Also known as: property interest · proprietary interest · proprietary interests
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal stake or right in assets, whether real or personal, that entitles the holder to certain protections and remedies under the law.
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Penelope Price, a client in pending litigation, asks her lawyer to accept an ownership stake in the disputed asset as partial payment. The lawyer declines the arrangement to avoid acquiring a direct stake in the subject matter of the representation. Penelope instead pays a standard hourly fee while the case proceeds.
Parker Phillips holds a commercial easement in gross across land owned by Progressive Healthcare. Parker sells the easement to Phoenix Technologies for continued use in utility operations. The buyer records the transfer and begins exercising the rights without challenge from the servient owner.
Patrick Phan purchases land subject to an existing servitude requiring maintenance of a shared driveway. After closing, Patrick refuses to pay for repairs that accrued before his ownership. The prior owner remains liable for those earlier costs under the running burden.
Piper Patel seeks a building permit to expand her commercial property. The city requires her to grant a public access easement across part of the lot. Without a direct connection to the project's impacts, the demanded conveyance fails as an unconstitutional condition.
Pacific Bank extends a loan to Peak Performance and takes a security interest in the company's equipment and after-acquired inventory. When Peak Performance defaults, the bank enforces its interest against the collateral to satisfy the debt.
Pavel Petrov owns land benefited by a servitude allowing use of a neighboring well. After Pavel sells the benefited parcel to Peter Park, Pavel no longer claims any right to draw water. The new owner alone enjoys the benefit during his period of ownership.
A lawyer may acquire a lien authorized by law to secure fees or expenses without violating the prohibition on acquiring a proprietary interest in the subject of litigation.
A servitude benefit runs with the land when it serves a purpose more useful to a successor property owner than to the original beneficiary after transfer.
The new owner incurs liability only for obligations that accrue while holding the burdened interest. Prior owners remain responsible for earlier accruals.
…contemplated uses of land, this Court has upheld land-use regulations that destroyed or adversely affected recognized real property interests. See Nectow v. Cambridge , 277 U. S. 183, 188 (1928). Zoning laws are, of course, the classic example, see Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. , 272 U. S. 365 (1926) (prohibition of…