Also known as: property laws
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A body of legal rules that establishes relations among persons concerning control of valued resources by granting owners powers to exclude and use while imposing corresponding duties on others. Ownership consists of legally protected expectations of advantage from a thing rather than the thing itself.
Phoenix Technologies installs specialized manufacturing equipment in a leased warehouse owned by Paragon Construction. The equipment is bolted to the floor and wired into the building's electrical system in a way that removal would damage the realty. When Phoenix defaults on a loan, the secured creditor claims the equipment as personal property while Paragon asserts an interest under real property law.
Patricia Patel purchases coastal lots intending to build homes. A new state statute enacted after her purchase prohibits any permanent structures to protect dunes. The lots retain no economically beneficial use under the regulation, prompting Patel to seek compensation for a total deprivation of value.
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Central Hanover Bank serves as trustee for multiple beneficiaries under a common trust fund. The bank publishes notice of an accounting proceeding in a newspaper but does not mail individual notice to known beneficiaries living out of state. One beneficiary later challenges the binding effect of the accounting decree.
Katz enters a public telephone booth, closes the door, and places a call. Federal agents attach a listening device to the outside of the booth without a warrant and record his conversation. Katz moves to suppress the recording on the ground that the agents violated his protected interest in the communications.
Cohen provides documents to a reporter after receiving an express promise that his identity will remain confidential. The newspaper later publishes his name, causing him to lose his job. Cohen sues the publisher for breach of the promise that induced his disclosure of the information.
Javins rents an apartment in a building managed by First National Realty Corp. The unit contains numerous housing code violations including faulty wiring and inadequate heat. Javins withholds rent and the landlord seeks possession, asserting that the lease contains no express covenant to repair.
Property law concerns legal relations among persons regarding valued resources rather than the resources themselves. It creates entitlements such as the right to exclude and the privilege to use, which impose duties on non-owners.
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Protection of property rights creates incentives for efficient resource use, rewards labor, and recognizes personhood interests. Courts and legislatures have long viewed these rules as serving the normative goal of encouraging productive allocation of scarce resources.
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Yes. Property law routinely divides ownership into concurrent estates, leaseholds, future interests, and servitudes. Most parcels involve multiple persons who each hold some entitlement to control or benefit from the resource.
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No. Property law also governs intangible assets such as contract rights, intellectual property, and expectations created by law. The same relational framework of entitlements and duties applies to these interests.
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…circumstances, but I would not adopt it as a per se rule. The common law of nuisance should not be the sole source of state property law that can defeat a takings claim. Other background principles, including statutes and regulations that existed at the time the owner acquired title, may also be relevant. I would remand for…