Comm Law Uh Essay

Submitted By zponcik
Words: 6005
Pages: 25

* Real property: land and everything attached * Personal property (chattel): items that can be moved * Tangible: television * Intangible: stocks and bonds * States asses taxes on real property * Businesses pay taxes on personal property * Vegetation that is removed becomes personal property; annual crops are always personal property * Minerals are always real property until removed/ extracted * Personal property that is attached, and can easily be removed, to real property is a fixture * If there is a dispute, the court refers to the Rule of Intent to see what the intention of the property was * Trade fixtures: personal property installed for a commercial purpose by a tenant (i.e. a walk-in freezer purchased by the tenant in a restaurant) * Acquiring personal property * Through purchase, possession, production, gift, accession, and confusion * A gift by will is a testamentary * To be a gift: donative intent by donor, delivery, and acceptance by done * Constructive delivery: when a physical object cannot be delivered, symbolic delivery is okay; does not confer actual possession, only the right to take actual possession * Donor must give up control and dominion- ownership rights * Inter vios: during the lifetime; cause mortis: contemplation of imminent death (does not become absolute until donor’s death and revoked if donor recovers) * Accession: something added * Confusion: comingling of goods to such an extent that there is no way to distinguish * Fungible goods: oil or grain * Mislaid property: voluntarily placed somewhere by the owner and then inadvertently forgotten * Finder does not obtain title, owner of property does until true owner comes back * Lost property: involuntarily left * Finder has ownership against the world, except true owner * If you know the owner and do not return it, you are committing the tort of conversion * Estray statutes: encourage and facilitate the return of property to its true owner and reward the finder * Abandoned property: discarded by true owner and no intention of reclaiming title * Finder has ownership, even against true owner * unless you are trespassing, then it the property owners * bailment: delivery of personal property without transfer of title by the bailor to the bailee * on completion of purpose, the bailee must return the property to the bailor in the same or better condition * three elements that must be present: personal property, delivery or possession without title, and agreement that the property will be returned to the bailor or otherwise disposed of according to the owner’s directions * must be personal, but can be tangible or intangible delivery of possession: transfer of the property to the bailee with exclusive possession and control over the property and knowingly accept it; can be physical or constructive if you find lost or mislaid property, a bailment is created which is referred to as constructive or involuntary * Bailments for less than one year do not require a written agreement; agreement can be expressed or implied * Ordinary and special bailments * Ordinary bailments: * Sole benefit of the bailor * Gratuitous bailment- no consideration * Bailee cares for bailor property; bailee only has slight duty of care and liable if grossly negligent * Sole benefit of the bailee * Bailee must take utmost care and liable for slight negligence * Bailment for the mutual benefit of the bailee and the bailor * Contractual bailment- bailment for hire or commercial bailment * Bailee must exercise reasonable care; liable for ordinary negligence * Rights of the bailee * Possession * Use of property * Compensation * Right to be compensated unless in a gratuitous