Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Institution
Articles 1 - 30 of 33
Full-Text Articles in Law
Whiteness As Contract, Marissa Jackson Sow
Whiteness As Contract, Marissa Jackson Sow
Faculty Publications
2020 forced scholars, policymakers, and activists alike to grapple with the impact of “twin pandemics”—the COVID-19 pandemic, which has devastated Black and Indigenous communities, and the scourge of structural and physical state violence against those same communities—on American society. As atrocious acts of anti-Black violence and harassment by law enforcement officers and white civilians are captured on recording devices, the gap between Black people’s human and civil rights and their living conditions has become readily apparent. Less visible human rights abuses camouflaged as private commercial matters, and thus out of the reach of the state, are also increasingly exposed as …
The Importance Of Viewing Property As A System, Lynda L. Butler
The Importance Of Viewing Property As A System, Lynda L. Butler
Faculty Publications
Can--or should--the American property system adapt to curb the excesses inherent in the dominant form of capitalism? Those extolling the virtues of privatization of resources would likely answer in the negative. Such a response would ignore the core functions and infrastructure of the American institution of property. This Article discusses the structure of property that enables property law to evolve over time, reacting to changing conditions, recognizing informal customs and usages, and otherwise taking into account important feedbacks. It explains how property provides an ordering system of concepts and principles that define and govern relations between a society and its …
Right On Time: A Reply To Professors Allen, Claeys, Epstein, Gordon, Holbrook, Mossoff, Rose, And Van Houweling, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern
Right On Time: A Reply To Professors Allen, Claeys, Epstein, Gordon, Holbrook, Mossoff, Rose, And Van Houweling, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern
Faculty Publications
A simple observation started us off in writing Right on Time. Studying and teaching intellectual property law, we noticed striking parallels between traditional first possession rules in property law and analagous rules governing the acquisition of patent, copyright, and trademark rights. We thought that established first possession principles could illuminate the workings of IP law. As we dug in, however, it became increasingly clear that our premise wasn’t quite right. While many penetrating commentators had said many penetrating things about first possession, the leading treatments tended to focus on significant individual aspects of the overall issue. What we could …
Right On Time: First Possession In Property And Intellectual Property, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern
Right On Time: First Possession In Property And Intellectual Property, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern
Faculty Publications
How should we allocate property rights in unowned tangible and intangible resources? This Article develops a model of original acquisition that draws together common law doctrines of first possession with original acquisition doctrines in patent, copyright, and trademark law. The common denominator is time: in each context, doctrine involves a trade-off between assigning entitlements to resources earlier or later in the process of their development and use. Early awards risk granting exclusivity to parties who may not be capable of putting resources to their best use. Late awards prolong contests for ownership, which may generate waste or discourage acquisition efforts …
Cutting Pension Rights For Public Workers: Don't Look To The Courts For Help, Ronald H. Rosenberg
Cutting Pension Rights For Public Workers: Don't Look To The Courts For Help, Ronald H. Rosenberg
Faculty Publications
Every day we rely on public employees to provide us with a broad range of services necessary to daily life. These workers include public school teachers, fire and police, emergency medical technicians, park rangers, nurses just to name a few. As public employees, these people work for local and state government and they are compensated by us for their services through the taxes we pay. In general, these are modestly paid workers who also receive pensions when they retire after many years of work. Following the financial crisis of 2008-2009, government retirement trust funds significantly lost value and their long-term …
Are Beach Boundaries Enforceable? Real-Time Locational Uncertainty And The Right To Exclude, Josh Eagle
Are Beach Boundaries Enforceable? Real-Time Locational Uncertainty And The Right To Exclude, Josh Eagle
Faculty Publications
Over the past few decades, landowners have tried to use the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments to fully privatize the upper, dry-sand part of the beach. If these efforts were to succeed, there would be a host of negative consequences, and not just for surfers. In most of the states in which beaches are economically important, including California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas, privatized dry sand would mean little to no public access at times when the public, wet-sand part of the beach is submerged, that is, in the hours immediately before and after high tides. Decreased beach use would …
Sustainable Affordable Housing, Andrea Boyack
Sustainable Affordable Housing, Andrea Boyack
Faculty Publications
Sustainable real estate development is an essential component of intergenerational justice, in part because the real estate sector creates more than 20% of the world’s carbon emissions. Governments, recognizing that environmentally sustainable real estate development involves higher upfront costs, have encouraged green building by offering publicly funded incentives such as tax credits, grants, reduced approval fees, and streamlined permitting. Using market measurement innovations such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, investors can promote environmentally sustainable development by prioritizing real estate developers that embrace environmentally conscious practices. Even though real estate in general still underperforms in many other sectors in terms …
The "Publicization" Of Private Space, Sarah B. Schindler
The "Publicization" Of Private Space, Sarah B. Schindler
Faculty Publications
Recently, many urban areas have moved away from the creation of publicly owned open spaces and toward privately owned public open spaces, or POPOS. These POPOS take many forms: concrete plazas that separate a building from the sidewalk; glass-windowed atriums in downtown office buildings; rooftop terraces and gardens; and grass-covered spaces that appear to be traditional parks. This Article considers the nature of POPOS and examines whether they live up to expectations about the role that public space should play and the value it should provide to communities. This is especially important because in embracing POPOS, cities have made a …
Rerum Novarum: New Things And Recent Paradigms Of Property Law, M C. Mirow
Rerum Novarum: New Things And Recent Paradigms Of Property Law, M C. Mirow
Faculty Publications
The two most recent paradigmatic moments in the development of property law were the construction of "social property" about a hundred years ago and of "international property" quite recently. This study analyses two important texts as illustrations of these changes: Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891) and John Sprankling's book The International Law of Property (2014). Each text signals a paradigm shift in our understanding of property.
Property, Exclusivity, And Jurisdiction, James Y. Stern
Property, Exclusivity, And Jurisdiction, James Y. Stern
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Resilience Of Property, Lynda L. Butler
The Resilience Of Property, Lynda L. Butler
Faculty Publications
Resilience is essential to the ability of property to face transforming social and environmental change. For centuries, property has responded to such change through a dialectical process that identifies emerging disciplinary perspectives and debates conflicting values and norms. This dialectic promotes the resilience of property, allowing it to adapt to changing conditions and needs. Today the mainstream economic theory dominating common law property is progressively being intertwined with constitutionally protected property, undermining its long-term resilience. The coupling of the economic vision of ordinary property with constitutional property embeds the assumptions, choices, and values of the economic theory into both realms …
Article 9 And The Characterization And Treatment Of Tenant Security Deposits, R. Wilson Freyermuth, William H. Henning
Article 9 And The Characterization And Treatment Of Tenant Security Deposits, R. Wilson Freyermuth, William H. Henning
Faculty Publications
Each day, thousands of lessees enter into contracts under which they lease either real or personal property. Under the majority of these contracts, the lessee agrees to pay (and does pay) a "security deposit" to the lessor. The lessor typically agrees to refund the deposit at the conclusion of the lease term if the lessee fully performs its obligations under the lease contract. Is Article 9 relevant to this transaction? Has the lessor taken a "security interest" in the lessee's property to secure the lessee's obligations under the lease contract?
In Part I, we highlight two opinions representative of the …
Property Rights And Modern Energy, Troy A. Rule
Property Rights And Modern Energy, Troy A. Rule
Faculty Publications
This short article, written for a joint program of the Natural Resources and Energy Law and Property Law Sections of the American Association of Law Schools at the Association’s 2013 Annual Meeting, offers some general guidelines for adjusting property rights regimes to accommodate new energy innovations. This article suggests that, when feasible, policy actions that merely clarify ambiguities in existing law are often the simplest and most cost-effective way to respond when important technological advancements place pressure on longstanding property structures. When such policies are inadequate or unavailable, the most equitable and efficient adjustments to property arrangements tend to be …
Origins Of The Social Function Of Property In Chile, M C. Mirow
Origins Of The Social Function Of Property In Chile, M C. Mirow
Faculty Publications
In 1925, Chile was one of the first countries in Latin America to adopt a social-function limitation on property. This study traces the importance of Duguit’s work in the construction of the property provisions of the Chilean Constitution of 1925. This contribution notes the shift from the earlier expressions of property as an absolute right, as found in the Constitution of 1833, to the language of the Constitution of 1925 that submits property to “the maintenance and progress of the social order.” It tracks the debates in the drafting committees to expose the various concepts of property open to the …
Private Transfer Fee Covenants: Cleaning Up The Mess, R. Wilson Freyermuth
Private Transfer Fee Covenants: Cleaning Up The Mess, R. Wilson Freyermuth
Faculty Publications
The purposes for creating a "private transfer fee" covenant range from supporting community services to creating a future revenue stream for the developer. Traditionally, courts examined these covenants using the touch and concern standard. The Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes, however, rejects this standard. This Article discusses this new approach as it relates to private transfer fees. The author argues that private transfer fee covenants are contrary to public policy and encourages states to enact legislation limiting the enforcement of these covenants.
The Social-Obligation Norm Of Property: Duguit, Hayem, And Others, M C. Mirow
The Social-Obligation Norm Of Property: Duguit, Hayem, And Others, M C. Mirow
Faculty Publications
This article discusses and analyzes the sources and methods used by Leon Duguit in constructing the social-obligation or social-function norm of property as set out in an influential series of lectures in Buenos Aires published in 1912. The work of Henri Hayem has been underappreciated in the development of Duguit's ideas. Hayem should be restored as a central influence on Duguit's thought and as one of the main and earliest proponents of the idea of the social-function norm. The article also examines the influence of Charmont, Comte, Durkheim, Gide, Hauriou, Landry, and Saleilles in Duguit's thought on property and its …
The "Middle Ground" Perspective On The Expropriation Of Indian Lands, Eric Kades
The "Middle Ground" Perspective On The Expropriation Of Indian Lands, Eric Kades
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Reforming Foreclosure: The Uniform Nonjudicial Foreclosure Act, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Reforming Foreclosure: The Uniform Nonjudicial Foreclosure Act, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Faculty Publications
The Uniform Nonjudicial Foreclosure Act is one of the few creative approaches to mortgage foreclosure to emerge in many decades. In this Article, the authors examine why uniformity in foreclosure law among the states in desirable and, accordingly, advocate foreclosure reform. They analyze the Act, promulgated in 2002, giving specific attention to the Act's new methods of foreclosure by negotiated sale and by appraisal. They also examine the Act's numerous special protections for residential debtors and consider the effectiveness of the Act's procedures concerning subordinate leases, titles arising from foreclosures, surpluses and deficiencies resulting from foreclosures, and fairness of foreclosure …
Are We There Yet? The Case For A Uniform Electronic Recording Act, Dale A. Whitman
Are We There Yet? The Case For A Uniform Electronic Recording Act, Dale A. Whitman
Faculty Publications
To implement digital recording, a confluence of several factors is necessary: political will on the part of the public officials involved (recorders and their political masters, usually county commissioners or supervisors), legal authority, and budgets adequate to the task. Without all of these factors, little progress is likely.
From Jeans To Genes: The Evolving Nature Of Property Of The Estate, A. Mechele Dickerson
From Jeans To Genes: The Evolving Nature Of Property Of The Estate, A. Mechele Dickerson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Of Hotel Revenues, Rents, And Formalism In The Bankruptcy Courts: Implications For Reforming Commercial Real Estate Finance, R. Wilson Freyermuth
Of Hotel Revenues, Rents, And Formalism In The Bankruptcy Courts: Implications For Reforming Commercial Real Estate Finance, R. Wilson Freyermuth
Faculty Publications
This article is intended to continue the dialogue begun by the proposed Restatement and has two distinct goals in this effort. Parts I through III argue that the position of the Restatement drafters is both legally and functionally sound and that bankruptcy courts should embrace and apply the proposed Restatement in administering distressed real estate developments. Part I reviews the reasoning articulated in the hotel bankruptcy cases, demonstrating how courts have applied the provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and state law in a formalistic manner to extinguish the hotel mortgagee's lien upon postpetition room revenues. Part II rejects the analysis …
Mortgage Prepayment Clauses: An Economic And Legal Analysis, Dale A. Whitman
Mortgage Prepayment Clauses: An Economic And Legal Analysis, Dale A. Whitman
Faculty Publications
Most mortgages on income-producing real estate (as distinct from owner-occupied housing) contain clauses restricting early payment of the loan. These clauses are highly controversial, and borrowers often resist their enforcement. While other writers have discussed prepayment clauses in the recent legal literature, my objectives in this article are to advance this discussion in three respects: first, to provide an economic perspective on mortgage prepayment as support for a set of legal recommendations; second, to consider whether the bankruptcy of the mortgagor should affect enforceability of a prepayment fee clause; and third, to analyze the cumulative effect of the presence in …
Installment Land Contracts--The National Scene Revisited, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Installment Land Contracts--The National Scene Revisited, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Faculty Publications
In 1977 we published an article in this Review that discussed the legal aspects of the installment land contract. The installment contract was then, and continues to be, widely used as a device for seller financing of real estate. In our judgment, and increasingly in the judgment of the courts, that is a mistake. Few situations, if any, would lead an informed lawyer to advise his client to use an installment contract rather than its financing cousin, the note secured by a mortgage or deed of trust. Since the prior article was published, the courts have continued to place impediments …
Congressional Preemption Of Mortgage Due-On-Sale Law: An Analysis Of The Garn-St. Germain Act, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Congressional Preemption Of Mortgage Due-On-Sale Law: An Analysis Of The Garn-St. Germain Act, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Faculty Publications
We first describe the several major types of mortgagor transfer restrictions, and the judicial and legislative responses to these restrictions before the Act. Second, we analyze the effect and coverage of the important provisions of the Act and its attendant regulation. The complex exceptions to the application of the Act known as “window periods” are then considered. These window periods were created by Congress in an attempt to soften the impact of the Act on states that previously restricted due-on-sale enforcement, and are based on preexisting state law. We examine the difficult standards for identifying such window periods and suggest …
Secrecy And Real Property, Dale A. Whitman
Secrecy And Real Property, Dale A. Whitman
Faculty Publications
It is not unusual for owners of real property to wish to conceal from government or the public either the fact of their ownership or certain salient characteristics of the property they hold. The objective of this article is to consider the extent to which this desire for secrecy is supported by sound policy and American legal doctrine. It will focus on the civil recourse available to an owner of real property against private persons who, without the owner's knowledge and consent, reveal information about the ownership or physical characteristics of the property. The article will also consider whether the …
Financing Condominiums And Cooperatives, Dale A. Whitman
Financing Condominiums And Cooperatives, Dale A. Whitman
Faculty Publications
This article will deal with legal problems relating to the financing of condominiums and cooperatives. While space does not permit a detailed treatment of the non-financing aspects of these forms of ownership, a rudimentary overview of the legal relationships involved will preface discussion of the central topic. Both condominiums and cooperatives are legal formats for “unit ownership” – that is, the ownership of a physically defined portion of a larger parcel of (usually improved) real property. In the majority of cases, the “unit” is a residential apartment in a multifamily housing project. Condominiums are much more tightly controlled by stage …
The Installment Land Contract--A National Viewpoint, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
The Installment Land Contract--A National Viewpoint, Dale A. Whitman, Grant S. Nelson
Faculty Publications
The installment land contract is rarely used in some states, but in many it is the predominant means of vendor financing of land sales. Much has been written about it, but nearly all of the literature focuses on the law of one particular state or another. Our purpose here is to provide a nationwide perspective, with particular attention to the states in which the contract has been widely used and extensively litigated. We propose to examine the reasons for the installment contract's popularity, its advantages and disadvantages, and the risks it presents to both vendor and purchaser.
Virginia Survey Of Law: Property Section; Trusts And Estates Section, Lynda L. Butler
Virginia Survey Of Law: Property Section; Trusts And Estates Section, Lynda L. Butler
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
A Reassessment Of The Legal Bases Of Zoning, John E. Donaldson
A Reassessment Of The Legal Bases Of Zoning, John E. Donaldson
Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Optimizing Land Title Assurance Systems, Dale A. Whitman
Optimizing Land Title Assurance Systems, Dale A. Whitman
Faculty Publications
There is little unanimity of viewpoint concerning the complex and controversial subject of real estate settlement costs. The diverse interests and pressure groups seem to agree, however, that the public land title records of most jurisdictions are disarrayed, complicated, and inefficiently organized. This observation has been made with such frequency and conviction that it appears beyond dispute, and it will not be contested here.