Property I

Question 1

Tangible property

Answer 1

property you can see touch hold

Question 2

Intangible property

Answer 2

property that cannot be touched or held but is valuable

Question 3

Legal positivism

Answer 3

something exists only because a government recognizes it; property.

Question 4

Five theories of Property

Answer 4

Protect 1st possession
Encourage Labor
Maximize societal happiness
Ensure democracy
Facilitate Personal Development

Question 5

Protect first possession

Answer 5

Whoever comes first to claim unclaimed property takes possession.

Question 6

Encourage Labor

Answer 6

You take possession when you apply labor to acquisition of whatever item/property is possessed.
- A walnut tree—say you put the labor in to possessing it. You would likely harvest, take care of it.

Question 7

Maximize Societal Happiness

Answer 7

We distribute and define property rights in a manner that best promotes the welfare of all citizens, not simply those who own property.
By recognizing property, we reduce chaos, conflict.

Question 8

Ensure Democracy

Answer 8

Civic republican theory posits that property facilitates democracy.
Property owners are better civic citizens.

Question 9

Facilitate Personal Development

Answer 9

Property is necessary for an individual’s personal development. People venerate property as an extension of themselves.
Some things important enough to justify property rights.

Question 10

Best rights to unowned things, wild animals, natural resources edt’d…
Through ___________

Answer 10

capture (occupancy)

Question 11

What is occupancy?

Answer 11

Always: Kill, possesses
Possibly: wound while in pursuit, trap with intent to possess
Never: mere pursuit, dreaming of capture

Question 12

Pierson v Post

Answer 12

Dispute over fox

RULE: Law of Capture (mere pursuit of an animal does not give rights to the animal)

Question 13

White v Samsung

Answer 13

Wheel of Fortune likeness infringement

CA Civil Code §3344 (state statute)
Knowingly use anther’s likeness
For advertising or selling
Without plaintiff’s consent
Liable for damages

Common Law: CA right of publicity (can protect a celebrity’s identity from unauthorized commercial exploitation) - Environment
Use plaintiffs identity (broader)
For defendants advantage
Without consent
Resulting in injury

Statutory Rule: Lanham Act (federal ™ law)

Question 14

Property rights are defined by _________

Answer 14

The government

Question 15

Property right are ______, they are ________

Answer 15

Not absolute, they are relative

Question 16

Property rights can be __________

Answer 16

divided

Question 17

Property rights __________ as law changes

Answer 17

evolve

Question 18

Most common sticks in property bundle

Answer 18

Transfer
Exclude
Use
Destroy

Question 19

Johnson v M’Intosh

Answer 19

Indians transferring land to Johnson and then to The US Government and eventually to Johnson.

Rule: Clear title to all lands within the boundary lines described in the treaty, subject only to the Indian right of occupancy, and that the exclusive power to extinguish that right, was vested in that government which might constitutionally exercise it.

Question 20

Moore v Regents of University of California

Answer 20

Argument for conversion and medical informed consent.

UAGA, H&S Code §7150
Competent adults can “give all or part of [their] body for certain designated purposes”
-Transplantation
-Therapy
-Education
-Research
-Advancement of science

Abandonment-intentional relinquishment of a known right
Moore §7054.4
“by restricting how excised cells may be used & requiring eventual destruction, thestatute eliminates so many of the rights ordinarily attached to property that one cannot simply assume that what is left amounts to ‘property’ or ‘ownership’ for
purposes of conversion law.”
Plain English- Following conclusion of scientific use, body parts shall be disposed of by burying, burning, or other specified methods
Mosk’s dissent to the Moore Case-A “limitation or prohibition diminishes the
bundle of rights that would otherwise attach
to property, yet what remains is still deemed
in law to be a protectable property interest.”

Question 21

Accession

Answer 21

if you use labor in good faith but get source materials from 3rd party without paying, you have best rights to the final product but must pay 3rd party for value of source materials.
Ex: Lemons from neighbors tree – you make lemonade but owe the neighbors something for their lemons.

Question 22

Trespass general rule

Answer 22

Liability for trespass if you intentionally… enter another’s land or cause a thing or 3rd person to do so (even if no harm)

Question 23

Jacque v Steenberg Homes, Inc

Answer 23

Mobile homes get delivered by driving through the property of the Jacque.

Punitive damages must be supported by an award of compensatory damages and here the jury awarded only nominal and punitive damages.

Question 24

State v Shack

Answer 24

Tedesco denied Tejeras and Shack to visit the migrant workers without Tedesco being present.
Tejeras and Shack want to meet them privately

NJ Trespass Law
Any person who tresspasses, after being forbidden by the owner = disorderly = punishment <$50… Exceptions- necessity or consent

Question 25

Sundowner, Inc. v King

Answer 25

(Spite Fence-Two motels next door to each other and King built a spite fence for “advertising” and it took away sunlight and airflow of Bushnell’s Desert Inn motel
Modern American Rule: one may not erect a structure for the sole purpose of annoying his neighbor. (Spite fence)

Question 26

Prah v Maretti

Answer 26

(Example of how Sunlight can be a factor in preventing absolute property rights)

RULE: 3 Reasons Wisconsin is reluctant to protect Sunlight
Rights to property use as you like so long as no physical harm to neighbors
Sunlight’s Value= aesthetics + source of light but w/electricity, loss of sunlight= personal annoyance at most
Society had strong interest in not interfering with land development

Question 27

Elements of Nuisance Action

Answer 27

1) Intentional
2) Non trespassory
3) Unreasonable
4) Substantial Interference with another’s use and enjoyment of property

Question 28

Eyerman. V Mercantile Trust Co.

Answer 28

(Johnston died and in their will they want their historical 40,000$ home to be destroyed which would devalue the land and the rest of the homes in the area)

When a landowner attempts to compel his successor in interest to do to the land something against public policy, a court may deem the condition void.

Question 29

Adverse Possession requirments

Answer 29

Actual
Exclusive
open and notorious
Hostile
Continuous
For the Statutory Period (dependent on state)

Question 30

Mechanics of Adverse possession

Answer 30

Tacking
Color of Title
Disabilities
Enhanced protection for certain owners

Question 31

Gurwit v Kannatzer

Answer 31

(Gurwits’ thought they owned all the land they were maintaining and everyone thought it was their land. Created a lake for fishing cut down fire wood. Grunders realized they were paying property tax on that land and thought they should have best rights to the land but Gurwits acquired land by adverse possession

Under Missouri law: a person whose possession of a property is hostile, actual, open and notorious, exclusive, and continuous for the statutory period of 10 years may gain title to that property by adverse possession

Question 32

Van Valkenburgh v Lutz

Answer 32

(Lutz bought some land and ended up going past his property lines. Van Valkenburgh bought adjacent land and wanted Lutz to get off his land and not use the path that went through their land. Lutz claimed adverse possession but lost because he openly admitted that he wasn’t the rigGurhtful owner of the land and confessed it.)

RULE:
New York 15 years for Adverse Possession, NEW York statue requirement for Adverse possession cultivation, color of title

Question 33

Howard v Kunto

Answer 33

( Tacking rule-adding up the years all the previous owners possessed the land to your own if owning in good faith by deed or will-Everyone’s plot of land was 50 ft adjacent to the west of their current property. They were all summer houses in Washington)

oft -quoted RULE:
To constitute adverse possession, there must be actual possession which is uninterrupted, open and notorious, hostile and exclusive, and under a claim of right made in good faith for the statutory period. -with 10 years of continuous possession

Question 34

Defining Hostile in adverse possession requirement

Answer 34

if they have permission to be there then it does not meet requirement of adverse possession because it cannot involve the others party who legally owns the land.

Question 35

Tacking of adverse possession is permitted if…

Answer 35

the successive occupants are in privity

Question 36

What is Privity?

Answer 36

judicial recognition of the need for some reasonable connection between successive occupants of real property so as to raise their claim of right above the status of the wrongdoer or the trespasser.

Question 37

4 different ways to acquire rights

Answer 37

1. capture
2. find
3. adverse possession
4. gift

Question 38

State v Shaw

Answer 38

(first rights to first under control)

when animals are not domestic but are ferae naturae larceny is not committed, if they are fit for food and dead and reclaimed or confined.
Fish in a tank or net or any inclosed place which is private property, and may be taken at any time at the pleasure of the owner. Taking these fish would be larceny.

Question 39

Property rights for wild animals

Answer 39

Must exercise and maintain dominion and control over the animal. Show that you do not intend to abandon the wild animals back to the wilderness.

Question 40

Animae revetendi

Answer 40

(domestic animals), the True owner still has superior rights, even if animal escapes and is capture by another

Question 41

EXOTIC animals

Answer 41

Owners have constructive possession of animal whether or not it escapes from the land.

Question 42

Customes characteristics

Answer 42

works well in practice
needed for continued viability of Industry
meets community expectations
is well known or easily knowable

Question 43

Problems with Capture – it promotes:

Answer 43

-hoarding
- depletion
- over-investment in capture technology
- inefficient use of resources waste
- possibly extinction