Property Law Property Law 02 02 2012 Property The legal right to exclude others from resources that are originally possessed or are acquired without force theft or fraud If someone sits in your front yard you can ask them to leave However you do not have the right to have that person removed if he she is on the sidewalk o Resource Anything that someone may need or want Something that someone out there places some value is considered a resource o Ei if you own a house you can live in it you could rent it out you could sell it you could tear it out and turn it into anything you could give it away All of these buddle of rights fall under the umbrella of property rights Methods of Allocating Resources Property is set up to be able to allocate resource Because everything is limited scare and for you to use the resources efficiently o TWO ways government do this Communism Socialism The government owns everything In theory it is distributed equally Including peoples labor as well Private Property Here in the US Resources allocated thru Free Market and Property Rights If someone is willing to pay more for something than you are then that person will get it This is the most efficient way to do it thru the Free Market There are some restrictions o Zoning rights o Drugs Marijuana or Cocaine etc Types of Property o Real property Ownership and interest in land Farm Apartment anything that is tied to the ground Includes fixtures tied to the ground fixed If there are minerals oil or diamonds underneath your land also part of your rights If you own a part of land and there is a tree on it the you own it The house on the land you o Personal property All other types of moveable resources on that too Not fixed to the ground Tangible property Property which can be touched a water bottle your clothes your food and thing that can be moved and touched Intangible property Property with no physical existence Intellectual property copyrights corporate stock website domain name something that the value of is beyond being touched Methods of Acquiring Property o Acquisition through Exchange When I exchange some of my property for something that your property This is done every day Any time you work you give your labor for some wages When you buy a burrito the money you give in return for a burrito is an example Govern by contract law o Acquisition through Possession Basically because you posses something then you own it This is only certain times Id you were the first person to ever own or control something then you are the owner of it Back in the old days this happened a lot but not that much now a days Rule of First Possession The asteroid that hit the woman the law says that she owns that asteroid because she was the first one to touch it Abandonment When the original owner of the property relinquishes his ownership then he is abandoning that property The first person that comes by and takes that property the that person is legally the new owner of the property It depends on the state of the original owner If a sofa on the street that says FREE then it is abandoned and you can take it however you can not take someone s lawn chair if its just sitting there in your neighbors lawn Lost Property if you were walking and you dropped your keys then first person that came to find the keys is the owner of it Mislaid Property If you set something intentionally and leave it there Ex if you set your phone on the table and forgot it there If you never came back to get your phone then the owner of the table is the owner The difference between Lost and Mislaid is who owns it after you mislay it or loose it you need to notify the police if you found mislaid or lost property Adverse Possession Obtaining ownership of land belonging to another through continuous possession Applies ONLY to REAL PROPERTY If I live in your house for more than 20 years than you own that house legally if you meet the following requirements Requirements for Adverse Possession The possession must be o Open and notorious You not hiding what your doing ex if you camp out on someone s land and are open and bout it o Actual and exclusive You are actually living on the land yourself and not sharing it If you use an acre of the land and start harvesting on it with out hiding the fact that you were using the land o Continuous You have to be doing the above for a continual period of time o Wrongful You have to be doing this with out permission The owner never told you to go out and camp on the property or to be farming on the land o Last for the prescribed period of time in GA is 20 years that you have to be living there and fulfilling the above conditions Acquisition through Confusion Must be voluntary or by accident o You and I own to identical things Intentionally or unintentionally Then this states that you both own the share that is yours EX In a farm farmer1 puts corn in a sillum and then farmer2 puts his corn in the sillum Then farmer1nown of the corn and Farmer2 owns of it Acquisition through Accession o The owner of the house gets to own the improvements that you have made to the house Acquisition through Gift You are giving your ownership and giving it directly to another person o Terminology Donor The person giving the gift Must intend to give you the gift permanently and actually deliver the gift Donee The person receiving the gift Testamentary gift A gift made through a will Is still valid because the lawyer will hand deliver the gift will Types of Ownership o Fee simple something owning property you own the property forever can leave it to grandchildren you can control it and do what ever you want with it Fee simple absolute You can make any legal use of the land Fee simple defeasible One exemption you can own it forever and do what ever you want with it BUT when you got ownership of the property but with a condition Ex Your grandparents gave you a farm with the condition that you never sell alcohol on the land If you break the condition then you loose your right to the property This condition can last forever in GA If you inherit the property with that restriction then when you sell the land that restriction carries Enforced Who ever is responsible for inherent of the land o Life estate You own the land for one lifetime After you die it will return to someone else It does not necessarily have to be on the owners lifetime For example You can have the farm so long that LeBron James is alive You can sell your land but …