 1 foot. Doesn’t care about 1 foot, but would care about 3. How much does D own? One or three?

Answer 24

If the encroacher thinks it’s 3 feet then he gets all 3. If he thinks it’s only 1 foot than he gets one.

Question 25

What is a “Finder?”

Answer 25

To have “rightful possession” over the personal property of another.

Question 26

Elements of Bailment:

Answer 26

1) Intent: intent to have dominion and control

2) Possession: rightful possession of the goods of another.

Question 27

Hypo: a man is dying from a gun shot wound. Gives his son his watch and tells him that he wants his son to have his watch if he dies from the wound. The man then recovers, and is hit and killed by a taxi exiting the hospital. Valid gift?

Answer 27

It would be a valid Causa Mortis gift which was revoked.

Question 28

Hypo: afraid of dying from a heart attack, a father gives his son a watch. The father survives the heart attack but doesn’t ask for the watch back: what occurs?

Answer 28

The gift becomes and inter Vivos gift, and is the Property of the son.

Question 29

O is the owner of a ring. O leaves the ring at Ds house. D calls her and tells her that she left it. O tells her to keep it as a gift, what occurs?

What if O asks for it back the next day?

Answer 29

A valid gift, the ring is now Ds.

O can ask for it back, but it legally belongs to D. D does not have to return it.

Question 30

What are examples of Bailments?

Answer 30

coat check, valet parking, repair shops, suit cases checked at the airport