Property Law and Real Estate Commons^™

Taxation - Real Property Assessment, Wayne E. Bahler

Michigan Law Review

Based upon the cost-depreciation method applicable to adjacent property, the assessment of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and terminal resulted in taxes equal to forty-one per cent of the gross revenue for the depression years of 1931-1934; The federal district court enjoined the collection of such amount, and assessed the property by the capitalized income method (seven per cent) plus $3,500 for the value of possible future increased earnings. Upon appeal it was held that the injunction on the original levy be affirmed since the cost-depreciation method was erroneous and offensive to the Fourteenth Amendment in not taking account of depressions or …

Mortgages - Set-Off In Action Against Assuming Grantee On Third Party Beneficiary Theory, Anthony L. Dividio

Michigan Law Review

Evans and Fulmer entered into an agreement for an exchange of two pieces of property. Fulmer assumed two mortgages on the property conveyed to her. According to the agreement, Evans gave a first mortgage on the property conveyed to him to a third person and a second mortgage to Fulmer. Evans defaulted on the first mortgage assumed by him; Fulmer, who held the second mortgage, foreclosed and as a result suffered a $17,000 loss. Later, Evans regained possession of the promissory notes evidencing the second mortgage on the property conveyed to Fulmer, and assigned them to Goldfarb who sued Fulmer, …

Torts - Liability Of Landlord To Tenant For Disrepair, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A landlord made an oral, month-to-month lease of premises to one Harris, who occupied the premises as a beauty shop in which he employed his wife. Both at the time of the letting and subsequently, an agent of the landlord agreed to repair a defective cellar stairway, but failed to do so. The lessee's wife was injured by the collapse of the stairway; thereupon, the tenant and his wife sued the landlord. A verdict was directed against the tenant and judgment non obstante veredicto was entered against the wife. The wife appealed. Held, even assuming the wife not contributorily …

Vendor And Purchaser - Equitable Conversion - Application To Obligation To Extinguish Forest Fires, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A Montana statute placed the burden of extinguishing forest fires on the person on whose "property" the fire occurred, and, on failure of such person to extinguish it, made him liable to reimburse any authorized unit that should do so. Fire broke out on property owned by D, and a Government unit extinguished it. Previous to such fire, D had contracted to sell the land to X under a contract giving X the right of possession. Held, by the doctrine of equitable conversion, X was the beneficial owner, and the land was not D's "property" so as …

Negligence - Duty To Control Conduct Of Another - Landowner's Duty To Those Outside His Premises, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In violation of its rules prohibiting trespassing, defendant railroad's signal maintenance man invited a third person to shoot ducks from the signal tower. The trespasser, while in the tower, negligently shot plaintiff's decedent, who was shooting on adjacent land. Held, the defendant company did not violate its duty to use care commensurate with known danger, hence was not liable. DeRyss v. New York Cent. Ry., 275 N. Y. 85, 9 N. E. (2d) 788 (1937).

Negligence Injury To Child From Defendants Dangerous Chattel On The Land Of A Third Person, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The minor plaintiff, a child of seven, sued to recover damages for personal injuries received while playing upon defendant's road scraper which had been parked near a playground in a vacant lot belonging to a stranger. Held, that the defendant was under a duty to guard against danger of injury to children by tying fast the operating mechanism with a rope, and the plaintiff, even though a trespasser, is entitled to recover. "The defense of no liability to a trespasser is personal to the owner of the premises trespassed upon; it does not inure to the benefit of strangers …

Eminent Domain - Public Housing And Slum Clearance As A "Public Use", Wayne E. Babler

Michigan Law Review

The recent legislation providing for housing and slum clearance raises the interesting and practical problem of whether a taking of land for such housing and slum clearance purposes by means of an eminent domain proceeding is condemnation for a "public use," within the meaning of that term in eminent domain proceedings. Such a taking was held to be for a public use in the recent case of Spahn v. Stewart.

Purchaser's Remedies For Absence Of Marketable Title, Lawrence Linville

Michigan Law Review

"Where a person takes upon himself to contract for the sale of an estate, and is not the absolute owner of it, nor has it in his power by the ordinary course of law or equity to make himself so; though the owner offer to make the seller a title, yet equity will not force the buyer to take it, for every seller ought to be a bona fide contractor: and it would lead to infinite mischief if one man were permitted to speculate upon the sale of another's estate."

The apprehensions of Sugden were not groundless, as three quarters …

Principal And Agent - Liability Of Agent To Third Party For Contract Made Without Authority, Walter Probst Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant conducted a real estate agency and had been requested from time to time to find a purchaser for a certain tract of land. The defendant negotiated to sell this land to the plaintiffs, who knew the defendant was acting as an agent. The land had before the time of this negotiation been conveyed to a third party by the principal. It was found that the defendant was acting in good faith. Held, that the defendant was not personally liable for the loss and damage sustained by the plaintiffs. King v. Russell, 278 Mich. 529, 270 N. …

Landlord And Tenant - Liability Of Subtenant For Rent After Surrender Of Head Lease, Virginia M. Renz

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, as assignee of the original lessor, sued the defendant, sublessee, for rent. On September 3, 1930, the head lease was surrendered to the owner, subject to all subleases. The defendant was in possession until about January 4, 1933. At that time he learned of the surrender and vacated the premises. Held, the lessee's surrender of the head lease to the owner did not terminate either the rights or obligations of the sublessee. The doctrine of merger is inapplicable. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Hellinger, 272 N. Y. 24, 3 N. E. (2d) 621 (1936).

Assessment Of Real Property For Taxation, Kenneth K. Luce

Michigan Law Review

A taxpayer's suit to have the assessment on his real property lowered raises some of the oldest and most troublesome problems in the law of taxation. Invariably both the taxpayer and the government are in position to present convincing evidence and forceful argument regarding the fairness of the assessment. Moreover, to the lawyer the problems of appellate review involved in the taxpayer's suit are exceedingly complex. Except in the case of the public utility, the administrative process usually begins with the fixing of the assessment by the local assessing official. From his decision the taxpayer may in most jurisdictions appeal …

Air Law - Legal Status Of Airplane Flight, Philip A. Hart Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The classical statement of the extent of the landowner's right to the air space above his land is the maxim, Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelum. It is recognized, however, that decisions stating such a rule are not in point upon the status of air navigation today, for when those decisions were rendered flights were made in fancy only. Hence it is that all cases deciding this modern problem have disregarded the literal meaning of this maxim and tried to strike a compromise between the claims of air navigation and the claims of ownership. Three theories have …

Adverse Possession - Tacking Possessions Of Land Not Included In Deed - Michigan Rule, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

By agreement with plaintiffs' predecessor in title, defendants' grantor set out a hedge on what both parties believed to be the true dividing line between their respective lots but which was in fact seven feet south of the true line. Defendants' grantor occupied the strip up to the hedge for ten years and then sold the lot to defendants, at the time of sale pointing out to them the piece of property believed to be the lot he was selling. He delivered possession and a deed which did not include the seven-foot strip within its calls. Six years later plaintiffs …

Landlord And Tenant - Disability To Recover Rent For Failure To Comply With Tenement Law, Theodore R. Vogt

Michigan Law Review

A Connecticut statute provides: "No building constructed as . . . a tenement house shall be occupied . . . until the issuance of a certificate . . . that said building conforms . . . to the requirements of this chapter . . . . " (Section 2592.) It is further provided (Section 2593): "If any building . . . be occupied . . . in violation of the provisions of section 2592, during such unlawful occupation no rent shall be recoverable by the owner or lesee . . . and no action or special proceedings shall be maintained …

Quasi-Contracts - Use And Occupation - Recovery Of Benefits Received By A Trespasser, Walter Probst Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant had discovered and developed by considerable advertising the Great Onyx Cave in Kentucky. After a survey ordered in an earlier equity proceeding it was discovered that one-third of the cave was under plaintiff's land. The only opening was upon defendant's land. Through this opening had entered a large number of visitors who had paid the defendant admission fees for the privilege. Held, plaintiff could recover in assumpsit one-third of the net profits earned by the defendant from the cave. Edwards v. Lee's Admr., (Ky. 1936) 96 S. W. (2d) 1028.

Fixtures - Gasoline Station - Rights Of Tenant To Remove, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant leased a vacant lot from the plaintiff for a three-year period, to use as a gasoline station site. The lease, a filled-in printed form, supplied and drawn up by the defendant was silent as to which of the parties would erect the building, but stipulated that the lessee agreed to keep the premises, including equipment and fixtures of every nature, in good repair, would insure them, and at the end of the term "yield and deliver up the same in like condition as when taken." It also provided that the lessor would rebuild in the event of fire. Defendant …

Party Walls - Replacement And Removal, Charles W. Allen

Michigan Law Review

The usual American theory of the rights of adjoining land owners in a party wall is that each owns in severalty that part of the wall on his land and each has an easement of support in that part on the land of the other. If the structure is erected under an express contract, the rights of the parties are determined by the terms of their contract. And when the easement of support is created by prescription, its scope is measured by the prior user, and no right to remove or replace the wall can exist by virtue of the …

Bankruptcy - Corporate Reorganization - Plan - Adequate Protection Of Claims - Due Process, Erwin S. Simon

Michigan Law Review

In proceedings for reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act, the debtor held real property valued at $245,025, while outstanding against the property there were first mortgage bonds of $445,000, second mortgage notes for $40,250 and a third mortgage note for $27,000. The court confirmed a plan which made no provision for junior lienors or stockholders, and to which they had not given their consent. On certiorari, granted by the Supreme Court, it was held, that since there was no equity in the property above the first mortgage, the claims of the junior lienors and stockholders had no …

Easements - Right To Lay Additional Pipes, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendants had granted to the city of Lynchburg an easement to "lay, construct, operate, inspect, repair and perpetually maintain water or conduit lines with all the necessary fixtures and appurtenances . . . " Pursuant to this grant, the city had laid down a conduit of redwood staves which has now decayed. In this action, the city seeks to enjoin the defendants from interference with the laying down of a new cast-iron conduit which would require the utilization of an additional six feet of land. Held, that the parties had defined their rights under an indefinite grant, and the …

Constitutional Law - Anti-Deficiency Judgment Statutes In Foreclosure Actions - Impairment Of Contract, Elbridge D. Phelps

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff instituted a proceeding on a judgment bond which was secured by a real estate mortgage, both of which had been executed by defendants, caused judgment to be entered on the bond, and procured the issuance of a writ of execution under which the mortgaged premises were sold. Thereafter, under the provisions of the state Mortgage Deficiency Judgment Act, defendants procured a satisfaction of the judgment in toto. After entry of such satisfaction, plaintiff filed a petition upon which the court granted a rule on defendants to show cause why the satisfaction should not be stricken. From an order dismissing …

Municipal Corporations - Constitutional Limitation On Indebtedness - Delinquent Taxes As Deductible Asset, Emma Rae Mann

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff taxpayer sued to enjoin defendant city from borrowing $500,000 for general public improvements, alleging that if, the city so obligated itself it would be indebted beyond the limit fixed by the constitution at two per cent of the assessed valuation of taxable property. Defendant showed that such limit would not be exceeded if two-thirds of the outstanding delinquent taxes were regarded as deductible. The court denied the injunction and held that since collection of at least two-thirds of such outstanding delinquent taxes was certain this item was properly deductible. Ward v. Pittsburgh, 321 Pa. 414, 184 A. 240 …

Corporations - Parent's Liability For Subsidiary's Obligations, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

A parent corporation owned all the stock of a subsidiary which it had organized to hold real estate, its own business being mercantile. The directors and officers of both corporations were identical. The subsidiary sublet premises for ninety-nine years, in turn leasing them to the parent for ten years. Improvements were made in accordance with the subsidiary's contract, and "leasehold trust certificates" were issued by an assignee of the underlying lease. The parent quit the premises before the expiration of its lease, but paid the rent for the whole period. The subsidiary then defaulted on the ninety-nine year lease, having …

Eminent Domain -Valuation Of Land - Evidence Of Potential Use, Donald H. Larmee

Michigan Law Review

The United States Government condemned certain lands of the petitioners on the island of Oahu for a federal public purpose. Although the owners of the lands had for many years used them mainly for cattle raising, they had in view the ultimate use of them for the growing of sugar cane. The petitioners offered to prove that over 3,000 acres of the tract were suitable for the growing of sugar cane due to the climate and contour of the land. They further offered to prove that on other lands owned by them a water source was available from which water …

Election Of Remedies - Deficiency Decree As Bar To Subsequent Suit On Debt, Donald H. Larmee

Michigan Law Review

After foreclosure in Florida of a purchase money mortgage on Florida land, the mortgagee filed a claim for the deficiency against the estate of one of the co-mortgagors, who was a permanent resident of Michigan, and who had been served only by publication in the foreclosure suit. In the foreclosure proceedings the mortgagee had prayed for a deficiency decree, and the Florida court had retained jurisdiction for that purpose, after ordering the sale. The mortgagee had taken no further steps in that proceeding. Held, the Florida law was controlling, and that by Florida statutes, as construed by the courts …

Taxation - Exemptions - Municipally-Owned Property

Michigan Law Review

In settlement for collateral notes given to secure its deposits in a bank which became insolvent, a municipality had conveyed to it an office building, located in a county other than the one in which said municipality was situated. The city thereafter rented the offices to tenants operating private businesses. The county in which the building was located subjected it to an ad valorem tax. Contesting the right to its collection, the city failed to pay the assessed taxes, for a period of four years. Held, the property, although municipally-owned, not being held or used for any governmental or …

Eminent Domain - Slum Clearance And Low-Cost Housing Program As Public Use

Michigan Law Review

A New York statute set up a public corporation with power to investigate and study housing conditions in the city, and to plan and carry out projects for the clearance of slums and the providing of housing accommodations for persons of low income. The corporation sought to condemn certain property owned by the defendant, who resisted the proceeding on the ground that the taking was not for a public use and therefore violative of the Fourteenth Amendment and a similar provision in the state constitution. Held, that the taking was for a public benefit and that therefore the constitutional …

Constitutional Law - Race Segregation Ordinance - Effect Of Military Order Of Governor Issued For Same Purpose

Michigan Law Review

A "segregation ordinance" of Oklahoma City, prospective in nature, made it unlawful for any negro to occupy as a residence any house or building located in a block wherein a majority of the buildings used were occupied by white persons. The initial step in the segregation of races in the city occurred when the Governor issued a military order for the separation of the races, because it appeared that riot and bloodshed were imminent; such order to remain in effect until an ordinance was passed in lieu of the order. Held, the ordinance was an invalid exercise of the …

Future Interests-Remainder To A Class As A Vested Remainder

Michigan Law Review

Testator left to his daughter certain real estate "as her sole and separate property during her natural life and at her death to her children absolutely." One of the children mortgaged his interest in the remainder to plaintiff and died, the life tenant surviving him; and thereafter the plaintiff brought suit for foreclosure. Held, this was a remainder to uncertain persons which did not vest in anyone during the life of the life tenant; and therefore the mortgage was a nullity. Deener v. Watkins, 191 Ark. 776, 87 S. W. (2d) 994 (1935).

Simes On Future Interests, Charles C. White

Michigan Law Review

It is encouraging that the law teachers are turning their talents to the writing of treatises. Recent examples are Professor Bogert's monumental work on Trusts and Professor Griswold's volume on Spendthrift Trusts. And now comes this comprehensive work on Future Interests, about which little has heretofore been written with an especial appeal to the average practitioner. Too much of the law teacher's energy has. gone into editing case books and writing law review articles. And case books and law review articles are not read by lawyers in general.

Specific Performance--Damages--Action At Law By Vendor Of Land For The Full Purchase Price

Michigan Law Review

In an action at law by a vendor of land for breach of contract by the purchaser, the title not having passed, the traditional measure of damages is the difference between the contract price and the value of the land at the time the vendor's conveyance was due. But where a conveyance is not yet due from the vendor a majority of jurisdictions allow recovery of all but the last installment of the purchase money, on the ground that in that case the promise to pay is independent of the vendor's promise to convey. Even where a conveyance is due …