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University of Michigan Law School

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Articles 511 - 540 of 944

Full-Text Articles in Property Law and Real Estate

Religion And Religious Institutions - Title To Church Property In Event Of A Schism Within A Church, Michigan Law Review Apr 1941

Religion And Religious Institutions - Title To Church Property In Event Of A Schism Within A Church, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In 1839 property was granted to the "Trustees of the Church of Christ of Little Grove and their successors in office . . . unto the only proper use and behoof of the Church of Christ at Little Grove during a succession of trustees." A dispute arose within the congregation, causing a schism, and both the plaintiffs and the defendants claimed that they were the successors to the original trustees and that they had carried on the tenets and doctrines of the Church of Christ. The evidence showed that the defendants had been elected trustees at an open meeting presided …

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Bankruptcy - Debts Not Affected By A Discharge - Goods Purchased When Insolvent With No Intent To Pay, William C. Wetherbee Jr. Mar 1941

Bankruptcy - Debts Not Affected By A Discharge - Goods Purchased When Insolvent With No Intent To Pay, William C. Wetherbee Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Respondent was suing the debtor in a municipal court of Georgia for goods purchased on account. When the debtor was ajudicated a bankrupt, the respondent changed his action from contract to tort by alleging that the bankrupt had purchased the goods when insolvent with no intent to pay for them. A judgment was obtained by respondent and the bankrupt subsequently received a discharge in bankruptcy. The bankrupt now asks that the respondent be enjoined from further proceeding to enforce this judgment by garnishment or in any other manner. Respondent claims that the judgment was not discharged since it was a …

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Taxation - Tax Delinquent Lands - The Michigan Land Board Act As A Solution To The Delinquency Problem, Rex B. Martin Mar 1941

Taxation - Tax Delinquent Lands - The Michigan Land Board Act As A Solution To The Delinquency Problem, Rex B. Martin

Michigan Law Review

Nearly all states have been faced with the increasingly difficult problem of what to do with the growing volume of tax delinquent land which has been thrown upon their hands. As a typical example of the financial aspects of this problem, Michigan in 1928 had over $25,000,000 worth of delinquent taxes on 8,757,000 acres of property. In 1932 this acreage was estimated at 15,660,000. By 1937 the unpaid taxes in some of Michigan's counties exceeded five times the assessed value of the delinquent properties. Much of the property could not be sold for the amount of taxes owed, and the …

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Parties - Representative Suits As Res Judicata- Rejection Of Doctrine Of Class Suits In Successive Actions To Enforce Mutual Covenants In Land, Gerald M. Lively Mar 1941

Parties - Representative Suits As Res Judicata- Rejection Of Doctrine Of Class Suits In Successive Actions To Enforce Mutual Covenants In Land, Gerald M. Lively

Michigan Law Review

Some 500 frontage owners in a certain described residential district entered into mutual covenants which stipulated against the sale to, or occupation of, such land by negroes. In an action to enjoin a breach of one of these covenants the defense was asserted that a condition precedent requiring ninety-five per cent of the frontage owners to sign the agreement had not been performed. On a trial of the merits it was found that only about fifty-four per cent of the frontage owners had actually signed. However, in a prior action, an owner, on behalf of herself and other like property …

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Insurance - Insurable Interest - Occupant Or Possessor Of Realty, Raymond H. Rapaport Feb 1941

Insurance - Insurable Interest - Occupant Or Possessor Of Realty, Raymond H. Rapaport

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sued upon an insurance policy, issued to her by the defendant, covering a building in which she was conducting a merchandising business. The building was owned in fee by the plaintiff's father-in-law, who had told the plaintiff that she might occupy it so long as she wished, and that he intended to deed it to her and her children. Held, plaintiff had an insurable interest in the building. Liverpool & London & Globe Ins. Co. v. Bolling, (Va. 1940) 10 S. E. (2d) 518.

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Constitutional Law- Eminent Domain - Power Of State To Condemn Land For Low-Cost Housing And Transfer To The United States, Oscar Freedenberg Jan 1941

Constitutional Law- Eminent Domain - Power Of State To Condemn Land For Low-Cost Housing And Transfer To The United States, Oscar Freedenberg

Michigan Law Review

Public low-cost housing legislation on a national scale in this country began with title II, section 202 of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which authorized the administrator to embark upon a program for "construction, reconstruction, alteration, or repair under public regulation or control of low-cost housing and slum-clearance projects." But soon thereafter, in United States v. Certain Lands in the City of Louisville, a majority of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit decided that the N.I.R.A. was unconstitutional so far as it attempted to authorize the condemnation of land by the United …

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Banks And Banking -Trusts - Right Of Bank To Sell Participating Trust Certificates In Self-Owned Property, Michigan Law Review Jan 1941

Banks And Banking -Trusts - Right Of Bank To Sell Participating Trust Certificates In Self-Owned Property, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In 1923 the trust company entered into a transaction with the land company by which the land company borrowed $130,000 with which it purchased a city property for slightly less than that amount and gave title to the trust company as security for the loan. Through a series of loans later negotiated the trust company came to have an investment of $150,000 in the property. In 1926 the trust company made an agreement with the land company pursuant to which the trust company declared itself trustee of the property at an appraised value almost fifty per cent above the purchase …

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Deeds - Construction - Effect Of Words Showing Purpose Of Grant, Michigan Law Review Jan 1941

Deeds - Construction - Effect Of Words Showing Purpose Of Grant, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sought to enjoin defendants from drilling for oil and gas on a strip of land which defendants claimed through a "right of way deed" conveying and warranting the strip to a railroad company "as and for its right of way'' and describing the land as "across and upon" a certain quarter-section. The deed recited as consideration $250 and the benefits accruing to the grantor through the construction and operation of a railroad on the land. Tracks were never laid on the strip, but the railroad company continued to pay taxes thereon. Held, that under Illinois law a fee …

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Railroads -- Extent Of Title Acquired By Railroad By Adverse Possession Of Land Used As Right-Of-Way - Effect On Mineral Rights, Roy L. Rogers Dec 1940

Railroads -- Extent Of Title Acquired By Railroad By Adverse Possession Of Land Used As Right-Of-Way - Effect On Mineral Rights, Roy L. Rogers

Michigan Law Review

In a recent Michigan case it appeared that for more than the statutory period of limitation the plaintiff railroad had maintained a right-of-way over land to which the defendant held the record title. A decree quieting title in fee simple absolute in the plaintiff railroad was sought in order to determine the ownership of the oil and gas underlying the right-of-way. The court held that the railroad acquired by adverse user of the right-of-way no title to the oil and gas or other minerals beneath the surface of the land.

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Deeds - Exceptions And Reservations - Use Of Extrinsic Evidence To Interpret Uncertain Exceptions - Exception To Grant Described In Document To Be Drawn, Michigan Law Review Dec 1940

Deeds - Exceptions And Reservations - Use Of Extrinsic Evidence To Interpret Uncertain Exceptions - Exception To Grant Described In Document To Be Drawn, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In anticipation of becoming the owner of a tract of land, S agreed to convey to a water company that portion of the land which the company would require for its reservoir. On acquiring the land, S conveyed the tract to F "except about 25/100 acres on the westerly side to be deeded to the Centralia Water Works Co." Ten days later, S conveyed to the water company "all that part . . . that is now or shall hereafter be, covered by water in the reservoir of said . . . company to high water mark in flood time …

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Landlord And Tenant - Necessity For Consideration For Lease, James A. Lee Dec 1940

Landlord And Tenant - Necessity For Consideration For Lease, James A. Lee

Michigan Law Review

In an action to cancel a five-year lease, it appeared that the lessee had agreed to pay as rent an amount equal to one cent a gallon on each gallon of gasoline delivered, by it, on the leased premises. Held, that the lease was valid, as it created a bilateral contract supported by consideration on both sides, since according to the court's construction of the lease the lessee had impliedly promised to use the premises as an automobile filling and service station for the stipulated period and so would necessarily be required to deliver gasoline there. Jackson v. Pepper …

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Measures Of Land Value For Utility Regulation, Lrston R. Barnes Nov 1940

Measures Of Land Value For Utility Regulation, Lrston R. Barnes

Michigan Law Review

The appraisal of the land of utility corporations presents problems that are not encountered in the valuation of other utility properties. The basic principles and methods of appraisal applicable to other properties are considered inappropriate for the valuation of lands, and certain inconsistencies between the treatment of land and other properties suggest embarrassing questions as to the principles which should guide the regulation of utility rates. Two concrete problems may serve to provide orientation for the discussion which follows: What elements of cost imposed on utilities in the acquisition of real estate are entitled to consideration in establishing rates? To …

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Eminent Domain - Measure Of Compensation - Admissibility Of Evidence Of Past Profits, Alfred G. Ellick Jr. Nov 1940

Eminent Domain - Measure Of Compensation - Admissibility Of Evidence Of Past Profits, Alfred G. Ellick Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff corporation, lessee for a term of ten years of a tract of real estate located at the intersection of a main highway and the tracks of the lessor railroad, was engaged in the poultry business and in the retail buying and selling of automobile equipment. The location of the plaintiff's leasehold enabled the plaintiff to effect many economies in the operation of its business. The defendant municipality constructed a viaduct over the railroad tracks in such a manner that, while none of the plaintiff's property was actually taken, its usefulness as a retail outlet was destroyed. Plaintiff brought suit …

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Eminent Domain - Power Of The Federal Government To Condemn Land In Public Use For An Inconsistent Federal Use, Robert P. Kneeland Nov 1940

Eminent Domain - Power Of The Federal Government To Condemn Land In Public Use For An Inconsistent Federal Use, Robert P. Kneeland

Michigan Law Review

Defendants, landowners and next of kin of persons buried in a cemetery which was being subjected to condemnation, moved to dismiss the federal government's petition for condemnation of such lands on the grounds that the federal statutes did not authorize the United States to take land already dedicated to a public use for an inconsistent use; and that public cemeteries were not subject to the United States' power of eminent domain. The land was being condemned to effectuate a federal project under the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Federal Emergency Relief Appropriations Act of 1935, and was for public …

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Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - What Is A General Power Of Appointment Within The Meaning Of The Federal Statute?, John H. Pickering Jun 1940

Taxation - Federal Estate Tax - What Is A General Power Of Appointment Within The Meaning Of The Federal Statute?, John H. Pickering

Michigan Law Review

Decedent exercised her testamentary power to appoint the income of a discretionary trust. The commissioner declared a tax deficiency for failure to include the property subject to the power in the gross estate. The executor appealed on the ground that the power was a special power under Wisconsin law since the trustee could withhold the income from any beneficiary. Held, the power was general since it was exercisable in favor of the donee's estate or her creditors and therefore the exercise of the power was taxable under section 302(f) of the Revenue Act of 1926. Morgan v. Commissioner, …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Benjamin W. Franklin Jun 1940

Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Benjamin W. Franklin

Michigan Law Review

In 1915, defendant leased a tract of land to X for ninety-nine years. The lease provided that the lessee could remove the old building and replace it; and that on termination, the lessee should surrender the land, buildings and improvements. In 1929, the lessee razed the old structure and erected a new one. On default by the lessee in 1933, the lease was cancelled and defendant repossessed the premises. The commissioner of internal revenue determined that the difference between the fair market value of the new building in 1933 and the unamortized cost of the building razed in 1929 was …

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Public Officers - Federal Officer's Liability For Damages Done To Property Pursuant To Statutory Authorization, Jerome J. Dick Jun 1940

Public Officers - Federal Officer's Liability For Damages Done To Property Pursuant To Statutory Authorization, Jerome J. Dick

Michigan Law Review

The defendant, pursuant to a contract with the United States government for improving navigation on the Missouri River, built some structures in the bed of this navigable waterway which caused a shifting of the channel resulting in damage to the riparian lands of the plaintiff. Thereupon plaintiff sued for damages. In reversing the trial court, which had granted judgment for the plaintiff, the circuit court of appeals said that the action could be maintained against the defendant if there was a wrongful invasion of plaintiff's property rights; but held for defendant because the damage suffered by plaintiff was an incident …

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Constitutional Law - Eminent Domain - Value As Fixed By Agreement Between The Parties - When Is Property Taken For Purpose Of Determining Payment Of Interest?, John H. Pickering May 1940

Constitutional Law - Eminent Domain - Value As Fixed By Agreement Between The Parties - When Is Property Taken For Purpose Of Determining Payment Of Interest?, John H. Pickering

Michigan Law Review

Defendant's land, situated between the riverside and set-back levees of the proposed floodway extending along the western bank of the Mississippi from Bird's Point to New Madrid, Missouri, was inundated in the flood of 1937, at which time the floodway, with its system of fuse plugs (whereby the riverbank levee was to be lowered to allow flood waters to spend their destructive force by spreading over larger areas) was not yet in operation. Thereafter the United States, under authority conferred by the Flood Control Act of 1928, instituted condemnation proceedings to secure flowage rights over defendant's land. Defendant claimed that …

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Evidence - Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur - Duty Of Occupier Of Land To Users Of Adjoining Highway, Michigan Law Review Mar 1940

Evidence - Negligence - Res Ipsa Loquitur - Duty Of Occupier Of Land To Users Of Adjoining Highway, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

While seated in his car waiting for a traffic light to change, plaintiff was injured by the precipitation of debris caused by an explosion within the remaining walls of a building which defendant and his servants were razing. During the wrecking operations masses of bricks occasionally fell on a roped-off portion of the sidewalk under which ran two pipes through which gas was delivered to the building. After defendant's servants detected the escape of gas, the gas company removed the meters and plugged the pipes in the cellar. Gas continued to escape, and defendant was informed of its presence by …

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Torts - Duty - Liability Of Abutting Property Owner To One Who Falls On Ice, Robert A. Solomon Mar 1940

Torts - Duty - Liability Of Abutting Property Owner To One Who Falls On Ice, Robert A. Solomon

Michigan Law Review

After having made some purchases in defendant's store, plaintiff fell on the ice and snow covering the walk in front. Alleging that the defendant had negligently cleaned the walk by leaving ridges of snow which melted and froze, forming an uneven surface, the plaintiff and her husband brought actions against the defendant store owner to recover for the injuries sustained. The lower court directed a verdict for the defendant. Held, the plaintiff could not recover because the defendant did not owe a duty to her. Therrien v. First Nat. Stores, Inc., (R. I. 1939) 6 A. (2d) 731.

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Zoning - Municipal Corporations - Due Process - Restrictions On Power To Change Zoning Plan Previously Adopted, Edmund R. Blaske Jan 1940

Zoning - Municipal Corporations - Due Process - Restrictions On Power To Change Zoning Plan Previously Adopted, Edmund R. Blaske

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff owned several lots in a subdivision which the defendant city changed from a class "B" residence district to a class "C" residence district. In an action for a declaratory judgment the plaintiff asked the court to pronounce the amendment making pie change void. The declaration contained the following allegations: that there was already sufficient undeveloped class "C" property to satisfy present and future building needs; that the change was made at the instance of private persons, for their benefit, and not in the public interest; that the new classification would decrease the value and enjoyment of the plaintiff's …

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Torts - Landlord And Tenant - Liability Of Landlord To Invitee Of Tenant, Michigan Law Review Jan 1940

Torts - Landlord And Tenant - Liability Of Landlord To Invitee Of Tenant, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff was a customer of a beauty shop; upon leaving the ladies' room connected with the shop, she fell at the entrance. The floor of the ladies' room was some seven inches higher than the floor of the shop, the door extending down to the level of the shop floor. This structural defect existed at the time of the lease, and there was no covenant to repair. Plaintiff sues defendant landlord, basing her claim in nuisance. Held, defendant landlord may be liable on negligence principles, since where a landlord leases premises on which he knows or should know that …

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Eminent Domain - Covenants - Violation Of Building Restrictions By Exercise Of Public Authority - Necessity For Compensation, Edmund R. Blaske Jan 1940

Eminent Domain - Covenants - Violation Of Building Restrictions By Exercise Of Public Authority - Necessity For Compensation, Edmund R. Blaske

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to examine the contract and the property theories of restrictive covenants; and to suggest other possible grounds upon which to decide whether or not a public agency should compensate owners in the subdivision for interference with their restrictive covenants.

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Constitutional Law - Municipal Corporations - Delegation Of Power - Consent Of Adjoining Property Owners - Reasonableness Of Restriction On The Use Of Property., Michigan Law Review Jan 1940

Constitutional Law - Municipal Corporations - Delegation Of Power - Consent Of Adjoining Property Owners - Reasonableness Of Restriction On The Use Of Property., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

An ordinance of the city of Detroit regulated trailer camps in part by requiring the consent of sixty-five per cent of the adjoining property owners before a permit would issue, and by forbidding the parking of occupied trailers in any camp or camps for more than ninety accumulated days in any twelve-months' period. Plaintiff camp owner sought to restrain enforcement of the restrictions. Held, that as to both the consent and the ninety-day provisions, the ordinance is a valid and reasonable exercise of the police power. Cady v. City of Detroit, 289 Mich. 499, 286 N. W. 805 …

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Zoning - Police Power - Will Change In Conditions Make Zoning Restrictions Invalid?, Edmund R. Blaske Jan 1940

Zoning - Police Power - Will Change In Conditions Make Zoning Restrictions Invalid?, Edmund R. Blaske

Michigan Law Review

Desiring to operate a restaurant on his land, plaintiff petitioned the city trustees of Sunnyvale to rezone his property by taking it out of the residential district and adding it to the adjacent industrial district. After denial of his petitions, plaintiff brought this suit in which he sought a judgment declaring the zoning ordinance void as to his property. Reversing the lower court's judgment in favor of the city, the supreme court held, that because conditions had changed since the enactment of the ordinance, it was void as to plaintiff's property. Skalko V. City of Sunnyvale, (Cal. 1939) …

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Taxation-Federal Estate Tax-Joint Tenancy-Retroactivity, Richard S. Brawerman Dec 1939

Taxation-Federal Estate Tax-Joint Tenancy-Retroactivity, Richard S. Brawerman

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jacobs deals with the troublesome issue of retroactivity under the federal estate tax law. The decedent whose estate was involved in this case had paid the entire consideration for certain real estate which was conveyed to himself and his wife as joint tenants. This transaction took place in 1909. The decedent died in 1924, shortly after the effective date of the Revenue Act of that year. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue included the entire value of the real estate in the decedent's gross estate. The executors paid the tax …

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Landlord And Tenant - Assumption Of Risk Of Defective Stairway In Landlord's Control By Employee Of Tenant, John S. Pennell Dec 1939

Landlord And Tenant - Assumption Of Risk Of Defective Stairway In Landlord's Control By Employee Of Tenant, John S. Pennell

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, employee of a tenant in defendant's building, fell and suffered injuries while using a stairway designed for the use of the tenants and their employees. The stairway was in the control of the landlord, and had long been in a defective condition. It was the only means of ingress and egress. In the plaintiff's action against the landlord the trial court granted a non-suit on the ground that plaintiff had voluntarily assumed the risk of the defective stairway by her use thereof. Plaintiff appealed. Held, the question whether the plaintiff had voluntarily assumed the risk is a question …

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Negligence - Escalator Not An Attractive Nuisance, Michigan Law Review Dec 1939

Negligence - Escalator Not An Attractive Nuisance, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a four-year-old child, accompanied his mother into defendant's department store. Having wandered over to a nearby escalator, he inserted his hand into the aperture where the steps go under the floor, and suffered the loss of two fingers for which injury this action was brought. Held, defendant's motion to dismiss the action was properly granted below, since an escalator, being an ordinary, common instrumentality constructed for ordinary and common use, is not an attractive nuisance. Kataoka v. May Department Stores Co., (D. C. Cal. 1939) 28 F. Supp. 3.

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Torts - Adjoining Landowners - Duty Of Adjacent Owner To Airport Operator - Dangerous Instrumentalities, Jerome Dick Dec 1939

Torts - Adjoining Landowners - Duty Of Adjacent Owner To Airport Operator - Dangerous Instrumentalities, Jerome Dick

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff operated an airport which was adjacent to defendant public utility's uninsulated electric power transmission line. Since the airplane could not enter or leave the airport without flying low over defendant's adjacent right-of-way, the wire constituted an obstruction to their means of ingress and egress; in addition there was the danger of electrocution from contact with the wires. Plaintiff contends that this constitutes an interference with his business and seeks damages. Held, for defendant; under the statute plaintiff is a trespasser because he interferes with the reasonable use of defendant's property and a landowner is under no obligation to …

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Torts - Liability Without Fault - Rylands V. Fletcher - Necessity For Control Of Premises, Charles F. Dugan Dec 1939

Torts - Liability Without Fault - Rylands V. Fletcher - Necessity For Control Of Premises, Charles F. Dugan

Michigan Law Review

Defendant, under a contract with the federal government to dredge the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, deposited the effluent material dredged from the canal upon a disposal area owned by the government. The work was carried on under government supervision, and neither the government inspectors nor defendant's employees knew, nor apparently could they have known, of any defect in the retaining wall which had previously been built by the government to hold back the material. Defendant had had nothing to do with prior dredging operations, by which the level of fixed earth behind the retaining wall had been raised considerably. After …

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