PROPERTY EF: ABRIDGED EXAM SYLLABUS
Unit I: The Bundle of Sticks
Introduction to a Legal Understanding of Property
Chapter 1: Limits on the Right to Exclude
A. Introduction to the Bundle of Sticks
1. Chapter Introduction (P52-53)
2. State v. Shack (N.J. 1971) (S13-17)
B. Trespass
1. Jacque v. Steenberg Homes (Wisc. 1997) (P54-57)
2. Maguire v. Yanke (Idaho 1978) (P59-63)
C. Private Property Open to the Public
1. Brooks v. Chicago Downs Assn. (7th Cir. 1986) (P79-83)
2. N.J. Coalition v. J.M.B. Realty Corp. (N.J. 1994) (P85-92)
3. Property Rights & the Constitution: Overview (S20-21)
D. The Public Trust Doctrine
1. Note: Limits to Privatization (P41)
2. Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Illinois (U.S. 1892) (P42-45)
3. Matthews v. Bay Head Improvement Ass’n (N.J. 1984) (P94-100)
Chapter 2. Tort-Like Limitations on the Right to Use
A. Private Nuisance
1. Introductory Note (P128-29)
2. Reasonable Neighbors
a. McCarty v. Natural Carbolic Gas Co. (N.Y. 1907) (P129-33)
b. Prah v. Maretti (Wisc. 1982) (P138-43)
3. The Restatements
a. Carpenter v. Double R Cattle Co. I (Idaho App. 1983) (S23-34)
b. Carpenter v. Double R Cattle Co. II (Idaho 1985) (S34-35)
B. Public Nuisance
1. Overview of Public Nuisance Law (P145-51)
2. Spur Industries v. Del E. Webb Development Co. (Ariz. 1972) (P158-64)
3. Armory Park Neighborhood Ass’n v. Episcopal Community Servs. (Ariz. 1985) (S37-43)
C. Protecting Natural Services
1. Introductory Note (P167)
2. Argyelan v. Haviland (Ind. 1982) (P168-74)
3. Lateral and Subjacent Support (P176-78)
Unit II: But It’s Mine
Involuntary Transfers of Property
Chapter 3: Eminent Domain
A. Public Use
1. Generally: Introductory Note (P178-79)
2. Federal Standards: Kelo v. City of New London (U.S. 2005) (P179-93)
3. State Standards: Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit (S47)
B. Just Compenssation
1. Proper Measure: U.S. v. 564.64 Acres of Land (U.S. 1979) (P198-202)
2. Severance Damages & Setoffs: L.A. County M.T.A. v. Continental Development
Auth. (Cal. 1997) (P204-12)
Chapter 4: Adverse Possession
A. Introduction
1. Sample Statutes
a. Florida (S51)
b. Pennsylvania (S52)
2. Overview of the Doctrine (S52-53)
3. Introduction to Elements & Related Issues: Instructor’s Overview (S53-57)
4. Justifications for Adverse Possession (Note 1) (P108-10)
B. Application of the Elements
1. VanValkenburgh v. Lutz (N.Y. 1952) (S58-64)
2. Ray v. Beacon Hudson Mountain Corp. (N.Y. 1996) (P102-05)
3. East Thirteenth St. Homesteader’s Coalition v. Lower East Side Coalition Housing Dev.
(N.Y. Supr. 1996) (P105-08)
4. Marengo Cave Co. v. Ross (Ind. 1937) (S64-69)
C. Boundary Disputes
1. Quarles v. Arcega (N.M. App.1992) (P113-18)
2. Note on Special Issues (S70)
3. Dorschner, Nightmare on 68th Street (1992) (S71-81)
D. Appropriate Scope of the Doctrine
1. Adverse Possession Ag. the Gov’t: Devins v. Borough of Bogota (N.J. 1991) (P123-26)
2. Disabilities: Pennsylvania Statute (S52)
3. Policy Implications
a. Squatting (Note 5) (P111-13)
b. Environment (Note 6) (P127-28)
Unit III: Mi Casa Es Su Casa
Division of Property Rights in the Same Piece of Land
Chapter 6. Leased But Not Last: Landlord/Tenant Law
A. Overview
1. Introductory Material (P657-60, 707-08)
2. Some Themes in Landlord-Tenant Law (S84)
3. Florida Residential Landlord-Tenant Statutes (S85-96)
4. The Process of Eviction
a. Notes: Landlord’s Remedies (P712-15)
b. Florida Statutes §§83.56, 83.59, 83.60 (S91-94)
B. Rights and Duties Related to Possession
1. The Tenant’s Right to Possession: Note (P660-62)
2. Landlord Right to Self-Help
a. Berg v. Wiley (Minn. 1978) (P715-21)
b. Fla. Stat. §83.59 (S)
3. Landlord Duty to Mitigate Damages
a. Notes: Damages (P723-24)
b. Austin Hill Country Realty v. Palisades Plaza (Texas 1997) (P724-730)
c. Aurora Business Park v. Michael Albert, Inc. (Iowa 1996) (P730-33)
4. Assignments & Subleases
a. Note: The Right to Assign and Sublet (P700-701)
b. Funk v. Funk (Idaho 1981) (P701-05)
C. Habitability Issues
1. The Right to Quiet Enjoyment/Constructive Eviction
a. Barash v. Pennsylvania Terminal Real Estate Co. (N.Y.1970) (P662-666)
b. East Haven Assoc. v. Gurian (N.Y.Civ. Ct. 1970) (P666-69)
2. Implied Warranty of Habitability
a. Introduction (P671-72)
b. Javins v. First National Realty Corp. (D.C. Cir. 1970) (P672-80)
c. Florida Statutes §§83.51-52, 83.60, 83.64 (S89-90, 93-94)
3. Working With Florida Statutes & Codes
a. Problem: Tempest at the Teapot (S97-99)
b. Florida Landlord-Tenant Statutes (S95-96)
c. Dade County Housing Code (S100-08)
Unit IV: Breaches in the Castle Wall
Limits on Land Use
Chapter 7. Land Use Restrictions Based in Private Agreements
A. Overview of Non-Possessory Interests (P819-23)
B. Easements
1. Express Easements
a. Introduction
i) Instructor’s Overview (S112-13)
ii) Casebook Overview (P823-26)
b. Positive Easements
i) Chevy Chase Land Co. v. U.S. (Md. App. 1999) (P826-32)
ii) Marcus Cable Assoc. v. Krohn (Tex. 2002) (P834-38)
c. Negative Easements: Petersen v. Friedman (Cal. App. 1958) (S113-15)
2. Implied Easements
a. Easements by Estoppel: Stoner v. Zucker (Cal. 1906) (P847-49)
b. Easements by Implication & by Necessity
i) Williams Island Country Club v. San Simeon (Fla. App. 1984) (P852-54)
ii) Dupont v. Whiteside (Fla. App. 1998) (P855-59)
c. Prescriptive Easements
i) MacDonald Properties v. Bel-Air Country Club (Cal. App. 1977) (P869-71)
ii) Lyons v. Baptist School of Christian Training (Maine 2002) (P872-76)
C. Aside: Introduction to the Recording System
1. S.Kurtz & H.Hovenkamp, Information Costs and the Market for Real
Property (1987) (S117-20)
2. Title Records and Indexing
a. S.Kurtz & H.Hovenkamp, The Title Search and the Abstract of Title
(1987) (S120-23)
b. The Indices (P469-72)
3. Recording Acts & Their Operation
a. Textbook Overview (P445-52)
b. Instructor’s Overview (S123-27)
D. Promissory Servitudes
1. Introduction
a. Textbook Overview (P881-84)
b. Instructor’s Overview (S127-31)
2. Application of the Traditional Elements
a. Runyon v. Paley (N.C. 1992) (P884-92)
b. Davidson Bros. v. D. Katz & Sons (N.J. 1990) (P896-901)
3. Implied from a Common Scheme
a. Introductions to Subdivisions & Common Plans (P906-09)
b. History of Servitudes: Part II (S132-33)
c. Schovee v. Mikolasko (Md. App. 1999) (P909-14)
4. Common Interest Communities
a. History of Servitudes: Part III (S134)
b. Protecting Landowners (P916)
c. Nahrstedt v. Lake Village Condominium Assn. (Cal.1994) (P916-922)
d. Nahrstedt (Arabian, J. dissenting) (less edited version) (S135-39)
e. Selected Florida Statutes Regarding Condominiums (S140)
Chapter 8. Land Use Restrictions Based in Government Regulations
A. Introduction to Zoning
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introductory Notes (P959-62)
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty (P962-66)
State Zoning Enabling Act (P969-70)
US Nat’l Comm’n on Urban Problems, Building the American City (1968)
(P978-81)
B. Exceptions to the Zoning Plan
1. Non-Conforming Uses: Village of Valatie v. Smith (N.Y. 1994) (P982-85)
2. Variances & Special Exceptions
a. Commons v. Westwood Zoning Bd. Of Adjustment (N.J. 1980) (S143-47)
b. North Shore Steak House v. Bd. of Appeals (N.Y. 1972) (P996-99)
C. Zoning Beyond Traditional Land Use Concerns
1. Aesthetic Zoning
a. State ex rel Stoyanoff v. Berkeley (Mo. 1970) (S148-53)
b. Anderson v. City of Issaquah (Wash. App. 1993) (P1025-31)
2. Zoning & Family Shape
a. Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas (U.S. 1974) (P1049-53)
b. Moore v. City of East Cleveland (U.S. 1977) (S154-62)