Property Law and Real Estate Commons^™

Tempering Civil Rights Conflicts: Common Law For The Moral Marketplace, Adam J. Macleod

Scholarly Articles

Property law is not only sexy but also loaded with moral conflict. Many market transactions are suddenly politically weighted acts. Can law provide a peaceful solution to the present conflict between sexual-identity right claims and conscience? This Article argues that law, understood in its textured, common law contours, may provide a more peaceful and reasonable solution than (a) peremptory claim-rights, (b) positive rules, and (c) markets unmediated by law. Properly understood, the common law doctrines of public accommodations and contractual licenses are not the source of the problem; they offer a potential solution. Authority to adjudicate common law liberties should …

A Crackerjack Of A Sea Yarn: The Triumphs, Tributes And Trials Of Treasure Hunter Tommy Thompson, Taylor Simpson-Wood

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

You Can't Common What You Can't See: Towards A Restorative Polycentrism In The Governance Of Our Cities, Amy Laura Cahn, Paula Z. Segal

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Urban Commons As Property Experiment: Mapping Chicago's Farms And Gardens, Nate Ela

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Towards A Human Right To Food: Implications For Urban Growing In Baltimore City, Maryland, Becky L. Witt

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Zoning Neighborhoods For Resilience: Drivers, Tools And Impacts, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

A new urban design is needed, one that if not climate-determinist, is climate-cognizant. The built environment should be structured and the natural environment must be managed and protected in a way that regards climate forces that if left unchecked will sap the energy, the very existence of the city.7 A new urban design must begin with a statement of clear ends to be achieved, be based upon authoritative scientific, legal and social principles and must be implemented with an understanding of the costs--monetary and socio-political, that are demonstrably justified in the light of the alternatives. The extravagant and pretentious historical …

Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience And Sustainability In Midsize Cities, Barbara Cosens

Articles

Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight urban-rural feedbacks with their immediate natural environments that result from heavy reliance and close management of local ecosystem services. They also may be less path-dependent than larger cities due to shorter average connection length among system components, contributing to higher responsiveness among social, infrastructural, and ecological feedbacks. These distinct midsize city features call for a framework that organizes information and …

Enhancing Conservation Options: An Argument For Statutory Recognition Of Options To Purchase Conservation Easements (Opces), Federico Cheever, Jessica Owley

Articles

Land conservation transactions have been the most active component of the conservation movement in the United States for the past three decades. Conservation organizations have acquired property rights-mostly conservation easements-to protect roughly 40 million acres of land nationwide. However, climate change threatens this vast edifice. Climate change means that the resources that land conservation transactions were intended to protect may not persist on the land protected. Options to purchase conservation easements ("OPCEs") have long played a modest but important role in conservation law practice. In the world climate change is creating, with its substantial uncertainties and shifting windows of opportunity, …

Superiority Of Remediation Liens: A Cure To The Virus Of Blight, Marilyn Uzdavines

University of Baltimore Law Review

Blight in a neighborhood is like a virus that spreads throughout the community. If left unchecked, that virus will destroy the community. In cities like Detroit, the spread of blight has ruined the economy and led to a dramatic plunge in population and the underfunding of city services. Blighted communities have transformed into vast swathes of abandoned properties that attract crime and create hazardous conditions to anyone who dares to remain in them. Although cities like Detroit have received exceptional media attention due to their overwhelming problems, blight continues to affect Detroit and communities in many states across the United …

Dealing With Illegal Housing: What Can New York City Learn From Shenzhen?, Shitong Qiao

Faculty Scholarship

In New York City, owners violated zoning regulations and opened up their basements, garages, and other floors to rent to people (particularly low-income immigrants) priced out of the formal market. The more than 100,000 illegal dwelling units in New York City (NYC) were referred to as “granny units,” “illegal twos or threes,” or “accessory units.” Due to the safety and habitability considerations of “alter[ing] or modif[ying] of an existing building to create an additional housing unit without first obtaining approval from the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB),” the City government devoted a lot of resources to detecting and …

Cultural Paradigms In Property Institutions, Taisu Zhang

Faculty Scholarship

Do “cultural factors” substantively influence the creation and evolution of property institutions? For the past several decades, few legal scholars have answered affirmatively. Those inclined towards a law and economics methodology tend to see property institutions as the outcome of self-interested and utilitarian bargaining, and therefore often question the analytical usefulness of “culture.” The major emerging alternative, a progressive literature that emphasizes the social embeddedness of property institutions and individuals, is theoretically more accommodating of cultural analysis but has done very little of it.

This Article develops a “cultural” theory of how property institutions are created and demonstrates that such …

Hollywood Blackout: Impact Of New Architectural Copyright Laws On The Filming Industry, Jake Jensen

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article will focus on particular emerging copyright laws and their effect on the film industry. Section II will begin with a brief overview of the film industry as well as a brief discussion of the reasons people watch films. The Section will then proceed with a discussion on the importance of filming locations, as well as how the industry has changed in its perception of filming locations. Section III will detail what the current copyright law is, as well as exceptions the courts have used in determining copyright infringement. Section IV will then describe the Freedom of Panorama laws …

It’S Up In The Air! Potential Criminal Liabilities For Drone-Associated Issues In The Great State Of Texas, Anthony Pax

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

“Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!” No, it’s a drone! Private and commercial drone use is expanding as quickly as the technology can be developed to fulfill the various needs of different users. As new ways to use drones are conceived every day, the potential for conflict is ever increasing. This Article will argue that, in the absence of any real federal guidance on the subject, the state of Texas must apply its current criminal law framework to any drone-related conflicts that may arise. This will provide clear guidelines for resolving the multitude of issues …

Doctoring Up Cybersecurity Standards: A Solution To Adequate Internet Security Measures Post Wyndham, Vince Vela

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

In today’s technological world, it is common for corporations and individuals alike to enjoy and exploit the benefits of cloud computing. These advancements, however, come with a price as the modern technological age continues to grow. By its very nature, the normal course of business has changed drastically. From private entrepreneurial websites to conglomerates like Amazon, Inc., making purchases online has never been easier. Rather than traveling to your products, consumers today simply create an account with a certain business, enter personal credentials, provide a credit or debit card number for the transaction, and give an address for the shipment …

Colder Than A Landlord's Heart? Reconciling A Debtor's Authority To Sell Property Free And Clear Of A Lease Under Bankruptcy Code Section 363(F) With The Tenant's Right To Remain In Possession On A Lease Rejection Under Bankruptcy Code Section 365(H), Bruce Grohsgal

Marquette Law Review

The question examined in this Article is a simple one—Can a tenant with a right to possession under section 365(h) of the Bankruptcy Code be ousted from possession by a free and clear sale of the real property by the debtor-landlord pursuant to section 363(f) of the Bankruptcy Code? The Seventh Circuit, the only court of appeals to have considered the issue, said “yes” in Precision Industries, Inc. v. Qualitech Steel SBQ, LLC and authorized a sale free and clear of the lease and the tenant’s right to remain in possession. Subsequent decisions from the district and bankruptcy courts are …

Red-Handed Without A Defense: Avoiding Civil Forfeiture When Leasing To Lawful Marijuana Tenants, Cielo Fortin-Camacho

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Lawful marijuana tenants (“LMT”), or tenants who lease property for the purpose of operating a marijuana-related business in compliance with the applicable marijuana provisions of their state, are demanding property and offering big bucks—leaving property owners in a precarious situation. This Article discusses the problem faced by property owners wishing to lease premises to growers, processors, and sellers of marijuana in states that have adopted marijuana provisions and established regulatory frameworks. In these states, marijuana provisions do not alter the respective state’s landlord-tenant statutes, despite the various property-related requirements marijuana businesses must adhere to for licensure to operate. Licensing requirements …

How The Government Can ‘Come And Take It’: Asset Forfeiture And How Texas Should Change Its Practice, Sean M. Grove

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

As a model of review, this Comment will use Texas’s laws—juxtaposed against state laws that are providing more protections—to compare what Texas is doing wrong in light of what other states are doing right. First, this Comment will give a brief history of asset forfeiture in general and provide the status of civil asset forfeiture in the twentyfirst century. Part II will discuss the benefits of some asset forfeiture programs while highlighting the shortcomings and burdens that civil asset forfeiture brings. Part III will show state legislation aimed at curtailing civil asset forfeiture and the factors that make Texas’s laws …

Personal Property Servitudes On The Internet Of Things, Christina Mulligan

Georgia Law Review

Small appliances such as thermostats, watches, jewelry, and eyewear are now being made available with networking capability. These networked objects make up the growing Internet of Things-pieces of personal property that run software and connect to the global Internet. These products are typically governed by terms of service or end-user license agreements that create restrictions on how products can be used or transferred- restrictions which would be unenforceable if the inside of the product consisted of gears rather than processing chips. This Article explores the question of when use and transfer restrictions should be enforceable on networked appliances and other …

Providing Copyright Protection To Real Estate Listings: Protecting Brokers, Sellers, And Consumers, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 318 (2016), Kathryn Robinson

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

In a technology-driven age, the Internet has changed how prospective homebuyers search for their new home. For many, a search on Google is the first step before hiring a broker or getting prequalified for a mortgage. Although the Internet is a powerful tool widely utilized by many, there has been a growing concern for managing and protecting the integrity of real estate listings. Data scraping of listing data has become problematic for the real estate industry; as a result, this has caused irreparable harm to everyone. This comment highlights the benefits of awarding copyright protection to all contents of the …

The Destruction Of Cultural Heritage: A Crime Against Property Or A Crime Against People?, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 336 (2016), Patty Gerstenblith

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The destruction of cultural heritage has played a prominent role in the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq and in the recent conflict in Mali. This destruction has displayed the failure of international law to effectively deter these actions. This article reviews existing international law in light of this destruction and the challenges posed by the issues of non-international armed conflict, non-state actors and the military necessity exception. By examining recent developments in applicable international law, the article proposes that customary international law has evolved to interpret existing legal instruments and doctrines concerning cultural heritage in light of the principles …