Property Law and Real Estate Commons^™

Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene

All Faculty Scholarship

The conception of property that a transitional state adopts is critically important because it affects the state’s ability to transform society. The classical conception of real property gives property rights a certain sanctity that allows owners to have near absolute control of their property. But, the sanctity given to property rights has made land reform difficult and thus can serve as a sanctuary for enduring inequality. This is particularly true in countries like South Africa and Namibia where—due to pervasive past property theft— land reform is essential because there are competing legitimate claims to land. Oddly, the classical conception is …

Property And Transitional Justice, Bernadette Atuahene

All Faculty Scholarship

Transitional justice is the study of those mechanisms employed by communities, states and the international community to deal with a legacy of systematic human rights abuses and authoritarianism in order to promote social reconstruction. There is a well developed transitional justice literature on how states can deal with past violations of civil and political rights, which discusses the value of truth commissions, and international and domestic prosecutions. The transitional justice literature on how to deal with past violations of property rights, however, is significantly less developed. The goal of this essay is to begin an important conversation about how transitional …

All Charities Are Property-Tax Exempt, But Some Charities Are More Exempt Than Others, Evelyn Brody

All Faculty Scholarship

Attention from the media notwithstanding, the nonprofit sector continues to achieve remarkable success in state supreme courts and statehouses in defending property-tax exemptions. But budget pressures remain. While the intermediate use of “payments in lieu of taxes” has not yet become a systematic compromise solution, PILOTs are attracting growing interest from local taxing jurisdictions. This Article highlights three issues— who decides the parameters of exemption, legislatures or courts; what are the specific factors and vulnerable subsectors; and how exemption is granted or withheld in practice—and concludes with several PILOT case studies. The Appendix sets forth a fifty-one-jurisdiction review of state …

The Internet Is A Semicommons, James Grimmelmann

Faculty Scholarship

The Internet is a semicommons. Private property in servers and network links coexists with a shared communications platform. This distinctive combination both explains the Internet's enormous success and illustrates some of its recurring problems.

Building on Henry Smith's theory of the semicommons in the medieval open-field system, this essay explains how the dynamic interplay between private and common uses on the Internet enables it to facilitate worldwide sharing and collaboration without collapsing under the strain of misuse. It shows that key technical features of the Internet, such as its layering of protocols and the Web's division into distinct "sites," respond …

Land Seizures In The People's Republic Of China: Protecting Property While Encouraging Economic Development, Jarrett Noble

Global Business & Development Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Property Rights & The Demands Of Transformation, Bernadette Atuahene

Michigan Journal of International Law

Countries like those in Southern Africa will never emerge from the indomitable shadow of inequity and the serious threat of backlash unless real property is redistributed; but, the conception of property these countries explicitly or implicitly adopt can adversely affect their ability to redistribute. Under the classical conception of real property (the classical conception), redistribution is difficult because title deed holders are a privileged group who are given nearly absolute property protection. Strangely, the classical conception is ascendant in many transitional states where redistribution is essential. The specific question this Article addresses is: for states where past property dispossession has …

Stop Shutting The Door On Renters: Protecting Tenants From Foreclosure Evictions, Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod

Faculty Publications

This article discusses existing and proposed federal and state law affecting tenants’ rights in foreclosure. As “Foreclosure” signs rapidly join “For Sale” signs across the country, the national foreclosure crisis has not only displaced homeowners, but a plethora of renters as well. The approach taken by states concerning tenants affected by foreclosure varies greatly. Furthermore, a recently enacted Federal law, created specifically to help tenants in foreclosure, does not relieve the uncertainty in resolving this issue. In addition to being the first to critique the new federal law, this article offers recommendations for legislation that may better protect tenants from …

Horse Cents: A Tax Guide For Homeowners Offering Their Homes For Rent During The World Equestrian Games, Meghan Jackson Tyson

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Law As Hidden Architecture: Law, Politics, And Implementation Of The Burnham Plan Of Chicago Since 1909, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 375 (2010), Richard J. Roddewig

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

East Going West?: The Promise Of Assured Supply Laws In Modern Real Estate Development, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 319 (2010), Lincoln L. Davies

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Real Estate Law And Practice Symposium: Foreword, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. Iii (2010), Celeste M. Hammond

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Burnham, Water, And The Plan Of Chicago: A Historical Explanation Of Why Water Was Ignored And The Consequences Of Ignoring Water, 43 J. Marshall L. Rev. 413 (2010), Virginia M. Harding

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Non-Fatal Collision: Where Religious Land Uses And Community Interests Meet, Adam J. Macleod

Scholarly Articles

This paper grapples with the question how best to interpret the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which creates a prophylactic remedy in favor of religious land users burdened by local land use regulations. Where the burden on religious exercise is substantial, RLUIPA subjects the regulation to strict scrutiny review. Several scholars object to RLUIPA on the grounds that it violates principles of federalism and equality between religious and non-religious landowners. Other scholars make the case for an expansive RLUIPA on the ground that the First Amendment privileges religious exercise over other types of land use.

This article first …

Curbing Rent-Seeking And Inefficiency With Broad Takings Powers And Undercompensation: The Case Of Singapore From A Givings Perspective, Jianlin Chen

Washington International Law Journal

Conventional discourses on the perils of weak property rights vis-à-vis government takings have failed to account for and respond to the rent-seeking and inefficiency problems of government actions. Singapore, with its broad takings powers, coupled with express undercompensation, has not suffered from the predicted widespread rent-seeking and inefficiency. This case study of Singapore from a givings perspective demonstrates the importance of imposing a fair charge on the various kinds of givings in curbing rent-seeking and inefficiency. There are also additional benefits of having a healthy fiscal budget and more equitable taxation arising from Singapore’s givings regime. The key normative implication …

Hydraulic Fracturing Goes To Court: How Texas Jurisprudence On Subsurface Trespass Will Influence West Virginia Oil And Gas Law, Travis Zeik

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Understanding Cercla Through Webster's New World Dictionary And State Common Law: Forestalling The Federalization Of Property Law, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA") was hastily enacted in 1980 in the wake of the Love Canal disaster, where vast amounts of toxic wastes were found buried beneath a residential community. The contours of this legislation, though comprehensive in its outward scope, have been difficult to discern, largely as a consequence of vague and confusing expression. Though often the first tool resorted to for interpretation is the dictionary, the courts have looked beyond the literal terms, in an effort to determine the intended and sensible limits, consistent with both the congressional aim to reach broad categories …

Following Industry's Leed : Municipal Adoption Of Private Green Building Standards, Sarah B. Schindler

Faculty Publications

Local governments are beginning to require new, privately constructed and funded buildings to be “green” buildings. Instead of creating their own, locally-derived definitions of green buildings, many municipalities are adopting an existing private standard created by members of the building industry: LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). This Article explains and assesses the privately promulgated LEED standards. It argues that the translation of LEED standards, which were intended to be voluntary, into law raises several theoretical and practical problems. Specifically, private green building ordinances that rely on LEED do not ensure a reduction in the negative local environmental impacts …

An Analysis Of Article 28 Of The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, And Proposals For Reform, David Fautsch

Michigan Journal of International Law

The purpose of this Note is two-fold: first, to demonstrate why the standards set out in Article 28 require further clarification, and second, to propose reforms (both inside and outside of the United Nations framework) that might benefit indigenous peoples claiming land rights.

Protecting The Unsophisticated Tenant: A Call For A Cap On Late Fees In The Housing Choice Voucher Program, Wendy Tolson Ross

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Property And The Public Forum: An Essay On Christian Legal Society V. Martinez, B. Jessie Hill

Faculty Publications

Christian Legal Society v. Martinez is situated at the intersection of various, and arguably conflicting, lines of doctrine. In ultimately holding that the Hastings College of Law could decline to recognize the student chapter of the Christian Legal Society due to the group’s refusal to accept members who did not conform their beliefs and conduct to the principles of CLS (particularly regarding homosexuality),the Supreme Court was required to sort through a tangle of precedents involving free speech limitations in nonpublic for a, religious groups’ rights of equal access to school facilities, and freedom of expressive association.

Perhaps less obviously, however, …