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The Consumer Bundle, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy Mar 2024

The Consumer Bundle, Shelly Kreiczer-Levy

Washington Law Review

Can property law have a consumer protection purpose? One of the most important consumer law concerns today is the limited control consumers have over the digital assets and software-embedded products they purchase. Current proposals for reform focus on classifying the transaction as either license or sale and rely mostly on contract law and consumer protection regulation with a few calls for restoring ownership rights. This Article argues that property law can protect consumers by establishing a minimum bundle of rights for consumers: the “consumer’s bundle.” Working with property theory and an analysis of property values, this Article explains the importance …


Wrong Or (Fundamental) Right?: Substantive Due Process And The Right To Exclude, Jack May Dec 2023

Wrong Or (Fundamental) Right?: Substantive Due Process And The Right To Exclude, Jack May

Washington Law Review

Substantive due process provides heightened protection from government interference with enumerated constitutional rights and unenumerated—but nevertheless “fundamental”—rights. To date, the United States Supreme Court has never recognized any property right as a fundamental right for substantive due process purposes. But in Yim v. City of Seattle, a case recently decided by the Ninth Circuit, landlords and tenant screening companies argued that the right to exclude from one’s property should be a fundamental right. Yim involved a challenge to Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, which, among other things, prohibits landlords and tenant screening companies from inquiring about or considering a …


Wrongful Improvers As A Guiding Principle For Application Of The Ftc’S Ip Deletion Requirement, Emma Elder Dec 2022

Wrongful Improvers As A Guiding Principle For Application Of The Ftc’S Ip Deletion Requirement, Emma Elder

Washington Law Review

The 2021 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into cloud storage app developer Everalbum resulted in a consent decree that required Everalbum to delete not only unlawfully collected data, but also algorithms created using that data. The FTC had imposed this kind of penalty only once before. Questions remain about how the FTC will apply this so-called intellectual property (IP) deletion requirement in the future. This Comment argues that situations where companies develop intellectual property from misappropriated consumer data are analogous to cases where courts seek to apply the property law rule of the wrongful improver, i.e., where one party knowingly …


Off-Reservation Treaty Hunting Rights, The Restatement, And The Stevens Treaties, Ann E. Tweedy Oct 2022

Off-Reservation Treaty Hunting Rights, The Restatement, And The Stevens Treaties, Ann E. Tweedy

Washington Law Review

The underdevelopment of the law of off-reservation treaty hunting and gathering poses challenges for treatises like the groundbreaking Restatement of the Law of American Indians (“Restatement”). With particular attention to sections 83 and 6 of the Restatement, this Article explores those challenges and offers some solutions for dealing with them in subsequent editions of the Restatement. Specifically, this Article explores the potential usefulness of historical law in interpreting treaties, the need to tie treaty interpretation to the language of the treaty when an explicit right is at issue, the proper application of the reserved rights doctrine and the Indian canons, …


Copyright’S Deprivations, Anne-Marie Carstens Dec 2021

Copyright’S Deprivations, Anne-Marie Carstens

Washington Law Review

This Article challenges the constitutionality of a copyright infringement remedy provided in federal copyright law: courts can order the destruction or other permanent deprivation of personal property based on its mere capacity to serve as a vehicle for infringement. This deprivation remedy requires no showing of actual nexus to the litigated infringement, no finding of willfulness, and no showing that the property’s infringing uses comprise the significant or predominant uses. These striking deficits stem from a historical fiction that viewed a tool of infringement, such as a printing plate, as the functional equivalent of an infringing copy itself. Today, though, …


The Euclid Proviso, Ezra Rosser Oct 2021

The Euclid Proviso, Ezra Rosser

Washington Law Review

This Article argues that the Euclid Proviso, which allows regional concerns to trump local zoning when required by the general welfare, should play a larger role in zoning’s second century. Traditional zoning operates to severely limit the construction of additional housing. This locks in the advantages of homeowners but at tremendous cost, primarily in the form of unaffordable housing, to those who would like to join the community. State preemption of local zoning defies traditional categorization; it is at once both radically destabilizing and market responsive. But, given the ways in which zoning is a foundational part of the racial …


Police Or Pirates? Reforming Washington's Civil Asset Forfeiture System, Jasmin Chigbrow Oct 2021

Police Or Pirates? Reforming Washington's Civil Asset Forfeiture System, Jasmin Chigbrow

Washington Law Review

Civil asset forfeiture laws permit police officers to seize property they suspect is connected to criminal activity and sell or retain the property for the police department’s use. In many states, including Washington, civil forfeiture occurs independent of any criminal case—many property owners are never charged with the offense police allege occurred. Because the government is not required to file criminal charges, property owners facing civil forfeiture lack the constitutional safeguards normally guaranteed to defendants in the criminal justice system: the right to an attorney, the presumption of innocence, the government’s burden to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, …


Reframing Church Property Disputes In Washington State, Theodore G. Lee Mar 2021

Reframing Church Property Disputes In Washington State, Theodore G. Lee

Washington Law Review

Real property disputes between units or members of the same church are common in the United States. To resolve such disputes, the Supreme Court has endorsed two doctrines: the hierarchical deference approach and the neutral-principles of law approach. The Court has justified both doctrines on the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses, but this justification is problematic. Specifically, under the hierarchical deference approach courts must always give preferential treatment to one religious group over others—effectively endorsing a particular religion. On the other hand, courts can enforce their own interpretations of religious issues under the neutral-principles approach, thereby infringing free …


Getting Past Possession: Subsurface Property Disputes As Nuisances, Joseph A. Schremmer Mar 2020

Getting Past Possession: Subsurface Property Disputes As Nuisances, Joseph A. Schremmer

Washington Law Review

Property rights in the subsurface of land are adapting to accommodate modern activities like massive hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Property rights will need to continue adapting if they are going to accommodate other developing activities like large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS). Courts and commentators rarely approach the nature of subsurface property directly. They tend instead to discuss appropriate standards for tort liability when disputes arise—for example when artificial fissures from a frac treatment extend into and drain oil or gas from a neighbor’s land. The case law and literature generally approach unauthorized subterranean invasions as trespasses. Because the tort of …


The Liberty Impact Of Gender, Kingsly Alec Mcconnell Mar 2020

The Liberty Impact Of Gender, Kingsly Alec Mcconnell

Washington Law Review

Can the federal government unilaterally change your gender? In October of 2018, the New York Times revealed that the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services was considering a new federal definition of “gender.” The policy would redefine gender as a “biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth.” This policy places transsex people at a substantial risk of deprivation of property and speech rights, as gender implicates both property and expression. It also impedes the exercise of substantive due process rights and privileges and immunities. For example, inaccurate gender designations can hinder a transsex parent’s ability to raise …


Community Consequences Of Airbnb, Allyson E. Gold Dec 2019

Community Consequences Of Airbnb, Allyson E. Gold

Washington Law Review

Short-term rental accommodations account for more than 20% of the United States lodging market, with annual sales now greater than those of nearly all legacy hotel brands. The rise of companies like Airbnb has created a booming market that provides affordable short-term rentals for travelers and new income for those with an extra couch, spare room, or even an unused home. However, while individual hosts and guests may benefit economically, the use of short-term rentals produces significant consequences for the surrounding community. Airbnb proliferation causes fewer affordable housing options, higher average asking rents, and erosion of neighborhood social capital. Due …


The Parcel As A Whole: Defining The Relevant Parcel In Temporary Regulatory Takings Cases, Laura J. Powell Mar 2014

The Parcel As A Whole: Defining The Relevant Parcel In Temporary Regulatory Takings Cases, Laura J. Powell

Washington Law Review

In regulatory takings cases, courts must look at the “parcel as a whole” rather than individual property interests to determine whether a taking has occurred. The Supreme Court, however, has not clarified how exactly the relevant parcel should be defined. The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in CCA Associates v. United States highlights the confusion surrounding the parcel as a whole. It also highlights the continuing need to clarify how the relevant parcel should be defined in temporary regulatory takings cases. This Comment analyzes the parcel as a whole in temporary regulatory takings cases, specifically those involving lost income. It argues …


Making Room: Why Inclusionary Zoning Is Permissible Under Washington's Tax Preemption Statute And Takings Framework, Josephine L. Ennis Jun 2013

Making Room: Why Inclusionary Zoning Is Permissible Under Washington's Tax Preemption Statute And Takings Framework, Josephine L. Ennis

Washington Law Review

Inclusionary zoning ordinances, which typically require developers to set aside a percentage of new residential units for low and moderate income households, are a popular mechanism for ensuring the development of affordable housing in many communities. Washington State jurisdictions have been slow to introduce inclusionary zoning—particularly mandatory set-asides—perhaps because of the legal battles they would face. The Washington State Supreme Court previously relied on RCW 82.02.020 (the “tax preemption statute”) to invalidate a low-income housing ordinance in San Telmo Associates v. City of Seattle and in R/L Associates, Inc. v. City of Seattle. Washington courts have also relied on …


Foreclosing Modifications: How Servicer Incentives Discourage Loan Modifications, Diane E. Thompson Dec 2011

Foreclosing Modifications: How Servicer Incentives Discourage Loan Modifications, Diane E. Thompson

Washington Law Review

Despite record losses to investors, homeowners, and surrounding communities, the foreclosure crisis continues to swell. Many commentators have urged an increase in the number of loan modifications as a solution to the foreclosure crisis. The Obama Administration created a program specifically designed to encourage modifications. Yet, the number of foreclosures continues to outpace modifications. One reason foreclosures outpace modifications is that the mortgage-modification decision maker’s incentives generally favor a foreclosure over a modification. The decision maker is not the investor or the lender, but a separate entity, the servicer. The servicer’s main function is to collect and process payments from …


The Path Out Of Washington's Takings Quagmire: The Case For Adopting The Federal Takings Analysis, Roger D. Wynne Feb 2011

The Path Out Of Washington's Takings Quagmire: The Case For Adopting The Federal Takings Analysis, Roger D. Wynne

Washington Law Review

A quagmire awaits anyone attempting to understand the analysis Washington courts employ to determine whether government action constitutes a “taking” of property for which compensation is due under the U.S. Constitution. The Washington takings analysis is complex and confounding, especially when compared to the relatively straightforward takings analysis established by the U.S. Supreme Court. This Article argues that the Washington State Supreme Court should reject the Washington takings analysis and adopt the federal analysis. Comparing the federal and Washington analyses underscores how, as a matter of form, the Washington analysis easily stymies those who must work with it. Substantively, the …


The Path Out Of Washington's Takings Quagmire: The Case For Adopting The Federal Takings Analysis, Roger D. Wynne Feb 2011

The Path Out Of Washington's Takings Quagmire: The Case For Adopting The Federal Takings Analysis, Roger D. Wynne

Washington Law Review

A quagmire awaits anyone attempting to understand the analysis Washington courts employ to determine whether government action constitutes a “taking” of property for which compensation is due under the U.S. Constitution. The Washington takings analysis is complex and confounding, especially when compared to the relatively straightforward takings analysis established by the U.S. Supreme Court. This Article argues that the Washington State Supreme Court should reject the Washington takings analysis and adopt the federal analysis. Comparing the federal and Washington analyses underscores how, as a matter of form, the Washington analysis easily stymies those who must work with it. Substantively, the …


Enjoys Long Walks On The Beach: Washington's Public Trust Doctrine And The Right Of Pedestrian Passage Over Private Tidelands, Ewa M. Davison Nov 2006

Enjoys Long Walks On The Beach: Washington's Public Trust Doctrine And The Right Of Pedestrian Passage Over Private Tidelands, Ewa M. Davison

Washington Law Review

Under Washington's public trust doctrine, the state retains a jus publicum interest in tidelands, regardless of ownership. This interest obligates the state to protect the public rights encompassed within the jus publicum: navigation, fishing, boating, swimming, water skiing, and corollary recreational activities. The state satisfies this duty so long as its actions do not circumscribe public access to those resources, including tidelands, traditionally protected by the public trust doctrine. The title to any tidelands property sold into private ownership is similarly burdened; a private tidelands owner may not utilize property in a way that would compromise the state's jus …


The Error Of Kim V. Lee And Equitable Subrogation: Why Birfucating Lien Priorities Is A Better Remedy, Brad A. Goergen Jan 2002

The Error Of Kim V. Lee And Equitable Subrogation: Why Birfucating Lien Priorities Is A Better Remedy, Brad A. Goergen

Washington Law Review

Normally, the priority of an interest in real property is determined according to the date when the interest was recorded in the Recorder's Office of the county in which the property is located. The first interest recorded has first priority. When an interest is satisfied, junior interests are elevated to the next priority level. If a landowner is forced to sell the property to satisfy a debt through foreclosure, the priority of interests determines the order for distributing sale proceeds. Equitable subrogation is a remedy whereby a court gives a subsequent interest holder priority over a prior recorded interest because …


The Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act: An Analysis Under The Commerce Clause, Evan M. Shapior Oct 2001

The Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act: An Analysis Under The Commerce Clause, Evan M. Shapior

Washington Law Review

Congress based the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) on accumulated evidence suggesting that the land use decisions of local governments unfairly burden religious uses. The RLUIPA is narrower in scope than two previous statutes aimed at protecting religious liberty. The United States Supreme Court held the first of these religious liberty statutes unconstitutional, and Congress failed to enact the other. This Comment examines the constitutionality of the RLUIPA under the Commerce Clause and argues that Congress exceeded its Commerce Clause authority because (1) land use regulation does not constitute "economic activity" as defined by the United States …


Unopened Public Street Easements In Washington: Whose Right To Use That Land Is It, Anyway?, Alfred E. Donohue Apr 2001

Unopened Public Street Easements In Washington: Whose Right To Use That Land Is It, Anyway?, Alfred E. Donohue

Washington Law Review

This Comment argues that landowners whose property abuts unopened public street easements have a right to reasonable, non-interfering use of such easements until the city or county opens the street for its intended purpose. Unopened public street easements are dedicated streets that a city or county has not developed or used. Often, landowners use this land to store firewood, park boats, or garden. In 1995, the City of Seattle enacted Municipal Code section 15.02.100, which prohibits all use of unopened public street easements. Several Washington court decisions purportedly support the Seattle ordinance. These decisions suggest that abutting property owners have …


The Myth Of Property Absolutism And Modern Government: The Interacation Of Police Power And Property Rights, Philip A. Talmadge Jul 2000

The Myth Of Property Absolutism And Modern Government: The Interacation Of Police Power And Property Rights, Philip A. Talmadge

Washington Law Review

A new movement in America espousing a novel doctrine, property-rights absolutism, has gained some popular and political appeal. But the property rights absolutists tend to ignore the societal foundations of property, and especially de-emphasize the responsibilities property owners have to the community in which they live. They fail to consider properly the significance of the police power and its vital role in the American and Washington State constitutional systems. This Article debunks the newly minted mythology of the property-rights absolutists and places the police power and property rights in their proper historical perspective.


The Russian Title Registration System For Realty And Its Effect On Foreign Investors, Lev S. Batalov Oct 1998

The Russian Title Registration System For Realty And Its Effect On Foreign Investors, Lev S. Batalov

Washington Law Review

The recent privatization of real property is an important step in Russia's transition from a planned to market economy. This privatization creates opportunities for foreigners in the Russian realty market. However, foreigners are not likely to enter this market unless rights to immovable property are certain and secure. This Comment describes the new Russian immovable property Registration Law and argues that, despite its drawbacks, it creates a workable system that will provide certainty and security in rights to Russian immovable property. Furthermore, the Comment advises foreign investors on how to avoid potential problems the new law creates.


Riss V. Angel: Washington Remodels The Framework For Interpreting Restrictive Covenants, Casey J. Little Apr 1998

Riss V. Angel: Washington Remodels The Framework For Interpreting Restrictive Covenants, Casey J. Little

Washington Law Review

In Riss v. Angel, the Supreme Court of Washington declared that in disputes between subdivision homeowners, courts must construe restrictive covenants to give effect to the covenants' intended purposes by considering surrounding circumstances to protect the homeowners' collective interests. The court further held that when restrictive covenants grant discretion to architectural review committees (ARCs) to approve new construction or remodels, ARCs or other homeowners association committees that enforce such covenants must exercise their authority reasonably and in good faith. Riss represents a departure from prior precedent that required courts to construe strictly the terms of restrictive covenants to limit …


Police Power, Gifts, And The Washington Constitution: A Framework For Determining The Validity Of Property Rights Legislation, Gregory M. Mohrman Apr 1996

Police Power, Gifts, And The Washington Constitution: A Framework For Determining The Validity Of Property Rights Legislation, Gregory M. Mohrman

Washington Law Review

In November 1995, Washington voters rejected Initiative 164, a revolutionary property rights law that would have required governmental entities to compensate landowners for any loss in property value due to regulations on land use, unless those regulations were designed to prevent a public nuisance. Despite the initiative's defeat at the polls, a strong property rights movement is likely to prompt legislators to consider implementing a percentage-loss formula for determining when regulators owe compensation to property owners. This Comment discusses the inherent police power of the state to regulate property use in the public interest and argues that percentage-loss laws would …


Sudden Impact: The Effect Of Dolan V. City Of Tigard On Impact Fees In Washington, Joseph D. Lee Jan 1996

Sudden Impact: The Effect Of Dolan V. City Of Tigard On Impact Fees In Washington, Joseph D. Lee

Washington Law Review

As state and federal funding for public improvements steadily declines and is outstripped by demand, municipalities are turning to impact fees to fund public projects. However, the growth of impact fees has resulted in an increasing number of legal challenges by developers and private land owners. This Comment examines the evolution of impact fees in Washington and explores the legal concerns raised by the fees in light of Dolan v. City of Tigard. The Comment concludes that some impact fee statutes satisfy Dolan's "rough proportionality" test, while others do not adequately meet the U.S. Supreme Court's requirements. Impact …


Pinpointing The Beginning And Ending Of A Temporary Regulatory Taking, Gregory M. Stein Oct 1995

Pinpointing The Beginning And Ending Of A Temporary Regulatory Taking, Gregory M. Stein

Washington Law Review

The Supreme Court has held that if a government body regulates land to such an extent that it effectively takes the property, then it must pay just compensation to the landowner. Even if the government elects to rescind the offending regulation, it still must provide compensation to the owner for the duration of the regulatory taking. Unfortunately, the Court has had no occasion to determine when such temporary regulatory takings become effective and when they terminate, and the lower courts only rarely have reached these difficult remedial questions. This Article seeks to pinpoint precisely when a temporary regulatory taking begins …


Cornering The Quark: Investment-Backed Expectations And Economically Viable Uses In Takings Analysis, Lynda J. Oswald Jan 1995

Cornering The Quark: Investment-Backed Expectations And Economically Viable Uses In Takings Analysis, Lynda J. Oswald

Washington Law Review

Although stressing the "ad hoc, factual" nature of regulatory takings analysis, the United States Supreme Court has, over time, elevated the prominence of two economic tests in its analysis. In this Article, the author criticizes the importance placed on the tests and argues that the validity of a regulation must be determined based on the legitimacy of the governmental objective and the relationship between that objective and the challenged regulation, and not on the economic impact of the regulation on the property owner. The author rejects the notion that exercises of the eminent domain power and valid exercises of the …


Preserving Real Estate Contract Financing In Washington: Resisting The Pressure To Eliminate Forfeiture, Thomas Leo Mckeirnan Jan 1995

Preserving Real Estate Contract Financing In Washington: Resisting The Pressure To Eliminate Forfeiture, Thomas Leo Mckeirnan

Washington Law Review

There is pressure in Washington to abolish the forfeiture remedy from real estate contracts. Eliminating forfeiture would cripple the real estate contract and thus provide a disincentive for sellers to finance sales of their property. This result would be economically unsound and in conflict with the public policy in favor of promoting home ownership. Instead of abolishing forfeiture, the Washington State Legislature should amend current legislation to provide a more sensible and certain forfeiture remedy.


Easements By Necessity: A Threshold For Inholder Access Rights Under The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Galen G.B. Schuler Jan 1995

Easements By Necessity: A Threshold For Inholder Access Rights Under The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Galen G.B. Schuler

Washington Law Review

Nineteenth Century federal land grants created a legacy of private lands surrounded by federal land in the American West. Owners of such lands (inholders) were routinely granted access across federal land by implicit common law rights until the 1960s when federal land policy became more restrictive. In 1981, the Ninth Circuit held that the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) provided a statutory entitlement for inholder access. Since then, the Ninth Circuit also has held that ANILCA preempts any common law access rights. This Comment argues that the common law doctrine of easements by necessity remains a threshold basis …


The Effect Of Lucas V. South Carolina Coastal Council On The Law Of Regulatory Takings, Ann T. Kadlecek Apr 1993

The Effect Of Lucas V. South Carolina Coastal Council On The Law Of Regulatory Takings, Ann T. Kadlecek

Washington Law Review

In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the United States Supreme Court established a two-part takings analysis. The first step is an "economically viable use" threshold question, subject to a nuisance exception. The second step is a balancing test in which courts weigh the public and private interests involved. Although this two-part analysis differs in structure from most lower court takings analyses, most courts already apply a functionally equivalent test. Therefore, unless the Court alters the unit of land to which it applies, this new analysis will have little effect on the outcome of takings challenges to land use regulations.