Property Flashcards
General rule
Capture of a fugacious resource
First into possession and control owns the resource
Post: mere pursuit is insufficient for ownership
Exceptions
Capture of a fugacious resource
- Ratione Soli: owner of land owns fugacious resource
- when possession and control is difficult, custom dictates who owns
Ghen: custom of whaling established control
Additions
Capture of a fugacious resource
- Wrongful interference: even if fully not in control, wrongful interference messes with constructive possession; especially trade; lawful competition ok
- Animus revertendi: domesticated creature or animals that return to private property are not fugacious resource
- Rule of increase: offspring belong to mother’s owner
Duck case
barry bonds case: contructive owner (with wrongful interference) & actual possessor split the ball’s proceeds
General rule
Rule of finders - lost property
Finder wins against all except previous possessor and true owner
Exceptions
Rule of finders - lost property
Owner of locus in quo owns if:
attached to soil
trespassor finds
in private location?
owner is in occupied area?
rule
Mislaid property
owner in locus in quo owns until true owner returns
rule
finder of abandoned property
finder owns unless private property
Elements of
Adverse possession
- Continuous for statutory period
- Exclusive and actual
- Open and notorious
- hostile and under claim of right
- (CA) property taxes
AP creates NEW TITLE
In depth:
Continuous for statutory period
- continuous for how it is normally used. so summer home = summer only; undeveloped = dump trash
- Tacking = privity = anything above a mere trespassor
- Disability = note date of entry & when disability ends
in depth
Exclusive and Actual
- Exclude others as a true owner would
- some jxns require improvement, cultivation, or boundries
In depth
Open and notorious
- reaonable true owner would notice that someone is on property
- No de minimus: if de minimus, owner would need actual knowledge of intrusion
Open and notorious with chattels
- Discovery rule: clock begins ticking when owner knows or should have known cause of action
- Make a demand rule: clock begins ticking when owner makes a demand and gets rejected
in depth
Hostile and under claim of right
- Hostile = unauthorized
- claim of right = acting as if he owns property
- State of mind needed: no state of mind, good faith, bad faith
- Color of title: faulty instrument, must enter and possess and only get that part they possess
invited guest cannot become AP
intervivos
Acquisition by gift
- intent of present, immediate transfer
- Delivery
- Acceptance
in depth
intent of present, immediate transfer
- no future gifts
- condition subsequent is ok
- condition precedent not ok
in depth
Delivery
- Actual: generally, if it can be handed over, it must be
- constructive: difficult or impossible to physically hand over (keys to a car)
- Symbolic = ok in CA
- Third party: doner to donee’s agent = instant ; doner to doner’s agent = wait until delivery
Causa mortis
Gift
- same elements but there is an expectation of a death
- revocable
- if die to another reason, instantly revoked
Limits on property
Public property
must open your private land to public so they can enjoy navigable waters
just like a municipality, home owner association must do same
Limits on property
Right to abandon
- intend to abandon property to world
- affirmative voluntary act of abandonment
- subsequent new party appropriates with intent to own
Cannot abandon land
Limits on property
Right to destroy
generally you can UNLESS public policy reasons: value of neighbors land, criminal law, specific duties to others.
Limits on property
Right to transfer
- no total restraints on alienation
- reasonable restraints are ok: charity, Life estates, against a specific person, and only for a limited time
Estates
Life estate
- cannot AP
- subject to law of waste
- MUST BE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY SOMETHING, OTHERWISE REVERSION
Rules of will construction
- no partial intestacy
- when it is difficult to tell, read a vested remainder to a contingent remainder
- LOOK AT INTENT TO GRANTOR AND CONSIDER IT AS A WHOLE
Law of waste
- Affirmative waste: waste caused by affirmative acts of the tenant
- permissive waste: tenant’s failure to make normal repairs to property, not stopping deterioration
- not waste to continue use of a mine, waste to open a new mine
life estates and leaseholds
Rule on remainders
- LE, CR, CR …
- LE, VR, EI …
STEPS
Rule against perpetuities at common law
- is it a CR, EI, or VRSTO
- who are the lives in being at the time of grant
- Ask what will vest this
- Say: will we know forsure within 21 years of the deaths of LiB @ time of grant if it will vest?
- Blue line the remainder
Will = at death
Deed = at delivery
RAP class gifts & rule of convenience
CL
- all members of a class grant must meet all conditions within 21 years of death of LiB, or entire future interest is void
- Rule of convenience: Class will close upon first vesting & no new born children will share; others alive are in class
Reforms to RAP
- Reduce technicalities: any gift to class set to vest after 25 years is now 21 by judicial construction
- Cy pres
- Wait and see
90 years for CA wait and see
any gift to “widow” is presumed to be then-living spouse
Co-tenancies
Tenancy in Common
- Default state (reverts back)
- alienable, devisable, descendible
- 70%, 30%
Co-tenancies
Joint tenancy
- Right of survivorship
- four unities:
- title: acquire title from same instrument
- time: at the same time
- interest: equal shares
- right to possession
- only alienable
- 100%,100%
CL: need for unities or else TiC
Modern: explicitly state Right of Survivorship
Co-tenancies
transfer of JT
majority rule
- can transfer to yourself without strawman to sever JT
- a lease will not sever JT; dont need permission
transfer makes it TiC (not lease)
uniform death act and slayer statutes
- survive JT by 120 hours, or split
- murder severs JT, makes it TiC, killer loses right to survivorship
Co-tenancies
Tenancy by Entirety
- all four unities plus marrigage
- right of survivorship
- only alienable and only with permission
- creditors cannot reach TbE unless IRS
- cannot unilaterally destroy
Not in CA
make sure you are officially married first.
cant cut spouse out in Will
Co-tenancies and mortgage
does a mortgage survive the death of a mortgager as a lien on the property?
- Title theory: mortgage severs JT or TbE
- Lien theory: does not sever JT
- NO, does not survive because the interest disappears on death b/c survivorship
Liens are a promissory note, you take possession when i cannot pay back
Partitioning
- Cotenants have an absolute right to sell (unless TbE)
- in-kind partition
- partition by sale
two requirements
Partition by sale
something tells me i can never partition by sale
- physical attributes of the land are such that in-kind are impractible or inequitable
- interest of owners would be promoted by partition by sale
think of like a weird fraction
unreasonable restraint on alienation!
Ouster and rent from co-tenants
- cotenants do not owe eachother rent unless an agreement or an ouster
requirements for an ouster?
- barring physical entry onto property
- denying co-tenants claim to title and asserting complete ownership
phyiscal bar - a letter not enough
2nd requirement is near AP
but remember cannot AP a cotenant
general rule
profits, expenses and taxes of cotenancies
cotenants share taxes, expenses, profits, and rents from 3rd parties
absent an agreement to the contrary
Accounting
Demand for proportional receipt of profits and rents
and exception
contributions
- demand to eachother for proportionate payment of expenses, repairs, and taxes
- However, tenant in sole possession may be held to pay taxes and expenses exclusively without contributions (can deduct from rent from 3rd party however)
if one cotenant makes repairs/improvements
- some jxn do not require contribution at time of repair/improvement
- upon partition, improver can recoup costs
- upon partition by sale, improver gets credit from increased sale price
- upon physical partition, improver gets improved aspect
Leaseholds
Term of years tenancy
- for any fixed period
- can end on a condition
- no notice of termination necessary
Leaseholds
Periodic tenancy
- at a fixed period that continues until notice of termination (year to year, month to month)
- notice of termination: 1 year = 6 months at latest; equal to the length of period for shorter periods
- CL: untimely notice of termination = automatic renewal
Leaseholds
At will
- one or both can end the lease at will
- if lease gives LL the right to terminate, law will give same right to T
- if lease gives T only, determinable LE
- most jxn require notice of termination = rent payment period
- can end by death, assignment by T, transfer LL, waste by tenant
Leaseholds
At sufferance
- Either evict = ends tenancy
- accept rent and consent to new tenancy = periodic tenancy created = to timing of rent
holdovers
monthly rent = month-to-month
unlawful discrimination in leases
Civil rights act and FHA
- no racial discrimination
- prohibits discrimination based on a series of enumerated characteristics in sale, rental, and ads of property