Property (B) — Syllabus

Fall 2012
Professor Schnably

Our time in the classroom is essential to learning the material. You’ll learn it best if during each session you have a setting that allows you to focus on the materials without distractions. I have set the following ground rules to help provide you with an undistracted setting. Please make sure you are familiar with these rules and any others I mention in class. You can find them here.

• Joshua Plager. E-mail: jlplager@gmail.com
• Schedule of Meetings

• Advice on Taking the Practice Mid-Term Exam
• Practice Mid-Term Exam Results
• Practice Mid-Term Exam: Question and General Comments

• Mandatory:
  1. Dukeminier, Krier, et al., Property (7th ed. 2010) (referred to in this Assignment Sheet as "CB")
  2. Supplementary materials (referred to in this Assignment Sheet as “Supp.”):
     • Supplement (pp. 1-215)
     • Comments on the Recording Statute Problems at Supp. 128
     • Comments on the Grants at Supp. 133-134
     • Comments on the Perpetuities Problems at Supp. 168 New!
• Optional Readings
  • Background Reading (only if you want to read more; available at the Reserve Desk in the Library):
    • William B. Stoebuck & Dale A. Whitman, The Law of Property (2000)
    • Herbert Hovenkamp & Sheldon F. Kurtz, Principles of Property Law (2005)
    • Laurence & Minzner, A Student’s Guide to Estates in Land and Future Interests (1993)
  • Other
    • What is Property?
      • Kelli Kennedy & Melissa Nelson-Gabriel, Human Organs Found in Storage Locker, Miami Herald, Aug. 28, 2012
    • Eminent Domain
      • Steven Slosberg, Fort Trumbull Eminent Domain Plaintiff Hopes Recipients of Cards Will ’Rot in Hell,’ The Day (Connecticut), Dec. 20, 2006
      • Rhode Island: Station Nightclub
        • The Station Nightclub Fire (Wikipedia)
        • Future of Station Fire Site Unknown: Victims Waiting for the Land They Were Promised, WPRI.com, Jan. 29, 2011
        • Rhode Island: Land Seizure Considered For Memorial at Site of Nightclub Fire, N.Y. Times, Sept. 19, 2012
        • Gov. Mulls Seizing RI Club Fire Site, The SunChronicle.com, Sept. 19, 2012
        • The Station Fire Memorial Foundation
          • Station Fire Memorial Park
          • “Open Plea” to Owners of The Station Nightclub
        • Jess Bidgood, Memorializing 100 Whio Perished in Nightclub Blaze, N.Y. Times, Sept. 30, 2012
    • Implied Warranty of Habitability
      • CS/HB 1013: Residential Construction Warranties (Florida) (eff. July 1, 2012) (The bill provides that a purchaser of a new home or a homeowners’ association does not have a cause of action for damages based on an implied warranty of fitness and merchantability or habitability, relating to an offsite improvement for a new home. Under the bill, an “offsite improvement” includes a street, driveway, road, sidewalk, drainage, utilities, or any other improvement or structure that does not immediately and directly support the fitness and merchantability or habitability of the home itself.)
  Assignments for Class
  • Current Assignments
  • Past Assignments
  Syllabus
  Updated as of 11/09/12
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  I. Introduction and Basic Concepts

        A. The Right to Exclude
            1. Jacque v. Steenberg Homes, Inc.; State v. Shack
                CB 88-96 Note: the reference to “footnote 33 on page 5” (CB 88) should be to “footnote 33 on page 51.”
                Supp. 1-3
            2. Comparative Perspectives
                Supp. 4-8
            3. The Florida Migrant Farmworker Statute
                Supp. 9-16
        B. What is “Property”?
            1. Moore v. Regents of the University of California
                CB 70-88
                Supp. 17
            2. Diplomas and Licenses
                CB 369-384
                Supp. 18 (Batista v. Batista)
            3. Relativity of Title: Tapscott v. Lessee of Cobbs
                Supp. 19-23
                Supp. 24
                Supp. 25 (optional)

  II. Transfers of Ownership: Voluntary & Involuntary

        A. Involuntary Transfers
            1. Eminent Domain and Just Compensation
                a. Eminent Domain
                    CB 1061-1077
                    Supp. 26-29
                b. Just Compensation
                    CB 1077-1080
                    Supp. 30-33 (Kozacioğlu v. Turkey)
            2. Adverse Possession
                a. In General
                    CB 116-150
                b. The Florida Adverse Possession Statute
                    Supp. 34-45 (Florida Adverse Possession Statute and Related Materials)
                    Supp. 46-55 (Texas adverse possession instance) (optional)
        B. Voluntary Transfers: The Sale of Land
            1. Introduction
                CB 519-528 (Read this material on your own.)
            2. The Duty to Disclose and the Warranty of Habitability
                CB 553-564
                a. The Duty to Disclose
                    CB 553-564
                    Supp. 56 (Fla. Stat. ch. 689.25)
                    Supp. 57-58
                    Supp. 59-62 (optional)
                b. The Warranty of Habitability or Quality
                    Supp. 63-68 (McDonald v. Mianecki)
                    CB 572-573
                c. Florida Bar Exam Question
                    Supp. 69
            3. Equitable Conversion
                CB 552-553
                Supp. 70-71 (Questions on Equitable Conversion)
            4. Deeds
                CB 585-590
                Supp. 72
            5. Mortgages
                a. Introduction; Foreclosure
                    CB 616-629
                b. Mortgage Substitutes
                    CB 639-644
                c. The Subprime Mortgage Crisis
                    i. Introduction
                        CB 629-639
                        Supp. 73-82 (optional)
                    ii. MERS
                        CB 645-651; CB 669 (Florida and California recording statutes); CB 619 (last ¶, beginning “Quite naturally”)-620 (through ¶ beginning with “As with the sale of real property”) (review)
                        Supp. 83-90; Supp. 91-99 (Niday v. GMAC)
                        Supp. 100-101 (optional)
                    iii. Responses
                        1) Mortgage Payment Extension
                            Supp. 102-109 (Home Building & Loan Ass’n v. Blaisdell)
                        2) Use of Eminent Domain
                            Supp. 110-116
                            CB 1065-1075 (review)
                        3) Other (optional)
                            Supp. 117-127 (optional)
            6. Recording Statutes and the Chain of Title
                a. Introduction; Title Searches
                    CB 645-651 (review)
                b. Types of Recording Acts
                    Supp. 128-132 (We will discuss the problems at Supp. 128-129 in class in light of the reading)
                    CB 651-658, CB 667-669, CB 605 (Estoppel by Deed), CB 697-702

  III. The System of Estates and Future Interests

        A. Background and Social Context
            CB 183-191 (Note: read this material on your own; we will not discuss it in class.)
        B. Present Possessory Estates and Corresponding Future Interests
            As you read the material below, consider the Grants at Supp. 133-134. We will discuss them in class.
            1. The Fee Simple
                CB 191-198
                Supp. 146 (Fla. Stat. § 689.10)
            2. The Fee Tail
                CB 198-201, CB 253-256, CB 258-259 (“Introduction”)
                Supp. 148 (Fla. Stat. § 689.14)
            3. The Life Estate
                CB 202-221, CB 249-250, CB 253-256, CB 258-259 (review)
            4. Defeasible Fees
                a. In General
                    CB 222-236, CB 256-257 (Note 2)
                    Supp. 158 (note on Mahrenholz)
                    Supp. 148-149 (Fla. Stat. § 689.18)
                    Supp. 159-163 (White v. Metropolitan Dade County) (optional)
                b. Condemnation/Eminent Domain
                    CB 243-249
        C. Future Interests in a Grantee: Remainders and Executory Interests
            1. Remainders
                CB 258-264, 280-283; CB 283-284 (optional)
            2. Executory Interests
                CB 264-273
                Supp. 148 (Fla. Stat. § 689.17)
                Supp. 164-167
        D. The Rule Against Perpetuities
            1. Mechanics
                As you read the material below, consider the Perpetuities Problems at Supp. 168. We will discuss them in class.
                CB 285-292
                Supp. 169-172
                Supp. 148-149 (Fla. Stat. § 689.18) (review)
                Supp. 173-175 (optional)
            2. Scope/Reform
                CB 305-308 (through Note (2))
                Supp. 176-179 (Old Port Cove Holdings, Inc. v. Old Port Cove Condominium Ass’n One, Inc.)
                Supp. 147 (§ 689.13); 150-153 (§ 689.225)
                Supp. 180-181 (optional)
        E. Concurrent Estates
            1. In General
                CB 319-329, 335-337
                Supp. 148 (Fla. Stat. § 689.15)
            2. Tenancy by the Entireties
                CB 359-369
                Supp. 147-148 (Fla. Stat. §§ 689.11, 689.15)
        F. Residential Landlord-Tenant Law
            1. The Creation and Characteristics of the Landlord-Tenant Relationship
                CB 421-423, 427-428, 428-431
            2. Tenants’ Rights Regarding Occupancy
                a. Assignment and Sublease
                    i. Assignment versus Sublease
                        CB 442-449
                        Supp. 182
                    ii. Assignment versus Sublease
                        CB 450-459
                        Supp. 183 (Fla. Stat. § 83.595)
                        Supp. 184-190 (optional)
                b. Implied Warranty of Habitability
                    CB 493-503, 505-508
                c. Tenants’ Rights in Foreclosure (optional)
                    Supp. 191-201

  IV. Private Land Use Regulation
        A. Nuisance
            CB 731-749, CB 46-50
        B. Easements
            1. Overview
                CB 763-774 (through Note: Licenses), 794-799, 842-847
                Supp. 202-205
            2. Scope
                CB 820-830
        C. Covenants Running with the Land
            1. Creation, Application, and Enforcement
                a. Overview/Historical Background
                    CB 847-853
                    Supp. 202-205 (review)
                b. Tulk v. Moxhay & Sanborn v. McLean
                    CB 854-864
                c. Neponsit
                    CB 864-876
            2. Discriminatory Covenants
                CB 876-881
            3. Termination
                CB 882-896
            4. Common Interest Communities
                CB 896-913 Revised
  

   

   

   

   

   

   

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