Property

UPDATED MARCH 9, 2016

Property Law, Spring 2016

Professor Jessica Owley

E-mail and phone:  jol@buffalo.edu, 716-645-8182

Class Time and Place:  Monday/Wednesdays 9:00-11:15 in 106 O’Brian

Office Hours:  M 3:30-5pm and TH 12:30-4

Course Description: This course examines the legal arrangements with which American society controls valuable resources. It is designed both to provide a critical understanding of important features of modern society and to serve as background for advanced courses dealing with land transactions and financing, environmental regulation, public land development, corporations, intellectual property, wealth transfers, and taxation. Modern institutions are presented in the context of the evolution of property law from the gradual break-up of the feudal system through the development of finance capitalism.

Student Learning Outcomes: The goals of this course involve both the study of property law and theory as well as development of lawyering skills in the context of property law. As a required course for first year law students, Property Law serves as a vehicle to build understandings of common law (law made by judges and in our cases largely inherited from the British), federal constitutional law (mostly in the context of the 5th Amendment), and statutory law. Property Law draws upon multiple sources of law and provides a good venue for learning about different sources of law and how they interact. This class should provide you with basic understandings of these ideas as well as knowledge of substantive property law. The assignments in this class will also help you gain lawyering skills. Unlike other large classes, your Property Law grade will not be passed solely on a final exam. There will be research and writing assignments related to property law periodically throughout the course. The purpose of these assignments is not only to test your understanding of the substantive law of property (but they will do that too), but to strengthen skills that help make successful lawyers. This will include researching laws, writing memos, working in groups, and practicing basic negotiation skills. Finally, this course also incorporates some basic property law theory. Understanding the rules regarding property is useful; understanding why those rules exist and how they might change is enlightening. Such discussions can help us all become better citizens as well as better lawyers, planners, geographers, and professional.

Text: There are two texts for this class. The casebook is John G. Sprankling & Raymond R. Coletta, Property: A Contemporary Approach (3d ed 2015). The changes from the 2^nd edition to the 3^rd edition are minimal and you can use the 2^nd edition rather easily (with some changes noted below in the syllabus). We will also use a companion text of exercises: Colleen E. Medill, Developing Professional Skills: Property (2012). This is a required text, not merely supplemental reading. There appear to be inexpensive versions of this text available on Amazon and elsewhere.

 

Class Facebook Page: I have created a facebook page to serve as a place to discuss class, arrange study groups, and ask each other questions. I often post sample problems here to generate discussion. I will be viewing the page periodically but not avidly, so you should email me any urgent inquiries. This is for your convenience and is not a course requirement. You must request to join the group (not sending me a friend request), which can be found at: www.facebook.com/groups/684783688329997/

 

Course Requirements: Your grade in this class will be based on class participation, a final exam, as well as periodic in-class and at-home assignments. Assignment dates are listed below and with the reading schedule. All assignments will be graded out of 100 points, and the list below shows the percentages of the final grade. Daily reading assignments are detailed in the table below. You will be responsible for all assigned readings regardless of whether they are discussed in class. Assignments should always be read prior to the class for which they are assigned. The reading assignments are subject to slight revision, but you will always have ample notice of any changes.

 

• Adverse Possession Assignment (take home due Friday 2/26): 10%
• Found Property Assignment (in class on 2/29): 10%
• Gifts (take home due Monday 03/07): 10%
• Estates and Future Interest Worksheet (take home due 3/21): 10%
• Landlord Tenant Negotiation (in class on 3/30): 10%
• Easement Exercise (take home or in class due Monday 04/18): 10%
• Final In Class (on 05/04): 5%
• Exam: 30%
• Participation: 5%

 

Class Participation: Class participation will count for 5% of your grade. Participation includes attending and being prepared for class as well as contributing to class discussion.

 

Exam: The final examination for this course will be scheduled by the Law School Office of Records and Registration and announced to you at a later date. Any student who, for any reason, wishes to change the time at which he or she takes the examination, must not discuss the matter with me. Instead he or she must contact the Office of Records and Registration well in advance of the examination. This will be a limited open book exam. You will be allowed to consult your text book, your class notes, and any outline that you have personally made. Commercial outlines are not allowed.

 

Attendance: Class attendance is required. Students who miss more than two classes without adequate cause will either be dropped from the course or not allowed to take the final examination.

 

Grading Policy: Below is the general grading policy for the law school. While I use a number scale (instead of a letter grade), I follow the general guidelines below. Each assignment will also be accompanied by a sheet explaining the objectives of the assignment as well as how it will be evaluated.

 

A       Superior work that is significantly better than the normal range of performance expected

A-      High quality work that is better than the normal range of performance expected

B+     Professionally qualified work that is at the high end of the normal range of performance expected

B       Professionally qualified work within the normal range of performance expected

C       Professionally qualified work at the lowest end of the normal range of performance expected

D       Work deemed acceptable for academic credit but below the normal range of performance expected

B-      Professionally qualified work at the low end of the normal range of normal range of performance expected

F       Work not worthy of academic credit

 

Make-ups and Late Assignments:

• In-class: Rescheduling in-class assignments is inconvenient but doable, so let’s try to keep those for students who have illnesses or emergencies. As soon as you realize that you will not be able to attend class on the day of an in-class assignment please let me know so we can arrange an alternative time.
• At-home: I will always provide you with your assignments at least 10 days before they are due. Please schedule accordingly to leave yourself time to complete the work. Late-submitted work loses 10 points a day. A fraction of a day counts as a full day. For example, if your assignment is due at noon and you turn it in at 1pm, you will lose 10 points. This is a stiff penalty, and it is rarely worth the loss in points to perfect your last few sentences before submitting.
• Blind Grading: Where possible, I use blind grading in this class. You will e-mail or hand your assignments into my assistant who will place a number on them. Please do not add remarks (such as signing your name) to your assignments that ruin the anonymity. Anonymity can also be jeopardized when students turn assignments in late. For this reason, if you have an emergency or illness and cannot complete an assignment on time, please email Dean Melinda Saran (saran@buffalo.edu) or my assistant Sandi Conti (sconti@buffalo.edu) who can communicate with me regarding the request without revealing the student name.

Accessibility Resources:  Information on the Law School’s Policy and Guidelines for Law Students with Disabilities can be found at: http://www.law.buffalo.edu/current/studentServices/disabilities.html. If you have any questions or wish to seek accommodations, please contact Vice Dean for Student Affairs Melinda Saran.

Code of Conduct: All SUNY Buffalo Law students are subject to the requirements and policies of the Code of Conduct, including those regarding academic conduct. The Code can be found at: http://www.law.buffalo.edu/current/academicPolicies/conduct.html. I take a very strict line on plagiarism and will be running assignments through either SafeAssign or some equivalent plagiarism checking software.

Laptops and Other Distracting Digital Devices: Thank you for leaving laptops at home or in your lockers. Put your cellphones in your backpack, pocket, or somewhere else out of sight. As slight recompense for banning digital devices, I provide audio recordings of all classes shortly after class each day. I will let you know of the location as soon as I figure it out. On days when I use powerpoints or other visual materials, I will also provide those to you but not until after class.

 

DATE	TOPIC	OLD BOOK	NEW BOOK
Class 1: Monday 02/08/16	The Concept of Property: Pierson v. Post, White v. Samsung, Antelope, and Amistad	1-25 PLUS Handout	1-25 PLUS Handout
Class 2: Wednesday 02/10/16	What is Property? Johnson v. M’Intosh, Moore v. UC Regents, Jacque v. Steenberg Homes, State v. Shack	25-67	25-69 25-49
Class 3: Monday 02/15/16	Property Rights Con’t: Sundowner v. King, Prah v. Maretti, Eyerman v. Mercantile	69-94	69—95 49-95
Class 4: Wednesday 02/17/16	Adverse Possession: Gurwit v. Kannatzer, Van Valkenburgh v. Lutz, Fulkerson v. Van Buren,	95-133	97-134 95-122
Class 5: Monday 02/22/16	Adverse Possession Con’t: Tioga Coal, Howard v. Kunto Owning Personal Property: Shaw, Popov v. Hayashi, Armory,	159-195	161-198 122-134 161-178
Class 6: Wednesday 02/24/16	Owning Personal Property: Hannah v. Peel, McAvoy v. Medina, Haslem, Benjamin v. Linder, Reynolds, O’Keefe	195-231	198-236 178-202
Friday 2/26/16	Adverse Possession Exercise Due by Email at Noon via email/UBLearns 10% (Medill)
Class 7: Monday 02/29/16	Found Property Exercise In Class10% (Handout)
Class 8: Wednesday 03/02/16	Gifts: Gruen, Albinger, Brind Estates: Cole v. Steinlauf, White v. Brown,	305-345	202-236 311-351 311-329
Class 9: Monday 03/07/16	Estates Con’t. Woodrick v. Wood, Mahrenholz, Metropolitan Park District		329-351
Monday 03/07/16	Gifts Exercise Due by 9am via UBLearns (Medill)
Class 10: Wednesday 03/09/16	Future Interests	345-356	351-362
Class 11: Monday 03/21/16	Concurrent Ownership: James v. Taylor, Tenhet v. Boswell, Ark Land Co. v. Harper, Esteves Landlord-Tenant: Neithamer, Roommate.com, Kajo, Keydata	375-398 437-447, add Roommate.com case, 447-460	385-407 449-478
Wednesday 03/23/16	Estates and Future Interests Worksheet Due by 9am via UBLearns
Class 12: Wednesday 03/23/16	Landlord and Tenant Con’t: Clark, Kaminsky, Paolucci, Wade v. Jobe, Teller v. McCoy,	460-482	478-500
Class 13: Monday 03/28/16	Landlord and Tenant Con’t: Sommer v. Kridel, Hillview Associates, Berg v. Wiley, Ernst v. Conditt, Kendall v. Ernest Pestana	500-527 Skip AIMCO 482-500	519-542 500-518
Class 14: Wednesday 3/30/16	In-Class Exercise: Landlord/Tenant 10%		Handout
Class 15: Monday 04/04/16	Easements: Millbrook Hunt, Van Sandt v. Royster, Berge v. Vermont, O’Dell, Kienzle,	649-685	665-699
Class 16: Wednesday 04/06/16	Easements Con’t: Marcus Cable, Preseault	685-701	699-716
Class 17: Monday 04/11/16	Covenants & Servitudes: Deep Water, Tulk v. Moxhay, Nahrstedt, Fink v. Miller, Vernon Township, Schaefer, Fountain Valley	701-751	716-765
Class 18: Wednesday 04/13/16	Nuisance: Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co., Inc., Thomsen v. Greve	751-767	765–781
Class 19: Monday 04/18/16	Easement Exercise
Class 20: Wednesday 04/20/16	Zoning: Village of Euclid, Trip Assocs., Smith v. Little Rock,	769-798 AVR replaced by Trip	783-809
Class 21: Monday 04/25/16	Zoning Con’t: Detwiler, Stoyanov v. Berkeley, City of Laude, Moore v. East Cleveland, Ames	798-833	810-846
Class 22: Wednesday 04/27/16	Eminent Domain: Hawaii Housing Authority, Kelo [Guest lecturer = Rick Su]	889-912	901-924
Class 23: Monday 05/02/16	Takings: Penn Coal, Penn Central	913-940	925-951
Class 24: Wednesday O5/04/16	Takings Con’t: Loretto, Lucas Final In Class Exercise (1 hour of class)	940-967	952-980