Also known as: melioration · meliorate · meliorated · meliorating · improvements · betterments · ameliorations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Additions or enhancements made to real or personal property that increase its value or utility. Such changes are considered when allocating risk of loss, measuring damages in conversion, or determining duties to repair under servitudes and leases.
Maya Malik contracted to buy a warehouse from Maurice Marshall. Before closing a fire destroyed new loading docks Maya had planned as meliorations. Under the majority rule the risk had already shifted to Maya at contract formation so she remained obligated to pay the full price.
Michelle Murphy borrowed from Morgan Financial to buy vacant land and immediately build a retail store. The loan documents described the funds as financing both acquisition and the meliorations. The mortgage therefore qualified as a purchase-money mortgage with priority over earlier liens.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Megan Moore wrongfully took a delivery van from Meridian Motors and installed a custom refrigeration unit. When Meridian sued for conversion the court added the measurable increase in the van's value attributable to the meliorations when calculating damages.
Melissa Mills held an access easement across Miguel Mendoza's parcel that included a paved driveway. Joint use required both parties to share the cost of repairing potholes and resurfacing because the meliorations served the easement.
Mosaic Retail leased a storefront and promised to maintain the premises in good condition. A fire destroyed interior fixtures that constituted meliorations. The lease contained no express rebuilding obligation so Mosaic was not required to restore the improvements.
Magnolia Foods owned a processing plant the city condemned for redevelopment. The taking encompassed both the original building and later meliorations such as expanded cold-storage units that had increased the property's fair market value.
Under the majority rule risk of loss for meliorations passes to the buyer at contract formation. The buyer therefore bears the loss if improvements are destroyed even though legal title remains with the seller.
A mortgage qualifies when loan proceeds are used to construct improvements on the real estate and the mortgage is given in the same transaction as title acquisition. The mortgage then receives priority over earlier claims.
When a converter not in good faith adds meliorations the owner may recover the additional value those improvements contributed to the chattel. The measure prevents the converter from retaining the benefit of unauthorized enhancements.
The easement beneficiary must repair and maintain portions of the servient estate and improvements under its control. Joint use of the same improvements creates a duty to contribute proportionally to reasonable repair costs.
A covenant to maintain premises and surrender them in good condition does not obligate the tenant to rebuild improvements destroyed by fire or casualty unless the lease expressly requires rebuilding after such events.
…after considering the relationship of the designated property “to the master plan, the zoning resolution, projected public improvements and any plans for the renewal of the area involved,” § 207-2.0 (g) (1), may modify or disapprove the designation, and the owner may seek judicial review of the final designation decision.…