Property UI Law
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- CL forms of acton
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1. T
2. T quare clausum freight $ for D's direct interference w/P's actual poss of P's land
3. T de bonis asportatis. $ for D's injury to P's personal prop from carrying away P's goods/excluding P from use
4. T on the case: $ for direct/consequential injuries land/chattels
5. Trover recover value of personal property
6. Replevin: recover poss of chattels wrongfully taken
7. Ejectment - Acquisition of Prop rights in animals
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1. Actual poss/occupation: If pursuer takes actual poss the pursuer acquires prop right
2. Mortal Wounding: pursuer who mortally wounds + con pursuit may acquire prop right against killer
3. Netting pursuer who nets
4. Custom: prop MB acquired of WA by pursuit + wounding where custom awarding hunter who wounds b/c of animal's peculiarities - Lost, Mislaid, Abandoned General Rule
- F's rights are subserviant to prior poss e/t they CN est they are true O. Prior poss results in ownership interest
- Lost prop
- If a poss involuntarily parts w/prop & can not find
- Mislaid
- Possessor vol & intentionally lays down prop in a place where the poss can reclaim it, but then forgets wehre it is
- Abandoned
- Poss vol relinquishes all r to prop w/intention of no longer claiming any interest
- Treasure Trove
- $, coin, gold/silver found hidden in the earth/private place where O is unknown
- Rights of Finders against O of land (locus in quo)
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1. T: owner of locus in quo wins if prop is lost
2. Private land open to public: finders claim can prevail over LO
3. private land not open to public: F's claim WN prevail against O of Land where goods were found in teh F was an invitee but the land was not generally open to the public
4. Employee: If F is an employee of LO/employer goods are found on behalf of LO/employer
5. MIslaid: A F who finds porp that is mislaid rather than lost DN prevail against the owner of the locus in quo - Statutory reforms of prop classifications
- S elimante distinctions b/w lost, mislaid, abandoned. S award the poss of found prop to the F where F complies w/procedures to give notice to O
- Bailments definiton
- K relationship b/w 2 persons where O of goods/prior poss (bailor) entrusts goods to poss of another (bailee) t/f bailee in lawful poss of another's goods
- Creation of Bailment K
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1) Bailor must agree to transfer poss of goods to bailee
2) bailee must agree to take actual poss & control
3) May be express/implicit
4) Mistakes in value DN hinder K creation where other criteria met - CL classifications of bailments & effects on standard of care
- Classification of bailment affected standard of care bailee had to take or what level of neg bailor had to prove in order to recover
- Modern approaches to bailment K
- Bailee is under a duty to exercise that degree of care which an ordinarily prudent person WH exercised in the same/similar circumstances (Peet v Roth Hotel Co.)
- Bailee's title
- Bailee who is the rightful possessor of the bailed goods has a title good against wrongdoer
- Bailee's liab for failure to return goods
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1. Bailee's neg: if bailee is unable to return goods b/c lost, destroyed/damaged bailee is liable if loss was result of bailee's neg b/c bailee failed to exercise due care
2. Conversion: if bailee CN return goods b/c bailee delivered the goods to someone else bailee is liable to the bailor in conversion if the bailee knew the bailor - Limitations on Liab
- Bailee may seek to limit liab for losses due to neg by inc a limitation of liab cluase in the bailment K. Absent S prohibiting limitations they are valid if 1) DN limit bailee's liab for gross neg/willful ocnduct 2) K provisions are agreed to expressly/impliedly by bailor
- Prop R in Body Parts CL, S changes
- CL DN recognize, S permit persons/surviving family to donate bodies/parts for med experimentation/organ transplant
- Body parts
- Absent a K agreement to the contrary a person DN have prop r in a bodily organ that has been removed, where the person who removes the organ uses it for purposes of making a profit, he may be liable ot the person from whom the organ was removed (informed consent)
- Accession
- Addition of value to an existing good through labor or addition of new goods
- Only labor added
- if the labor was one which only slightly increases the value of the goods of another, the O of the goods is entitled ot the finished product. If the labor significantly increases teh laborer is entitled ot the finished product
- Labor and Materials added
- Where goods of diff O's are combined to create a 3rd good, O of the 3rd good belongs to teh O of the principal good that was combined to form the 3rd good
- Gifts
- Gratuitous vol lifetime transfer of prop from a donor to a donee
- Classification of gifts
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1. Inter Vivos: made during the donor's life not a gift causa mortis. An inter vivos gift is irrevocable unles the donor retains the power to revoke the gift
2. Gift causa mortis. LT gift made by donor in contemplation of impending death. Must meet all requirements of IV gifts + additional req relating to the donor's intent. Gift causa mortis is auto revoked if the donor survives the peril that motivated the donor to make the gift - Delivery of gifts
- Subj matter of the gift MB delivered to the donee/agent. Ritualistic, evidentiary and protection function
- Is acceptance presumed in gifts
- Yes
- Rights of Possessors Rationale for protecting prior poss
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1. absence of better proof
2. assuring the passage of goods in teh free flow of commerce.
3. assuring peace/order: wrongful takers DN req good title
4. Assuring commitment of economic efforts to protection & improvement
5. Rewards poss
6. Efficiency
7. Avoidance of Multiple Law Suits - Applications of Principle of Protecting PP to Real Property
- Searching title: must go back to the root of title
- Ascertaining Title to Personal Property
- Largely based on possession. A critical question for buyer is whether the transferor's prior possession of prop is a sufficient to basis to conclude that they have acquried a good title
- Can a transferor transfer as good a property right as the transferor has?
- Yes
- Exceptions to rule that transferor can transfer as good a title as transferor has
- 1.Estoppel: if the TO by words/conduct represents either that the poss of goods is O or has ability to transfer a good title, the TO is estopped from claiming buyer has not acquired a good title from the poss as long as the buyer acted in GF
- Voidable titles
- a voidable title arises where a TO initialy intends to clothes another w/a title but b/c of the other's fraud, misrep/duress is able t void the transaction & reclaim title. Prior ot the TO's exercise of that power, h/w the TO's transferee has a suff title that she can transfer a good title
- Exceptions to rule that transferor can transfer as good a title as he has
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1. Estoppel
2. Voidable title: prior to O's exercise of r to reclaim, transferor can transfer a good title to another who has no knowledge of TO's claim
3. UCC 1) creates a S voidable title rule 2)entrusting of goods to merchants/S estoppel - AP definition
- A person wo/a good title to prop can acquire a better title than TO. Trasnfer of title can occur only if the person poss pd for SL & satisfieds 5 criteria
- Theories to justify AP
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1. punish those who sit on their rights too long
2. reward poss
3. promote cetainty in land ittles
4. protect expectations
5. protect 3rd ps who rely on tehir belief that AP is TO - Exception for AP to st owned land
- st owned land are held in trust for the benefit of the publci & SN be lost soley b/c of the neg of a gov official
- Nature of title acquired by AP
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1. Once a poss acquires title by AP title is good against all the world
2. The title acquired by ap relates back to the time when the TO's CA accrued
3. AP can acquire no greater title than the person who had the cause of action had - SL in AP
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1. Ea st has SL
2. When the CA accrues: SL begins to run when TO's CA accrues typically upon AP's entry
3. Suits b/4 statute has run: if the to sues for poss b/4 SL has run TO always wins
4. poss burden of proof: If the TO sues for poss after the time pd in the S has run the TO wins unless the AP proves that all of the criteria nec to acquire a title by AP have occurred
5. Poss can sue to quiet title. Once the SL has run the poss may institute an action to quite title to the prop in the poss name
6. Disabilities: when the holder of a CA has a disability when the CA accrues the SL is tolled - Does AP have the burden of proof for ACEON
- Yes
- Mutiple TO's & joint possession
- If the poss enters the land that is owned jiointly by others, the possession must be adverse to all of the owners
- 5 criteria to acquire title by AP
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1. Actual
2. Open and notorious
3. Exclusive
4. Continuous
5. Hostile & Under claim of right - Actual
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1. poss must use the land as an ave O would use it
2. the actual poss DN auto req cultivation, residence, or actual occupation or the erection of a fence/bldg
3. Pmt of taxes some sts req the pmt of taxes by the possessor - Open and Notorious
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1. Use consistent w/that of ave O
2. Actual knowledge of TO unnecessary
3. But if the TO has actual notice acts that might not otherwise be open and notorious will be treated as such if the TO had actual notice
4. Neighborhood rep
5. minor enroachments along a common boundary
6. poss of underground prop generally not suff open - Exclusive
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1. use by others
2. total exclusivity not req so long as the possessor only shares the use as TO Owould
3. concurrent poss by TO if TO is in poss w/the permission of AP exclusivity req can be met - Continuous
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1. Effect of break in con: S stargts again
2. Seasonal use: as long as AP is consistent w/how TO WH used
3. Poss by tenant of possessor = poss by AP t/f DN break con
4. Tacking by successive AP. Pd of 2/more poss who are in privity w/ea other may be tacked to determine if S has run
5. Tacking for TO.