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Michigan Law Review

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Full-Text Articles in Property Law and Real Estate

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Mortgages - Limitation Of Actions - Deficiency Decree On Basis Of Covenant In Mortgage When Action On Note Barred, Donald M. Swope Jun 1939

Mortgages - Limitation Of Actions - Deficiency Decree On Basis Of Covenant In Mortgage When Action On Note Barred, Donald M. Swope

Michigan Law Review

Defendant executed and delivered to plaintiff a promissory note and a mortgage securing it. The mortgage contained a covenant to pay $10,000 (the principal amount of the note) "according to the terms of a certain promissory note bearing even date herewith." Upon foreclosure it was held, three judges dissenting, that the mortgagee was entitled to a deficiency decree notwithstanding action on the note was barred by the statute of limitations. Guardian Depositors Corporation of Detroit v. Savage, 287 Mich. 193,283 N. W. 26 (1938).

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Constitutional Law - Mortgages - Moratoria On The Way Out?, Elbridge D. Phelps Jun 1939

Constitutional Law - Mortgages - Moratoria On The Way Out?, Elbridge D. Phelps

Michigan Law Review

As a general proposition, one might perhaps feel prone to quarrel with the statement that "history repeats itself," but there can be little doubt that it applies full well to legislation aimed at relieving hard-pressed debtors in times of financial crises. From our earliest American history, every economic "winter" has provoked a landslide of pro-debtor legislation. Nor have mortgage debtors been overlooked in this regard. The remedies suggested have been as varied and ingenious as human minds could concoct. A brief review of the past decisions indicates that when they could be said to impair the obligation of contract, such …

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Deeds - Construction Where Grantees Take "Jointly'', Michigan Law Review Jun 1939

Deeds - Construction Where Grantees Take "Jointly'', Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Land was conveyed to plaintiffs' ancestor and defendant by deed. The granting clause read: "hereby convey to Isaac . . . and Alice . . . "; the habendum clause: "Said real estate being taken by said grantees jointly . . . to have and to hold . . . to the said grantees, their assigns, heirs, and devisees forever." The heirs of Isaac, who died intestate, filed a partition petition; Alice, claiming as surviving joint tenant, answered and also started an action to quiet title. A statute provided that "Conveyances to two or more in their own right create …

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Landlord And Tenant - Liability Of Landlord To Lessee's Guest - "Nuisance", Michigan Law Review Jun 1939

Landlord And Tenant - Liability Of Landlord To Lessee's Guest - "Nuisance", Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Defendant leased the top two floors of a three-story building to a single tenant for use as an apartment house, the first floor being let to another tenant for business purposes. At the time of the original lease, there were facilities on the roof suitable for the laundering needs of prospective subtenants. There were also on the roof, in plain sight, three skylights, each being covered by glass panes resting on a casing which was raised twelve inches above the surface of the roof. While assisting a subtenant friend in hanging laundry, plaintiff fell through one of these skylights. He …

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Constitutional Law - Special Assessments - Property Owner's Right To Hearing Under Due Process Clause - Legislative Determination Of Benefits, Richard S. Brawerman Jun 1939

Constitutional Law - Special Assessments - Property Owner's Right To Hearing Under Due Process Clause - Legislative Determination Of Benefits, Richard S. Brawerman

Michigan Law Review

The California legislature created the Los Angeles Flood Control District, empowered a board of supervisors to construct improvements and acquire property necessary or useful for carrying out the purposes of the act, and provided for the organization of drainage districts within the flood control district. An amendatory act provided that the board of supervisors might accept a transfer of "all, but not less than all," improvements of defined classes lying within the flood control district, whereupon the district should become liable for principal and interest of bonds afterward maturing which had been issued by any drainage district to cover the …

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Trusts - Right Of Trustee's Wife To Dower In Property Held Subject To Oral Trust - Effect Of Subsequent Memorandum - Dower Where Trustee Has Both Legal And Equitable Interest, Michigan Law Review May 1939

Trusts - Right Of Trustee's Wife To Dower In Property Held Subject To Oral Trust - Effect Of Subsequent Memorandum - Dower Where Trustee Has Both Legal And Equitable Interest, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Pursuant to an oral agreement and upon consideration furnished by them, A, B, and C procured land to be conveyed to A by a third party. Six days later A executed a self declaration of trust in the terms of the oral agreement; that he would operate it, and within a specified period sell the property and divide the proceeds between himself, B and C, as beneficiaries. A suit to remove A as trustee culminated in a judicial sale of the property to B and C. In this proceeding by B and C to quiet title, A …

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Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Ralph E. Helper May 1939

Taxation - Income Tax - Improvements Made By Lessee As Income To Lessor, Ralph E. Helper

Michigan Law Review

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in M. E. Blatt Co. v. United States has fairly settled the conflict that has ranged for over twenty years between the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Board of Tax Appeals on one side, and the courts on the other. The commissioner's contention that improvements made by a lessee should be taxed as income to the lessor was denied, and by dictum the Court approved the reasoning of Judge Learned Hand in Hewitt Realty Co. v. Commissioner, wherein he said that the judicial concept of "income" did …

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Adverse Possession - Possession Under Mistake As To True Boundary, S. R. Stroud May 1939

Adverse Possession - Possession Under Mistake As To True Boundary, S. R. Stroud

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff and defendant's predecessor in title made a mistake in locating the boundary line between their lots. Laboring under this misapprehension, the plaintiff constructed a cottage which in fact was partially on land of defendant's predecessor in title. Defendant, having purchased the adjoining lot, caused a survey to be made and discovered that the cottage of the plaintiff and the wall constructed by plaintiff and defendant's predecessor encroached upon defendant's land. However, plaintiff remained in possession without admitting defendant's title and in 1937 sued to establish title by adverse possession. The lower court found that having been in possession for …

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Zoning - Construction Of Ordinance Restricting District To Residences - Rooming House As Business, S. R. Stroud Apr 1939

Zoning - Construction Of Ordinance Restricting District To Residences - Rooming House As Business, S. R. Stroud

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff purchased the property in question on January 26, 1934. The property was subject to restrictive covenants, running with the land until January 26, 1930, which prohibited use for "any trade or business whatsoever or any boarding house." On August 18, 1922, a temporary zoning ordinance of the city of Long Beach was adopted to retain the advantages secured by the restrictive covenants. This was followed by a permanent zoning ordinance on July 8, 1930. Under the permanent zoning ordinance the property in question was included in "Residence A" district which was restricted to "a one family detached house for …

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Municipal Corporations - Liability To Abutting Property Owner For Negligence In Spraying Trees On Highway, Arthur A. Greene Jr. Mar 1939

Municipal Corporations - Liability To Abutting Property Owner For Negligence In Spraying Trees On Highway, Arthur A. Greene Jr.

Michigan Law Review

The defendant, a municipal corporation, used a poison spray on the trees on the highway under the authority and express duty of certain statutes that declared browntail moths and other insects a nuisance. This was done in such a manner that a part of the spray fell on the abutting land of the plaintiff, and caused the death of her poultry. The plaintiff instituted this action, relying on two counts, one alleging negligence and the other alleging an unreasonable use of the highway. Held, that the plaintiff could not recover on the first count because the abatement of this …

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Contracts - Third Party Beneficiary - Right Of Promisor To Set Off Claim Againt Promisee In A Suit By Beneficiary, Arthur A. Greene Jr. Mar 1939

Contracts - Third Party Beneficiary - Right Of Promisor To Set Off Claim Againt Promisee In A Suit By Beneficiary, Arthur A. Greene Jr.

Michigan Law Review

A and B mortgaged real estate to the plaintiff to secure their notes aggregating $9,000. Six months later A and B exchanged this property to the defendant for certain real estate owned by her. By the deed the defendant assumed the mortgage indebtedness owed to the plaintiff. As a further consideration for the exchange, A and B executed a note for $13,050 to the defendant. The plaintiff instituted this action against A and B, seeking to recover the balance, and by amended petition joined the defendant. The defendant claimed the right of set-off on the uncollected judgment against A …

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Automobiles - Registration Of Title And Transfer - Effect On Ownership, Gerald M. Stevens Mar 1939

Automobiles - Registration Of Title And Transfer - Effect On Ownership, Gerald M. Stevens

Michigan Law Review

Who owns this automobile? is a question of frequent interest both to the state and to its citizens. Identification of it and its owner may be a leading clue to the solution of crime; its owner must often be apprehended as the first step toward punishment of one of the considerable list of offenses peculiar to the operation of motor vehicles; it constitutes an important item of taxable property. The private citizen is interested in its ownership to identify the proper defendant in his tort action; it is an obvious source of satisfaction of his claim against a debtor; or …

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Torts - Liability Of Landlord For Injury To Property Of Tenant's Customer, Arthur P. Boynton Mar 1939

Torts - Liability Of Landlord For Injury To Property Of Tenant's Customer, Arthur P. Boynton

Michigan Law Review

A customer of the tenant sued the landlord for damage, to fur coats left with the tenant in the normal course of his business, from water, due to a leaky condition of the roof of the building which was in the control of landlord. Held, that it was the duty of the landlord to exercise reasonable care to keep the roof in reasonable repair not only as regards the safety of persons in the building but also as respects property lawfully there; that this duty was not performed and the damage resulted therefrom. Whelkin Coat Co. v. Long Beach …

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