Tidbits Flashcards
If you have superior property rights over someone, what can you do to exclude them from your property?
Self help or the legal process
There is ____ _______ for intentional trespass of real property
strict liability
There is no liability for _____ _____ property unless the property is damages
tangible personal
What is replevin?
suing to get property back
What is trover?
suing for the value of the property
Owners of public accommodations may not exclude certain individuals while ________________, but they can govern the property by general rules of application (shoes or shirt)
simultaneously inviting the public to be on the property.
majority approach on public accommodation
allow landowners to govern things like speech on premises without finding any Constitutional violation
What are the three main types of leases?
term of years, periodic tenancy, and tenancy at will
term of years lease
Bounded in time by a specific ending date. The leasehold automatically terminates at the date/time specified.
What is the following an example of?
“one year lease” or a lease “ending December 31, 2016.”
term of years lease
Is notice needed to terminate a term of years lease?
no
periodic tenancy
Automatically renewing terms of month-to-month (or week-to-week or year-to-year, or whatever).
Is notice needed to terminate a periodic tenancy?
Yes
What is sufficient notice for termination of a periodic tenancy?
Notice is effective 30 days after it is given in a month-to-month lease (or 6-months after it is given in a year-to-year lease). Theoretically, one needs to give notice equal to the length of the term, but under modern statutes terms shorter than 1 month still require 30 days notice and 6-months notice is sufficient for a year-to-year lease. If a new term starts before notice is effective, it will completely run before it terminates. Thus, if notice of termination is given April 4 on a month-to-month lease starting at the first of each month, the lease will renew for May on May 1 and then terminate on May 31.
If a court isn’t sure of what type of lease is intended, what is the default?
periodic tenancy
What type of lease do courts consider when there is an absence of any written agreement upon periodic rent payments-with the period of payments being the implied renewing term?
periodic tenancy
When a tenant overstays a term of years lease and the landlord accepts monthly rental payments, courts consider this a ____ ____
periodic tenancy
tenancy at will
lasts until either party terminates
What is the difference between a tenancy at will and a periodic tenancy?
both needs 30 day notice of termination, but a periodic tenancy requires another whole full term after notice, while tenancy at will requires 30 days no matter where you are in the term. For example, if you gave notice on April 4th in a periodic tenancy, the termination would be effective May 31. In a tenancy at will it would be effective May 4.
What is sufficient notice for termination for a tenancy at will?
30 days
leasehold that is merely the continued occupancy of a tenant beyond the lease term
tenancy at sufferance (This is usually a very short-term tenancy because if a LL starts accepting rent, it will be deemed a periodic tenancy, and otherwise a LL usually evicts the stay-over tenant. Importantly, however, a landlord cannot use self help to evict a “tenant at sufferance” because that tenant did not trespass - he or she only stayed too long.)
Constructive eviction
When the landlord causes or allows something to significantly adversely impact a tenant’s use of the premises and the tenant, after notice and failure of the landlord to cure, actually vacates the premises.
Does constructive eviction allow a tenant to not pay rent?
yes
How is IWH different from constructive eviction?
(a) a tenant need not leave to obtain remedies (a tenant can stay and abate rent or can repair & deduct), and (b) the problem with the premises need not be attributable to the landlord
Exception to the FHA
“Mrs. Murphy Exception” that gives an owner who rents out space in her home the ability to freely choose her tenants without needing to comply with the Act’s prohibitions on discrimination based on Race, Color, etc. This applies to people who live in a dwelling and rent out no more than 3 other spaces in the dwelling.
two ways discrimination liability may arise for landlords
First, a landlord may intentionally discriminate based on the protected classification. This requires subjective intent to discriminate and is very hard to prove. Second, a landlord’s behavior may create a discriminatory effect. The Supreme Court recently upheld “disparate impact theory” as a basis for liability. To prove disparate impact, the plaintiff has to show that she is a member of a protected group and was denied housing, which remained available (or was given to someone not of the protected group). This creates a prima facie case for disparate impact. Then the defendant can shift the burden of proof back on the plaintiff if he articulates a permissible reason for denying the housing to the plaintiff (say, economic-based determination). The plaintiff would then need to show a widespread pattern of discriminatory effect, and the court would need to determine if there was satisfactory evidence of discriminatory effect.
privity of contract
a contract relationship between two (or more) people who have each manifested agreement to the same terms (linked in contract, not property)
example of privity of contract
landlord-tenant; license agreement
horizontal privity
relationship between two (or more) people who each hold a simultaneous interest in property, but aren’t concurrent present possessory holders
example of horizontal privity relationships
A life tenant and a remainder-holder are in privity of estate. A landlord and a tenant are in privity of estate. The holder of the benefit of an appurtenant easement and the holder of the burdened property for that appurtenant easement are in privity of estate
vertical privity of estate
AKA “chain of title” refers to the relationship between a prior holder of property and subsequent people who get substituted into that person’s place in terms of the property
two exceptions to prior owner vertical privity
(a) buyers at a foreclosure sale, and (b) adverse possessors (although adverse possessors can create their own new chain of title with people they convey to, and these various people can tack their period of possession together)
When is a remainder vested?
when the party is named and alive and there is no condition precedent to take (meaning that nothing has to happen before that person can take possession)
To A for life, and then to B
A has LE, B has vested remainder
To A for life, and then to B if B has reached 18
A has LE, B has contingent remainder
To A for life, and then to B, but if B gets disbarred, then B’s estate ends
A has LE, B has vested remainder (but it is subject to a condition subsequent: a FS/CS, in fact)
Are vested remainders subject to the RAP?
no
Are contingent remainders subject to the RAP?
yes
Are group gifts vested or contingent?
Group gifts can be vested (if vested for all group members), or contingent (if contingent for all group members) or “vested subject to open” if vested for some, but not all, members.
______ remainder holders always have standing to sue a life tenant for waste.
Vested
Fee simples that are defeasible (whether by words of duration or words of condition) with the future interest post-defeasance granted to a third party (someone other than grantor/grantor’s heirs) are always (for purposes of this class) called
fee simple subject to executory limitation
Are executory interests subject to the RAP?
yes