Property I Outline

Property
Singer
Fall 2012
 
 
 
Chapter1. First Possession: Acquisition of Property by Discovery, Capture, and Creation
·    Real Property- is immovable property, and consists of land, things fixed to land and things incidental or a quantity of land. i.e. House
·    Personal Property- movable property, which includes every kind that is not real property. i.e. body, computer
·    Johnson v. McIntosh- A quiet title action between grantees that purchased land from Indians and subsequent grantees that purchased same land from the US government.
o    Holding: Indians have right to occupy the land only, they did not have the right to convey the land.
o    Rule of Law: Right of land was given to the crown upon discovery (which was then given to the US) and once this acquisition was made, no power could interfere with it. Natives were given legal right to retain possession and to use it according to their own discretion yet, the power to dispose of the soil and their own will and to whomever they pleased was denied because discovery gave exclusive title to those who discovered the land.
o    Cause of Action: Ejectment which lies to recover possession of real property that is held adversely. The Plaintiff claims to have been ejected by the Defendant.
§    Elements of Ejectment (for real property): (Memorize in Order)
·    The plaintiff has a right to possession of the realty in question at the time the action is commenced. (Prior possession suffices against a trespasser).
·    The plaintiff has been dispossessed of the realty.
·    The defendant is in adverse and illegal possession, actually or constructively (without permission).
·    Nominal (owner may not have to show any damage to property) or actual damages may be recovered.
 
Acquisition by Discovery
·    During the age of discovery (1450-1600), real property could be acquired by discovery.
·    Discovery was based on the concept of first in time (among Europeans), first in right.
·    Discovery consisted of sighting or finding territory previously unknown or uncharted (by Europeans), often accompanied by a landing and a symbolic taking of possession.
·    Discovery gave rise to an inchoate (tentative) title, which had to be perfected within a reasonable time.
·    Title could be perfected through:
o    Conquest, which consisted of taking of enemy territory through force,
o    Peaceful occupation, or
o    Purchase
·    In acquisition by discovery, the property rights of native populations were largely ignored.
·    John Locke’s Labor Theory- people own the labor of their body, so, to add this labor to something untouched and in a natural state, results in a mixture of adding his own and owning as his own and this results in ownership.
 
Accession to Personal Property
·    Accession by Labor Law Only: when one person adds labor to an item personally owned by another, ownership of the finished item is awarded to the owner of the item unless
o    The nature of the item is completely transformed, or
o    The value of the item is substantially increased, or
o    The accessioner has not acted willfully, so had permission
·    Don has an apple tree in his yard which he uses. Michelle is his neighbor and an expert woods crafter. Michelle see’s the apple tree and wants to make a wooden plaque out of his apple tree. She chops it down and makes a plaque out of it. She put her labor into it. Locke would say that she put her labor into it which is good. Who gets the plaque?
o    Today, the courts would say that Don gets the plaque.
·    If know the principal item, have an exception, Accession by Labor and Addition of Another Item:
o    If a person adds labor and another item to an item owned by another, ownership of the finished item is awarded to the original owner unless
§    The added item can be separated from the original item without harm.
·    Damage awards
o    If owner losses item to another person, owner gets damages (value of property)
o    However, if owner keeps property, other person does not collect money for labor.
·    A chops B’s trees and makes flower pots, who would prevail between A and B for the value of the trees?
o    B, courts generally award the final product to the owner of the raw material, unless A’s labor has substantially increased the value.
o    If A wins, B would recover the value of the original material before transformation.
o    If B wins, A recovers nothing.
 
 Acquisition by Capture
·    Possession- a thing that is unowned becomes the property of a person if:
o    There is intent to assert ownership over it and
o    Actual or constructive dominion and control over it occurs.
·    Wild Animals (farae naturae) in their natural state are unowned, they become private property upon being reduced to possession by capture.
·    Pierson v. Post: Post chased fox, and defendant Pierson interfered and killed it. Trial court found for Post.
o    Issue: Did the plaintiff’s pursuit establish ownership?
o    Holding: Pierson was entitled to ownership because he killed it.
o    Rule of Law: Mere pursuit does not constitute the sufficient control and dominion to give the hunter a property right in the animal. However, mortally wounding the animal or killing it gives a vested property right that cannot be divested by another’s intervening act of killing it and taking it away.
·         Trespass
o   Trespass lay for injury to person or property,
o   When the injury was committed with force, actual or implied.
o   When the injury was immediate and not merely consequential.
o   In the case of injury to property, when the property was in the actual or constructive possession of the plaintiff at the time of the injury.
·         Modern Elements of Trespass to Chattels (De Bonis Asportatis) :
o   Intent
o   Interference with the possessory interest of another in personalty,
o   Causation, and
o   Damages.
·         Modern Elements of Trespass to Land (Quare Clausum Fregit):
o   Intent,
o   Physical invasion of the land of another, and
o   Causation.
      Trespass on the Case
o   Trespass on the case lay for torts
o   Not committed by force, actual or implied, or
o   Committed by force when
o   The injury was not immediate but rather was consequential,
o   The subject matter was intangible, or
o   The interest in the property affected did not give a right of possession.
Noteà
–          he did not bring trespass to land b/c the cause of action was against a fox
o   he did not bring trespass to chattels b/c he did not have possession…animals are considered chattel
·    Ghen v. Rich: Plaintiff shot and killed whale according to custom, Ellis took it and sold it to defendant. Who owns the whale?
o    Holding: Plaintiff, who killed the whale, owns it; therefore, he recovered the value of the whale from the purchaser.
o    Rule of Law: Animals caught in a trap or net (deprived of liberty) belong to the one who owns and has set up the trap or net. By setting such trap, one is said to constructively possess those animals snared (CP when you mortally wound it, esp. when you mark it).
§    The courts in this case used industry customs to decide the case; fast fish, loose fish. It reasoned that if it ruled otherwise, no other person would engage in the industry if the fruits of their labor could be appropriated by any person who found the animal.
§    There is a difference between pursuits for fun and for business (refer to Post).
·    Property Rights in Wild Animals
o    As a general principal, no one owns wild animals in their natural habitat. (ferare Naturae
o    Have a house with big back yard, flying birds over your property.
§    No one owns it.
o    Capture or Title to a wild animal may be acquired b