SYLLABUS
Professor Ahmad
Property (4 credits)
Property
Spring 2022
I. Contact Information
Office: Faculty Building
Telephone: (321) 206-5731
Email: nahmad@barry.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, 11:35 AM to 1:00 PM
Fridays, 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM, 11:35 AM to 2:10 PM
Appointments must be made at https://calendly.com/nahmad
II. Required Materials
All readings will be posted to Canvas. There is no required textbook that you will buy.
Additional Resources: (not required):
John C. Dernbach, WRITING ESSAY EXAMS TO SUCCEED IN LAW SCHOOL (NOT JUST TO SURVIVE)
(4th ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2014).
Linda H. Edwards, ESTATES IN LAND AND FUTURE INTERESTS: A STEP BY STEP GUIDE (2d ed.).
Lawrence and Mizner, A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO ESTATES IN LAND AND FUTURE INTEREST (2012).
John Sprankling, UNDERSTANDING PROPERTY LAW (2017).
III. Class Goals
Students survey the Anglo-American law governing the relationship of persons to both real and
personal property. Topics will include transfer and acquisition of title, the nature of possession,
adverse possession, landlord-tenant law, and estates in land and future interests. The goal in this
course is to expose you to the fundamentals of property law. I expect you to develop an
appreciation for both the common law roots of property as well as modern statutory authority
affecting property rights (such as zoning laws and environmental regulations.) The course will also
include discussion of the law of empire, theft and redlining and how it relates to the law of property.
IV. Learning Outcomes
The larger goal of the first year Property course is to expose each of you to many of the issues that
confront the everyday practice of property lawyers while providing an analytical framework from
Page 1 of 6
which you—as legal professionals—can strengthen and or transform the meaning and value of
“property” rights in contemporary culture and life.
At the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Compare and contrast the distinctive features of initial and subsequent interests in land.
Recognize and understand the conceptual framework of estates and future interests.
Classify various concurrent interests according to the doctrines of property law.
Examine the effects of private land use restrictions on individuals and on society as a
whole.
5. Identify the basic legal principles, substantive rules and essential elements under girding
such rules of real and personal property in the U.S. regarding possession, land use and
takings, modern real estate transactions, present and future interests, servitudes, and
landlord-tenant law.
6. Apply such principles and rules to basic factual scenarios.
7. Describe, explore, distinguish and compare in a scholarly and critical manner the concept
and fundamental methodologies used to define and defend “property rights” in its
historical, philosophical, political, international and social context.
V. Class administration:
Class Preparation
For each class, read the entire assignment (not just the cases) at least twice. You should also
prepare your own case brief for major cases (those that are underlined in this syllabus). For some
classes, there are no cases.
You may find that you will learn the material better if you prepare for class in two different study
sessions, one for the first part of the assignment and another for the rest.
Class Participation
Class participation is important because it gives you an opportunity to practice what you have
learned, it gives you a chance to share your experience and perspective, and it makes the class
more interesting. This class will include role playing, small group discussion, and other kinds of
direct student participation. It is an honor code violation to sign another student’s name on the
attendance sheet or in for online classes, to ask someone to sign in for you, or to sign in and
attend only a portion of class (without prior approval).
You can expect to be called on to answer questions throughout the semester. When you are called
on, you are expected to be able to describe the facts, rule, issue, holding, disposition, and reasons
and policies of the cases that are assigned. You are also expected to be able to answer questions
based on any exercises that have been assigned. In addition, you are also expected to make a good
faith effort to answer hypothetical questions that were not assigned, but which come up in class.
If you are unable to do these things in a particular class, I reserve the right to mark you absent for
Page 2 of 6
that class.
When you are not called on to answer a question, try to answer it anyway in your head. Then
compare your answer with the answer given by other students, and with the answers that emerge
from the subsequent discussion. This kind of active mental participation will enable you to learn
the legal rules (and perhaps more importantly, how to apply them) much more fully and quickly.
Exercises and Problems
Exercises and problems are part of the assignment for most classes; they are not optional. You
will learn property much better if you do them as we go along. Most of the exercises are taken
from previous examination questions. Much of the final will be based on the types of legal issues
raised in the exercises and problems. I will try to discuss each of them in class, but reserve the
right to discuss only selected portions.
Class Recordings
Students are expressly prohibited from recording any part of this course. Meetings of this course
might be recorded by the University. Any recordings will be available to students registered for
this class as they are intended to supplement the classroom experience. Students are expected to
follow appropriate University policies and maintain the security of passwords used to access
recorded lectures. Recordings may not be reproduced, shared with those not in the class, or
uploaded to other online environments. If the instructor or a Barry University officer plans any
other uses for the recordings, beyond this class, students identifiable in the recordings will be
notified to request consent prior to such use.
Student Workload Policy
The American Bar Association requires that you spend at least eight hours per week, on average,
outside of class studying for this 4-credit course. This is in addition to the four hours a week we
spend in class.
Grading
This course has a total of 100 possible points based on a first-quarter open-book examination via
Canvas worth 10 points; a midterm examination worth 20 points; and a final examination worth
70 points. The examinations will cover all material in the semester prior to the examination.
Please be aware that because examinations must be approved by the Associate Dean for Academic
Affairs, any information I provide to you during the semester regarding the examination, including
its format, is subject to change without notice.
The Barry University School of Law Honor Code and the Conduct Code apply to all aspects of
this course. If you have any questions about the Honor Code or Conduct Code, please refer to the
Page 3 of 6
Student Handbook.
Canvas
This course has a Canvas page where you will find quizzes and practice questions.
Communications from me will be via Canvas. Please be sure to regularly check Canvas through
the date of each examination. You are responsible for being familiar with any information that I
post on Canvas up until the examinations (including during reading week).
CALI
You have access to recorded lectures and additional practice questions at the website for the Center
for Computer-Assisted Learning Instruction (CALI). You may access the website at the following
site: http://www.cali.org/category/1l-first-year-lesson-topics/property-law. Log in information is
available through the law library.
Attendance Policy
Barry University School of Law class attendance policy will be enforced and attendance will be
taken in each class session. You will be expected to keep track of your own attendance. Please do
not arrive late or leave early unless necessary. You will have the opportunity to sign the attendance
sheet only at the beginning of class. It is an honor code violation to sign another student’s name
on the attendance sheet, to ask someone to sign in for you, or to sign in and attend only a
portion of class (without prior approval).
Students with Disabilities
If you have a documented disability and are in need of an accommodation, contact the Office of
Disability Services at Barry University's main campus in Miami Shores. The contact information
for the Office of Disability Services is below.
Voice/TDD: (305) 899-3488; Facsimile: (305) 899-3959; E-mail:
DisabilityServices@mail.barry.edu
Syllabus
What follows is a course outline and a class-by-class schedule of what we will cover.
This syllabus may be modified somewhat over the course of the semester. You will be given
advance notice of any changes. There may also be some handouts. The bold face numbers on the
left margin identify the class when we will cover the corresponding material.
Introduction to the Law of Property: Empire, Theft, and Redlining
Page 4 of 6
PRELIMINARY DRAFT AS OF JANUARY 4, 2022
Module I – Land Theft and Rule of Capture
Pierson v. Post, 1805 WL 781 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1805).
Popov v. Hayashi, No. 400545, 2002 WL 31833731 (Cal. Super. Ct. Dec. 18, 2002).
Armory v. Delamirie, (K.B. 1722) 93 Eng.Rep. 664.
Rose Cuison Villazor, Teaching Property Law and What It Means to Be Human, 3 Cal. L. Rev. Circuit 7,
18 (2012), https://29qish1lqx5q2k5d7b491joo-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wpcontent/uploads/2014/10/Teaching-Property-Law-and-What-It-Means-to-Be-Human.pdf
Up for Grabs (2004), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0-jdx-fas4&t=154s
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAzGXqJSDJ8
Questions on Capture, Bailments, Finding, and Personal Property
Module II – Slavery and Adverse Possession
State v. Shack, 58 N.J. 297, 277 A.2d 369 (1971)
Marengo Cave Co. v. Ross, 212 Ind. 624, 10 N.E.2d 917 (1937).
Howard v. Kunto, 3 Wash. App. 393, 477 P.2d 210 (1970).
Cheryl I. Harris, Whiteness As Property, 106 HARV. L. REV. 1709 (1993),
https://harvardlawreview.org/1993/06/whiteness-as-property/.
Cheryl I. Harris, Reflections on Whiteness As Property, 134 HARV. L. REV. F. 1 (2020),
https://harvardlawreview.org/2020/08/reflections-on-whiteness-as-property/.
Roots (2016)
When They See Us (2018)
Questions on Adverse Possession and Exclusion
Module III – Land Loss and Heirs’ Property Dispossession
Thomas Mitchell, Twisted Plotlines, Social Investor, https://www.chandlerfoundation.org/socialinvestor/twisted-plotlines
Thomas W. Mitchell, Historic Partition Law Reform: A Game Changer for Heirs’ Property Owners, 65
(Cassandra J. Gaither, Ann Carpenter, Tracy Lloyd McCurty, & Sara Toering eds., 2019),
https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2313&context=facscholar.
Page 5 of 6
Module IV – Land Grabs and Present and Future Interests
K-Sue Park, This Land is Not Our Land, 87 U. Chicago L. Rev. 1977 (2020).
Fee Simple Absolute
Life Estate
The Tenancies
The (Largely Extinct) Fee Tail
Defeasible Interests
Future Interests and Remainders
Executory Interests
Classifying Present and Future Interests
Rules on Restraints on Alienability
Ambiguous Conveyances
The Law of Waste
Rule Against Perpetuities
Module V – The Housing Shortage, Concurrent Interests, Predatory Landlords
Tenancy in Common
Partition
Rights and Obligations of Co-Tenants
Joint Tenancy
Tenancy by the Entirety
Marital Property
Divorce and Death
Community Property System
Unmarried Couples
Creating a Leasehold
Delivery of Possession
Protection Against Discrimination
Holdovers and the Tenancy at Sufferance
Tenant’s Rights and Remedies
Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment and Constructive Eviction
Implied Warranty of Habitability
Landlord’s Rights and Tenant’s Duties
Transferring the Lease
Ending the Leasehold
Module VI – Mortgage Defaults, Racially Restrictive Covenants, and the Unhoused
Module VII – Pipeline Protests and Servitudes
Module VIII – Redlining and Zoning
Modules IX – Takings
NOTE: This syllabus may be modified at any time at the sole discretion of the professor.
Page 6 of 6