Private Property Rights in Land Flashcards
What are the elements of Adverse Possession?
- Actual possession (as normal owner would)
- Open and notorious (visible to others)
- Exclusive (can have guests as normal owner would)
- Continuous (tacking doctrine, tolling doctrine)
- For statutory period (varies between states)
What is the tacking doctrine?
- A way of achieving the statutory period
- Privity
- You can count the behavior of past property owners in order to reach the statutory period requirement
What is the tolling doctrine?
- A way of achieving the statutory period
- Disability, incompetency, etc.
- Places a hold on the statutory period for disability, infancy, prison (some states), or absentee status (some states)
When does a possessors state of mind matter?
- In some states
- Good faith
- Bad faith
What is color of title?
- And alternative to adverse possession, separate action
- When a deed is wrong
What is an Easement?
-A non-possessive right to use another’s land
What are the elements of a Prescriptive Easement?
- Actual use
- Open and notorious (visible to others)
- Continuous (taking doctrine, tolling doctrine)
- For statutory period (varies between states)
- Some courts add aquiessence
- Same elements as AP minus exclusive
What are the elements of an Easement by Estoppel?
- Originate in licenses
- License can be taken back unless party:
- -Detrimental reliance by plaintiff
- -Reliance reasonable, notice to defendant
- -Some courts add injustice
- Then it becomes an easement
What are the elements of Easement by Prior Use?
- Common historical ownership and subsequent conveyance of one,
- Prior to conveyance owner used part of servant parcel for benefit of dominant one,
- Such use apparent obvious and continuous,
- Easement necessary and beneficial to dominant parcel
What are the elements of Easement by Necessity?
- Conveyed a parcel with no outlet to road except by use of other parcel to access landlocked parcel
- Court will grant without an prior use or knowledge
- Can lay dormant until needed
What are the Implied/Constructive Easements?
- Easements by Estoppel
- Prescriptive Easements
- Easements by Prior Use
- Easements by Necessity
What are the Created Easements?
- Express Easements
- Terminating Easements
- Conservation Easements
What are Affirmative and Negative Easements?
- Affirmative = right to do something on another’s property
- Negative = right to prevent someone from doing something on their land
What makes an Express Easement?
- Writing (statute of frauds)
- Notice (actual, inquiry, constructive)
- Intent
What are the Easement Rules?
- Can’t “unreasonably burden” servient estate and servient estate cannot “unduely burden” dominant estate’s use
- Scope of Easement limited to scope as defined by deed
- Can’t change location of Easement
What is a Conservation Easement?
- Negative easement to protect different land values
- Uniform Land Act provides authority
- Must be held by: qualified land trust, federal or state agency, tribe
- By staute
How do you determine Scope of an Easement?
- Whether the use is of a kind contemplated by the granter
- Whether the use is so heavy that it constitutes an unreasonable burden on the servant estate not contemplated by granter
- Whether easement can be subdivided
What is Appurtenant?
- And easement that runs with the land
- Burden is with servant estate
- Benefit runs with dominant estate
- Must be: in writing, notice to servant estate, intended to run with estate
- Can subdivide
What is in gross?
- An easement that runs with a person
- Can’t subdivide
When can there be a Negative easement?
- Right to air and light (common law)
- Right to lateral support (common law)
- By statute (including solar)
When can the possessor of the easement sell or divide the easement?
- Appurtenant
- In gross and grantor has not reserved rights
What is Privity?
-The legal relationship between parties whose estates constitute one estate in law
How can you bring up Adverse Possession?
- Claim:
- -Quiet Title
- -Ejection
- Defense
How do you terminate an easement?
- Agreement
- Merger
- Abandonment
- Adverse Possession
- Frustration of Purpose
- Marketable Title Acts
