Law Commons^™

Liberty At The Borders Of Private Law, Donald J. Smythe

Akron Law Review

Liberty is both dependent upon and limited by the State. The State protects individuals from the coercion of others, but paradoxically, it must exercise coercion itself in doing so. Unfortunately, the reliance on the State to deter coercion raises the possibility that the State’s powers of coercion might be abused. There is, not surprisingly, therefore, a wide range of literature on the relationship between law and liberty, but most of it focuses on the relationship between public law and liberty. This Article focuses on the relationship between private law and liberty. Private laws are enforced by courts. Since the judiciary …

The Ohio Rules Of Civil Procedure And Their Effect On Real Property Titles, Alvin W. Lasher

Akron Law Review

T HE REVOLUTION IS HERE! It has come quietly, almost without a murmur of opposition or civil discord. Indeed, many who will be most profoundly affected by it were not-are not even now, perhaps-aware of its coming. But it is here, nevertheless. The revolution in question, of course, relates not to some massive proletarian uprising which many today profess to see upon the horizon, but to the revolution in Ohio procedural law which became effective on July 1, 1970. For a revolution indeed it is, bringing changes so sweeping in their nature that the procedural law, both statutory and judge-made, …

Property Insurance For Ohio's Urban Areas, R. D. Welsh

Akron Law Review

Thirty-eight million dollars damage to property occurred in Watts in 1965, $49,000,000 in Detroit, and $10,000,000 in Newark, New Jersey in 1967, plus many others that have resulted in about $187,000,000 being paid in the five years ending in 1968. Until Watts, riot coverage was provided as an afterthought by the insurance industry with little or no additional charge. Besides this problem, insurers were faced with loss of reinsurance by foreign reinsurers alarmed by inability of Government authorities to maintain law and order.

The Ohio Rules Of Civil Procedure And Their Effect On Real Property Titles, Alvin W. Lasher

Akron Law Review

The revolution is here! It has come quietly, almost without a murmur of opposition or civil discord. Indeed, many who will be most profoundly affected by it were not-are not even now, perhaps-aware of its coming. But it is here, nevertheless. The revolution in question, of course, relates not to some massive proletarian uprising which many today profess to see upon the horizon, but to the revolution in Ohio procedural law which became effective on July 1, 1970. For a revolution indeed it is, bringing changes so sweeping in their nature that the procedural law, both statutory and judge-made, which …

Property Insurance For Ohio's Urban Areas, R. D. Welsh

Akron Law Review

Thirty-eight million dollars damage to property occurred in Watts in 1965, $49,000,000 in Detroit, and $10,000,000 in Newark, New Jersey in 1967, plus many others that have resulted in about $187,000,000 being paid in the five years ending in 1968. Until Watts, riot coverage was provided as an afterthought by the insurance industry with little or no additional charge. Besides this problem, insurers were faced with loss of reinsurance by foreign reinsurers alarmed by inability of Government authorities to maintain law and order.

The Secured Party And His Nemesis, The Trustee In Bankruptcy: After-Acquired Property, Unidentified Proceeds, And Selected Preference Problems, John P. Finan

Akron Law Review

A trustee in bankruptcy, in addition to succeeding to the rights of the bankrupt,' has several avoiding powers. Some of these avoiding powers are based on practices which, like vice, are of "so frightful mien that to be hated [need] but to be seen." Preferences may not be included among such practices. Indeed, the English view exhibits ambivalence towards preferences. At one time it regarded "preferences [as] the good fortune of the creditor." A later view was "that the preferring of one creditor over others within a short time of bankruptcy and in contemplation thereof, was a 'fraud on the …

A National Landlord-Tenant Relations Act: A Legislative Proposal For The 1970'S, D. Richard Froelke

Akron Law Review

While education and employment are significant aspects of poverty law in this country, the focus of this paper is on housing in general and the recent development of tenant unions in particular. Specifically, the author proposes as a phase of a nationally developed program of housing for the 1970's the enactment of a federal National Landlord-Tenant Relations Act. Several thorough and thoughtful articles have recently been written' in which the vehicle of tenant unionization has been discussed and analyzed. Part II will briefly set forth the historical background of the tenant union concept. Part III will examine the case for …

Priority Of Liens Between Construction Mortgagee And Mechanic's Lienors; Wayne Building & Loan Of Wooster V. Yarborough, Allan S. Hoffman

Akron Law Review

Ohio follows the generally accepted rule that where there is a mortgage securing future advances such advances create liens only as they are actually made, unless the mortgagee is obligated to make the advances. In the latter case the mortgagee's lien will date from the time of its recording. In addition to this nonstatutory method by which a mortgagee can obtain lien priority, there is a statutory method by which he can do so, namely the procedure provided by § 1311.14 of Ohio Rev. Code. This statute is not new, having been enacted in 1915. However, in 1919 the Ohio …

Standing Of Future Residents In Exclusionary Zoning Cases, David H. Moskowitz

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to explore the standing of future residents to bring suit in exclusionary-zoning cases. Exclusionary zoning may be defined as zoning and land-use control practices that have the effect of precluding construction of dwelling units that could house low-income and moderate-income persons either by direct exclusion or by raising the price of access.1 An example of direct exclusion would be the imposition of restrictions upon the number of bedrooms in apartment units, which would have the direct effect of excluding large families. An example of indirect exclusion would be the effect of zoning upon land …

The Mobile Home And The Law, Marvin M. Moore

Akron Law Review

In the past decade, house trailers have dramatically increased their share of the housing market in the United States….The manner in which mobile homes are dealt with under our zoning laws is therefore a matter of some importance. Surprisingly, comparatively little has been written regarding the zoning of mobile homes and trailer parks. The purpose of this article is to lessen this deficiency. The writer proposes to examine the subject by considering the following aspects of mobile home regulation: the need for mobile homes or a similar type of housing; the objectionable features of house trailers and trailer parks; the …

Ohio Residential Landlord Tenant Act, Robert J. Croyle

Akron Law Review

The new Ohio Landlord-Tenant Act is the legislature's attempt at correcting the imbalance between landlord and tenant. This new law is Ohio's unique adaptation of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The thrust of the new act is to abrogate the Ohio common law of caveat emptor and independent covenants and reinterpret residential leases in light of modem contract law.

The purpose of this article is to acquaint the reader with the newly defined rights, duties and remedies of the landlord and the tenant. Analysis will be placed on: (1) Ohio case law prior to the act; (2) similar …

Legal Problems Confronting The Effective Creation And Administration Of New Towns In The United States, Richard W. Hemingway

Akron Law Review

IT MAY SEEM a startling statistic to some that the population in the United States is increasing at the rate of some three hundred thousand people per month.' Stated more dramatically, this increase is equal in size to the addition, during a year, of twelve cities the size of Toledo, Ohio, or, in a decade, of ten cities the size of Detroit, Michigan. On a world basis the growth is even more startling.

Legal Problems Confronting The Effective Creation And Administration Of New Towns In The United States, Richard W. Hemingway

Akron Law Review

IT MAY SEEM a startling statistic to some that the population in the United States is increasing at the rate of some three hundred thousand people per month.' Stated more dramatically, this increase is equal in size to the addition, during a year, of twelve cities the size of Toledo, Ohio, or, in a decade, of ten cities the size of Detroit, Michigan. On a world basis the growth is even more startling.

Mandatory Referendum For Zoning Amendments; Unlawful Delegation Of Legislative Power; Denial Of Due Process; Forest City Enterprises, Inc. V. Eastlake, Jane E. Bond

Akron Law Review

IN 1971 FOREST CITY ENTERPRISES applied to the Planning Commission of Eastlake, Ohio, to rezone its property, an eight-acre parcel of land, from industrial to multi-family high-rise use. After the application was filed, initiative petitions were circulated proposing the adoption of an amendment to the Eastlake city charter. The proposed amendment provided for mandatory voter approval' of any ordinance changing the city's existing comprehensive zoning plan. An amendment to this effect was adopted in November, 1971.

Problems Of Groundwater Rights In Ohio, Alan H. Coogan

Akron Law Review

TO A NOVICE IN THE LAW, the problems of groundwater rights seem to straddle awkwardly the physical and social realms. The law-a formal set of rules by which society is ordered-seems to the physical scientist a strangely confusing and confused tool with which to define, even in a social context, the parameters and limits of a physical continuum. For example, on the basis of attorney's briefs, bolstered even by expert testimony, judges have legally defined "subterranean streams"' and erected criteria for recognizing such streams that sound more like the rhetoric of Humpty Dumpty than a description of a body of …

The Measurement Of Damages To Public Property And Interest, Norman Leonard

Akron Law Review

The new concern with measuring damages to public property and interest comes in part from attempts to include such damages in the evaluation of the desirability of constructing private and public projects. Environmental impact statements and land use studies need objective measurement of the consequences flowing from proposed projects. No one method or technique is going to solve the problem of the measurement of impacts, but this article will attempt a partial and limited answer.

Ohio Usury Laws And The Real Estate Mortgage Lending Market - A Savings Association Viewpoint, Roger A. Yurchuck, James M. Ball

Akron Law Review

Although the concept of usury was unknown at common law, it is of ancient statutory origin. Irrespective of its economic utility to society, usury has become firmly entrenched as an accepted fact of economic life. The concept of usury is easily understandable and lends itself to simple definition. It is, in essence, a prohibition against the taking of an amount for the use of money which is greater than that permitted by law. While the concept itself is simple to grasp, methods of implementing that concept have varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Moreover, within many jurisdictions, including Ohio, legislative …

The Private Mortgage Insurance Industry, The Thrift Industry And The Secondary Mortgage Market: Their Interrelationships, Diana G. Browne

Akron Law Review

On the other hand, the existence of the private mortgage insurance industry has facilitated the expansion of the thrift industry and of the secondary mortgage market. Twenty-two years after the formation of the first modern private mortgage insurance company and nine years after the creation of the federally sponsored market in conventional mortgage loans, the growth and success of the three industries can be seen as significantly interrelated.

Alternative Mortgage Instruments In California, Edward S. Washburn

Akron Law Review

Much interest has been generated recently in California and elsewhere in what have been termed alternative mortgage instruments (AMIs). Two separate sets of pressures have been responsible for this. One has been the tremendous increase in the cost of lendable funds requiring constantly higher yield on each lender's overall mortgage portfolio. This has been induced by the inexorable increase in interest rates required to be paid by mortgage lenders in order to obtain lendable funds for home ownership loans, along with unremitting escalation of operating costs. The second pressure has been the persistent escalation of the cost of the conventional …

Apartments And Houses: The Warranty Of Habitability, Walter H.E. Jaeger

Akron Law Review

“The trend towards greater consumer protection so evident in the products liability field is clearly discernible in the sale of new homes by the builder-vendor, and in the leasing of apartments by landlords. Some of the fundamental concepts of real property law, especially those which make no sense in modern society, have been, or are being, overruled and superseded by more enlightened and public policy-minded decisions of both the federal and state courts. It seems safe to predict that the warranty of habitability which governs the sale of new homes by the builder-vendor, adopted by a substantial majority of jurisdictions, …

An Examination Of The Current Ohio Condominium Law, Patricia Mcquillen Billow

Akron Law Review

Ohio sanctioned condominiums in 1963 by enacting the Condominium Property Act. The act addresses five issues: (1) the creation of the condominium form of ownership; (2) the respective interests each unit owner possesses in the common area; (3) the administration of the condominium; (4) the rights of the lienors; and, (5) the removal of the property from the Act's provisions. The Act was amended in 1978 to facilitate consumer protection. This comment will examine the 1978 amendment and evaluate its effectiveness. It will then examine the tax considerations involved in the purchase of a condominium unit.

The Case Against Strict Liability Protection For New Home Buyers In Ohio, Karen Doty

Akron Law Review

In Ohio, home buyers have several means available to protect their investment and assure themselves of getting their money's worth. First, and foremost, the Ohio courts, while not mandating either implied warranties of habitability or strict liability, have offered some protection to the consumer in holding builders to a standard of workmanship commensurate with that prevailing in the trade locally. Ohio courts also recognize collateral covenants with regard to construction that do not merge with the deed when title is transferred.

The Protection Of Property Rights In Computer Software, Edward W. Rilee

Akron Law Review

During the last decade a number of attempts have been made by the courts in the realm of patent and copyright law to settle the issue of the protection of property rights in computer software. These traditional methods of protection, however, have not been able to assimilate this relatively new technological invention. Likewise, at the start of a new decade, little or no progress towards a comprehensive form of software protection can be detected. This paper will examine the problems associated with using federal patent or copyright law to provide computer software protection and discuss why state trade secret protection …

Forfeiture Of Residential Land Contracts In Ohio: The Need For Further Reform Of A Reform Statute, James Geoffrey Durham

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this article is to examine the problems created by Chapter 5313, Installment Land Contracts (the "Act"). In order to do that, the article begins with a background section which more fully describes the type of contractual arrangement under discussion, why people use land contracts, and the economic factors in the current Ohio real estate market which have caused an increase in the use of land contracts and may cause mounting problems with Ohio's land contract statute. The second section describes the common law treatment of land contract defaults and the positions taken by states other than Ohio. …

The Landlord's Liability To His Tenants For Injuries Criminally Inflicted By Third Persons, Marvin M. Moore

Akron Law Review

Until approximately fifteen years ago a landlord was never held civilly liable to his tenants for injuries inflicted by the criminal acts of third persons, regardless of the deficiency of the security measures provided by the landlord.' The landlord was protected from tenant lawsuits by three factors: The historical concept of a lease, certain tort theories of a legalistic nature, and some policy concerns having significant influence upon the courts. In recent years the courts have begun holding landlords liable in some circumstances for criminally-induced injuries sustained by their tenants. The following discussion will examine the reasons for the landlord's …

The Legal Form Of Liberalism: A Study Of Riparian And Nuisance Law In Nineteenth Century Ohio, E. P. Krauss

Akron Law Review

This essay tests the foregoing interpretation by examining the nineteenth century Ohio decisions in the fields of riparian and nuisance law. This data, as shall be shown, tends to confirm the conclusions of earlier scholarship. In the third and fourth parts of this essay two decisions, one from the very beginning of the period under study," and one from near the end, will be considered. These two decisions help identify the developmental context within which judicial law-making passed from a creative to an elaborative phase by illustrating judicial attitudes toward protecting the public interest in 1831 and again in 1892.

Section 280a: Vacation Home And Rental Property, Craig Teller

Akron Law Review

In addition to the personal and business use of a unit, the rules under Internal Revenue Code Section 280A ("280A") also cover situations such as time-sharing arrangements, rental pools, shared equity financing deals and office-at-home deductions. Though 280A applies to individuals, partnerships, trusts, estates, and S Corporations, this comment assumes the "taxpayer" to be an individual taxpayer. This author will first analyze 280A to provide general guidance in the rental of a unit. After the overall analysis, the author will focus on the following rental situations:

1. Analysis of Personal Use.
2. Analysis of Rental Use.
3. Further Analysis of Allocating Rental & …

Aesthetics In Ohio Land Use Law: Preserving Beauty In The Parlor And Keeping Pigs In The Barnyard, Edward H. Ziegler Jr.

Akron Law Review

Traditional zoning restrictions on residential use, lots, and yards invariably involved what Ohio lawyer Alfred Bettman, an early supporter of urban planning, once described as an official regard for "the look of things." These traditional zoning controls though were constitutionally sanctioned on the nuisance analogy basis that such restrictions promoted the orderly development of healthy, safe and quiet residential neighborhoods. Aesthetic values generally were held to be beyond the scope of police power regulation.' In 1930, Judge Cardozo could state: "One of the unsettled questions of the law is the extent to which the concept of nuisance may be enlarged …

A Professional Degree Is Not Marital Property Upon Divorce: Stevens V. Stevens, Katherine Scheid

Akron Law Review

This Note first analyzes the Stevens court's opinion and concludes that it fails to give sufficient direction on how to determine the amount of the alimony award in order to sufficiently compensate the supporting spouse. Second, this Note explores the ways in which courts in other jurisdictions have attempted to compensate the supporting spouse. Finally, this Note proposes two alternative methods of valuing the supporting spouse's contribution. One method applies if the court, as in Stevens v. Stevens, holds that contribution toward a technical degree is not divisible marital property but should be considered when awarding alimony. The second …

Realtor As "Superbroker": Great Expectations Unrealized?, Rene Sacasa, Don Wiesner

Akron Law Review

This article explores the public policy and expectation issues surrounding the qualifications and liabilities of realtors. It is a premise of this article that two phenomena, the expectation that the realtor is a "superbroker" and the application of the law of fiduciaries, are making the practice unstaffable. This collection of society's needs and biases, it is offered, naturally followed land as a product and its transfer.