Civil Code I - Property Flashcards
Classifications of Property
Common, public, or private;
Corporeal or incorporeal; and
Movable or immovable.
Common Things
- a thing that is owned by no one (including the state) and that can be freely used by everyone in the manner that nature intended
Examples of Common Things
- the air & the high seas b/c they are owned by no one—not even the state—and can be freely used by everyone
Private Things
(1) A thing that is owned by a private person, or
(2) A thing that is owned by the State or its political subdivisions in their private capacity.
- alienable
- not subject to public use
Examples of Private Things Owned by State
- computers used by state agencies
Public Things
A thing that is owned by the State or its political subdivisions in its public, sovereign capacity.
- inalienable
- subject to public use
Examples of Public Things
- natural, navigable waterways
- highways
- public squares
Public Things - Territorial Sea
- Gulf of Mexico up to the 3-mile federal limit
Public Things - Arms of the Sea
- water bodies in the immediate vicinity of the Open Gulf and directly overflowed by the tides
Public Things - Seashore
- the space of land over which the waters of the sea spread in the highest tide during winter
Public Things - Natural Navigable Water Bodies
This rule does not include artificial water bodies, such as man-made canals.
A body is navigable in law if it is navigable in fact.
Test: whether the water is susceptible to commercial activity.
- inalienable
- open to public use
Public Things - Riverbed
- the land beneath the ordinary low water mark
Public Things - Lake Bed
- the land beneath the ordinary high water mark
Private Things - River Bank
- the land between the ordinary high and ordinary low water marks
- owned by riparian landowners
Public Use of Water Bodies
- exceptionally limited
- use that is incidental to navigation
- no right to trespass on private property to make the public use
- the right of public use does not extend to improvements on the thing
- the right of public use does not permit commercial activities
Changes in a Water Body - Alluvion
- a sedimentary buildup that creates a new space of dry land formed successively and imperceptibly over time
- must be permanent, not merely seasonal
- on a river, the land belongs to the primary riparian landowner
- on a lake, the sea, or any other water body, the new land belongs to the State
Changes in a Water Body - Dereliction
- the successive and imperceptible uncovering of waters to create a new space of dry land
- must be permanent, not merely seasonal
- on a river, the land belongs to the primary riparian landowner
- on a lake, the sea, or any other water body, the new land belongs to the State
Changes in a Water Body - Erosion
- when the water level permanently rises such that more land slips beneath the dividing line between public and private ownership
- the state takes ownership of these lands, regardless of the water body implicated
Changes in a Water Body - Avulsion
- the convulsive act of a river that takes a defined piece of land, carries it off, and attaches it elsewhere
- original owner of the land does not lose ownership, but may continue to claim it within a year in the new place
Changes in a Water Body - Changes in Course of River
- if the navigable river changes course and deprives a private landowner of his/her property along the way, the owner who lost lands may assert a right to take a portion of the abandoned bed
Public & Private Roads
- roads may be public or private
- public roads are generally open to public use
- private roads can be dedicated for public use
Types of Dedication (FIST)
- formal dedication (when the owner signs a writing dedicating the thing)
- statutory dedication (when a subdivider develops and files in the public records a plat showing roads)
- tacit dedication (when a governmental entity is permitted to service and maintain the private thing for a period of three years)
- implied dedication (when the public has used the thing, and that use was permitted, not through express language, but by implication)
Corporeal Things
- a thing that has a body and can be felt and touched
Incorporeal Things
- a thing that has no body and is comprehended solely by the understanding
Examples of Incorporeal Things
- legal rights
- mineral leases
Immovable v. Immovable: Significance
The transfer or encumbrance of a thing includes its component parts, and the transfer of an immovable always requires a writing.
To affect third persons, the public records doctrine requires recordation of acts affecting immovable property.
Immovables Regardless of Unity
- land, including topsoil
- buildings
- standing timber
- integral parts
- attachments under Article 466
Immovables - Land
- immovable regardless of unity of ownership
- includes topsoil
Immovables - Buildings
- immovable component parts of the ground when owned by the owner of the ground
- separate immovable when owned by someone other than owner of the ground
Immovables - Buildings - P.H.A.C. Services v. Seaways International Test
Test:
- cost
- purpose
- durability
- prevailing notions
Example:
- 3-story offshore living quarters is a building, despite imminent transport to Gulf
Immovables - Standing Timber
- immovable component part of the ground when owned by the owner of the ground
- separate immovable when owned by someone other than the owner of the ground
- Once cut down, timber is no longer “standing,” and is movable.
- Timber Estates may be limited in time by the document creating the separate timber estate. The owner of the land can be compelled to remove the timber within the time specified in that document, or if it specifies no such time, within a reasonable time.
Immovables - Integral Parts
- things incorporated into a tract of land so as to become part and parcel of it and its integral parts
- Jurisprudential test requires MERGER and SEPARATE IDENTITY
Examples:
- building materials
- in-ground swimming pool
Immovables - Attachments Under Article 466 - Component Parts of Buildings
- things that, under prevailing notions, serve to complete a building of the same general type without regard to its specific use
Examples:
- doors
- shutters
- gutters
- cabinets
Immovables - Attachments Under Article 466 - “Building of the Same General Type”
- residential, commercial, or industrial-type buildings, not to the more specific use of the building
Example:
- a CT scanner does not complete a commercial building, though it might complete a hospital
Immovables - Attachments Under Article 466 - Component Parts of Non-Buildings
- things that serve the principal use of the construction
Example:
- valves and access ladders are component parts of a water tower, but not antennas
Immovables - Attachments Under Article 466 - Buildings & Non-Buildings
- things that are so attached that they cannot be removed without substantial damage, either to the attached item or to the immovable
- physical damage upon removal is required, NOT mere economic damage
Example:
staircase attached into drywall
Immovables Only with Unity of Ownership
- other constructions permanently attached (OCPAs); manmade constructions that are not buildings
- unharvested crops and ungathered fruit s (movable when owned by lessee)
Immovables By Declaration of Owner
- an owner has some limited ability to declare machinery, appliances, or equipment immovable under Louisiana law
Four requirements:
(1) there must be unity of ownership between the machinery, appliances, or equipment, and the immovable;
(2) the immovable may not be a private residence;
(3) the item must be actually placed on the immovable and used for its service and improvement; and
(4) a declaration of immovability must be filed with mortgage and conveyance records in the parish where the immovable is located
De-Immobilization by Damages or Deterioration
When a thing becomes so damaged or deteriorated that it can no longer serve the use of the immovable, it is de-immobilized as a matter of law.
Example:
De-Immobilization by Detachment or Removal
Owners can generally detach or remove any component part, making it movable.
Example: removing and selling topsoil
De-Immobilization by Detachment or Removal - Third Persons
Cannot effectively de-immobilize a thing if a third person already has a right in the thing at the time of the attempted detachment r or removal.
If the owner detaches or removes component parts to the prejudice of third parties and delivers to a third party in good faith, that transfer will be effective.
Movable Things
- anything not classified as immovable under Louisiana law
Accession
- rights and duties related to things that are produced by another thing, or united with that other thing
Accession to Fruits & Products - Defining Fruits
- a fruit is a thing produced by or derived from another thing without diminution of its substance
Examples:
Accession to Fruits & Products - Accrual Rules for Fruits
- a person who has a right to fruits owns all natural fruits gathered during the existence of his right
Example:
Accession to Fruits & Products - Accrual Rules for Civil Fruits
- accrue day-by-day
Example:
Accession to Fruits & Products - Good Faith Possessors
- a good faith possessor is one who possesses by virtue of an act translative of ownership and is not aware of any defects in his ownership
Accession to Fruits & Products - Possessors’ Rights to Fruits
- good faith possessors are entitled to any fruits gathered and reimbursement for expenses related to any fruits that remain ungathered
- bad faith possessors get only reimbursement of expenses for gathered fruits, not for ungathered fruits ***
Accession to Fruits & Products - Defining Products
- products diminish the substance of the thing from which they are taken
Examples:
Neither the good faith nor bad faith possessor owns products.
The good faith possessor alone is entitled to reimbursement of his expenses.
