Property Final

Question 1

Bundle of sticks definition

Answer 1

Analogy used to explain the complex ownership of property. Each stick represents a right of the owner related to the land

Question 2

The bundle of sticks

Answer 2

Possession, control, exclusion, enjoyment, disposition

Question 3

Possession definition

Answer 3

Owned by whomever holds the title

Question 4

Control definition

Answer 4

Controls the use of the property

Question 5

Exclusion definition

Answer 5

Others can be excluded

Question 6

Enjoyment definition

Answer 6

Use the property in any legal manner

Question 7

Disposition defintion

Answer 7

Sell, rent, or transfer ownership

Question 8

First in time is first in right definition

Answer 8

Being there first justifies ownership rights

Question 9

Two ways to acquire property rights

Answer 9

First possession and subsequent possession

Question 10

First possession includes

Answer 10

Discovery, capture, and creation

Question 11

Subsequent possession includes

Answer 11

Find, adverse possession, and gift or bequest

Question 12

Difference between ownership and possession?

Answer 12

You can possess (have) something, but someone else can hold ownership (title)

Question 13

Rule of discovery

Answer 13

The sighting or finding of unknown territory, usually accompanied by a landing and the symbolic taking of possession. The first person to reach a soil and settle there is the discoverer

Question 14

Locke’s labor theory

Answer 14

Everyone has a property in her own person. When a person changes something from its natural state into something else, it becomes her property

Question 15

Rule of capture

Answer 15

Actual bodily seizure is not necessary to acquire a right to or possession of wild animals. Instead, possession of the wild animal occurs when the pursuer mortally wounds the wild animal, the pursuer doesn’t abandon her pursuit, the pursuer manifests an unequivocal intention of appropriating the animal to her individual use, and deprives the wild animal of its natural liberty by bringing it within her certain control

Question 16

Rule of capture allows a competitor

Answer 16

To interfere with the other’s mere pursuit

Question 17

Non-competitor rule

Answer 17

A person who does not seek to capture an animal, but rather to interfere with the other’s capture seeks to disrupt the efficient use of resources and must be stopped

Question 18

Ratione soli

Answer 18

Exception to the rule of capture. Owner of the land has constructive possession of every wild animal on their land

Question 19

Custom is recognized if

Answer 19

Specialized, small industry, necessary to preserve the industry, custom is pervasive (affects entire industry), the custom is undisputed, taker performed the acts necessary for appropriation

Question 20

Reasons why the possession of subsequent possessors is protected

Answer 20

Promotes peaceful public order, protects against wrongdoers and rewards honest finders, possession may be the only indicium of ownership, finders bring lost items back into commerce, finders may facilitate getting an item back to its owner

Question 21

Who is a finder?

Answer 21

One who takes possession of lost property that is owned by another without permission

Question 22

For possession a finder must show

Answer 22

An intent to control the property and an act of control

Question 23

Categories of found property

Answer 23

Lost property, mislaid property, abandoned property, and treasure trove

Question 24

Lost property

Answer 24

True owner is unintentionally separated from the property through neglect or inadvertence

Question 25

Mislaid property

Answer 25

The true owner intentionally places her property in/on a certain place with the expectation to retain ownership but fails to reclaim it or forgets where she put it

Question 26

Abandoned property

Answer 26

True owner must have intentionally and unequivocally relinquished all right and title in the property

Question 27

Treasure trove

Answer 27

Any money or coin, gold, silver plate or bullion hidden in the earth

Question 28

The title of the finder is as good as against the whole world except

Answer 28

The true owner or prior possessors

Question 29

What influences a court’s decision about a finder’s rights?

Answer 29

Presumed intent of the original/rightful owner, location where the property is found, and identity/status of competing claimants

Question 30

What is adverse possession?

Answer 30

How one may establish greater rights in property (real or personal) over its true owner

Question 31

Adverse possession formula

Answer 31

A’NOCHE possession + passage of certain time

Question 32

What does A’NOCHE stand for?

Answer 32

Adverse, notorious, open, continuous, hostile, and exclusive

Question 33

Actual possession majority approach

Answer 33

Adverse possessor entered onto someone’s land and started using it as a true owner would. Must physically come on to the land

Question 34

Actual possession minority approach typical requirements

Answer 34

Claimant must cultivate, substantially enclose, or improve the property

Question 35

Actual possession starts

Answer 35

The statute of limitations clock

Question 36

What happens if a claim for adverse possession is successful?

Answer 36

Adverse possessor gains good title to the property

Question 37

What is a quiet title action?

Answer 37

Action before a specialized court of equity that silences anyone else who is also claiming the title. Addresses a specific, real, or perceived title defect, but does not deal with all property ownership issues. Limited to a specific claim

Question 38

For adverse possession, the burden of proof is always on

Answer 38

The adverse possessor

Question 39

Notorious possession

Answer 39

Make it known to the true owner (put them on notice) that an adverse possessor is on their land

Question 40

Open possession

Answer 40

Adverse possessor must share their possession with the whole world. Can’t be hidden or stealthy

Question 41

Continuous possession

Answer 41

Adverse possessor occupied the property in the manner required. Depends on the nature/circumstances of the property

Question 42

Hostile possession 3 tests

Answer 42

Objective test, subjective/good faith test, aggressive/intentional trespasser test

Question 43

Hostile possession objective test

Answer 43

Majority approach. Intent of the adverse possessor doesn’t matter

Question 44

Hostile possession subjective/good faith test

Answer 44

Minority test. Adverse possessor must have a good faith belief/was mistaken

Question 45

Hostile possession aggressive/intentional trespasser test

Answer 45

Minority test. Adverse possessor knew they didn’t own the property and intended to take the property anyways

Question 46

Exclusive possession

Answer 46

Adverse possessor cannot share the land with the true owner or the general public

Question 47

What happens if one of the A’NOCHE elements is not met?

Answer 47

Statute of limitations starts over

Question 48

What is a color of title?

Answer 48

A claim found on a written instrument that is defective and invalid

Question 49

Difference between adverse possession and color of title

Answer 49

One can claim adverse possession over part or all of another’s land whereas with color of title, whatever you physically possess, you obtain constructive possession

Question 50

Benefits of color of title

Answer 50

Actual possession of only a part of area described in the colorable title is treated as constructive possession of the whole area covered by the instrument and in many jurisdictions, the required period of possession is shortened

Question 51

Color of title requirements

Answer 51

Defective instrument, possession, statute of limitations

Question 52

Doctrine of agreed boundaries

Answer 52

If there is uncertainty between neighbors as to the true boundary, an oral agreement to settle the matter is enforceable if the neighbors subsequently accept the line for a long period of time

Question 53

Doctrine of estoppel

Answer 53

One neighbor makes representations about (or engages in conduct that tends to indicate) the location of a common boundary, and the other neighbor changes her position in reliance on the representations or conduct. The first neighbor is estopped from denying the validity of the statements

Question 54

Doctrine of acquiescence

Answer 54

Long acquiescence (long silence) is evidence of an agreement between parties fixing the boundary line

Question 55

What is privity?

Answer 55

Either some reasonable connection, i.e., possessor voluntarily transferred an estate in land or physical possession to a subsequent possessor, or possessors entered into an agreement with one another

Question 56

American rule for tacking

Answer 56

Tacking is not permitted unless the successive occupants are in privity

Question 57

English rule for tacking

Answer 57

Tacking is permitted regardless of the successive occupants’ privity relationship

Question 58

Disability statutes and adverse possession requirement

Answer 58

The disability must be present when the adverse possession began (when the adverse possessor entered/actually possessed the property)

Question 59

If the disability arises after the adverse possession began

Answer 59

Then the disability statute does not apply

Question 60

The disability statute allows

Answer 60

The true owner to either use the regular statute of limitations for adverse possession or the disability statute, which ever is longer

Question 61

Who is the innocent improver?

Answer 61

Someone who mistakenly builds on land who belongs to another but is subsequently ousted from the land before the statutory period for adverse possession had run

Question 62

What is the modern tendency toward innocent improvers?

Answer 62

Forcing a market value conveyance of land from the landowner to the innocent improver

Question 63

What is a gift?

Answer 63

A voluntary and immediate transfer of personal property without consideration from one person to another

Question 64

Two types of gifts

Answer 64

Inter vivos gifts and gifts causa mortis

Question 65

Three requirements for inter vivos gifts

Answer 65

Intent to make a present, immediate transfer, delivery, and acceptance

Question 66

Intent defintion for gifts

Answer 66

Donor must intend to make an immediate transfer of title of the personal property to the donee. A gift that takes immediate effect may be subject to a condition subsequent

Question 67

Delivery definition for gifts

Answer 67

In order to transfer property by gift there must be a physical handing over of the property to the donee

Question 68

3 methods of delivery

Answer 68

Manual/actual delivery, constructive delivery, and symbolic delivery

Question 69

Constructive delivery

Answer 69

Something that gives the meaning of access to the donee

Question 70

Symbolic delivery

Answer 70

Handing over something symbolic of the property given

Question 71

Acceptance is presumed

Answer 71

If the gift is beneficial to the donee

Question 72

Four elements for gift/donatio causa mortis

Answer 72

Intent, delivery, acceptance, and donor’s anticipation of imminent death

Question 73

Unlike an inter vivos gift, a gift causa mortis is

Answer 73

Revocable until death