Property I
Fall 2015
Ortiz
Property: A tangible or intangible resource that belongs to someone or something. The legal relationship between persons regarding resource. Types: Real, personal and intellectual property.
– Intangible: stocks, bonds, intellectual, patents, rights, etc.
– Bundle of Rights
o Right to Possession: right to take actual possession of the property. Right remains even if another person has a legal interest in the property. Can be given to another.
o Right to use: Right to use the property (home, computer, pencil). Right can be held by or shared with someone else.
o Right to disposition: right to make decision of what to be done with the property. Unless limited by law, property owner can dispose of property by sale, gift, inheritance, bequest or devise.
o Right to exclusion: if you can’t exclude someone from your property you don’t have right of private property. This right tis limited.
§ Jacque v. Steenberg Homes, inc. – a land owner may exclude trespassers from his or her land but cannot prohibit the access of persons providing governmental services to migrant workers located on the land.
I. Acquisition of Property Without Purchase
a. Acquisition by Discovery
i. Action & Ejectment: lawsuit between 2 parties one sayings its his land and another says it’s the other’s land. Plaintiff must prove right to possession and defendant is in wrongful possession.
ii. Rule of Discovery: in “civilized nations it is first in time wins regardless that the land’s indigenous populations was in first occupation. Johnson v. M’Intosh
iii. Rights between the discovering nation and aboriginal populations
1. Aboriginals have right to occupancy that the nation can extinguish by:
a. Purchase (Europeans had upper hand when purchasing)
b. Conquest
b. Acquisition by Capture
i. Rule of capture: The captor wins if he or she kills, captures or mortally wounds a wild animal. The wild animal must be within the captor’s certain control. (majority always follow the rule of capture)
1. Rule of Sportsmen: Sportsmen must have the prey within their reach or have a reasonable prospect of taking the prey. (minority) Pierce v. Post
2. Clear rules: you know exactly who wins and it cuts down on cost of interpretation, argument, misunderstanding)
a. Real property: land and its fixtures
b. Personal property: everything else.
3. Animals are personal property, but after death it can become real property if buried.
4. Wild Animals and Custom: whaling custom in nineteenth century New England awarded ownership based on constructive possession because of the difficulties in actually capturing a whale. Ghen v. Rich
5. Ratione Soli: a landowner has certain rights on account of ownership of the soil. Establishes exclusive right to hunt wild game on a landowner’s property, subject only to government’s right to regulation.
6. Escape: If a wild animal escapes, the owner loses his property rights based on possession and the animal is again subject to the rule of capture.
7. Animus Revertendi:
a. “habit of return”
b. If an animal shows the tendency to return, the owner does not lose a property interest in the animal when it leaves the owner’s possession.
i. Considerations to believe Anius revertendi existed:
ii. Species (generally domesticated?)
iii. Location (in natural habitat?)
iv. Identifying marks (brand or collar?)
8. Interference: a competitor may interfere with a person’s attempt to capture an animal, without suffering liability, if the competitor intends to capture the animal for himself. However if the person intentionally frightens off the animal with no intention of capture, liability may result. Keeble v. Hickeringill
a. Interference with prior interests- malicious interference with trade
9. Rule of Increase: offspring of an owned animal belongs to the owner of the mother, absent an agreement to the contrary
ii. Relativity of Title – part of law of find and rule of capture but it states that title stands in the chain of
iii. Labor Theory – Adding labor or materials to the property of another:
1. Ownership depends on value of the thing created.
2. Where only labor is added, the owner of the raw material is given title, unless fairness dictates otherwise.
3. Where both labor and materials are added ownership is placed in the person who owned the principal material.
iv. Texas Water Rules
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nterest in deterring intentional trespassers. Society has an interest in preserving the integrity of the legal system. Private landowners should feel confident that wrongdoers who trespass upon their land will be appropriately punished.
1. Subject to some limitations
a. Land owners can’t exclude because there are bigger issues at stake
2. Private ownership comes with the right to exclude
3. Nominal damages fail to protect plaintiff’s right to exclude trespassers.
4. Title to real property cannot include dominion over the destiny of persons the owner allows on the premises
a. Landowner can set hours, nut can’t demand to be present.
v. For abandonment: must show intent to abandon.
1. Based solely on owner’s acts.
vi. Abandoned Property
1. Intentional relinquishment of possession of property without vesting ownership in another requires:
a. Intent to abandon
b. Proof of abandonment
i. Intent may be proven by circumstances, but court seeks a definitive act.
ii. Mere non-use is not enough.
c. Title vests in the first to find abandoned property.
2. Hawkins v. Mahoney – guy escaped from prison left his goods. Prison collected put name on it and put in storage. When guy was returned he requested it and prison wouldn’t return because of “abandonment”
a. Abandonment has to have intent and he did not have intent.
vii. Destruction
1. Eyerman v. Mercantil Trust – If someone could prevent destruction of home after her death.
d. Acquisition by Find
i. Relativity of Title: a finder of property has title relative to his or her placement in the sequence of possession.
