Other Law Commons^™

The land one holds is generally only as good as the property rights contained in the deed.

The rights contained in the deed are only as good as the ability to get those rights enforced.

And, the enforcement is only valuable if it recognizes a determinate meaning in the deeds from

the point of conveyance. This Article pens the term “determinacy norm” to explain a collection

of rules for the interpretation of deed terms that aim to make the meaning of deed terms determinate.

I contend that, in order to satisfy the determinacy norm for deed interpretation,

courts must (and …

Our land use control system operates across a variety of multidimensional and dynamic categories. Learning to navigate within and between these categories requires an appreciation for their interconnected, dynamic, and textured components and an awareness of alternative mechanisms for achieving one’s land use control preferences and one’s desired ends. Whether seeking to minimize controls as a property owner or attempting to place controls on the land uses of another, one should take time to understand the full ecology of the system. This Article looks at four broad categories of control: (1) no controls, or the state of nature; (2) judicial …