Property D-2
Preliminary Syllabus
Property I, Fall: Mon./Wed., 1:30 - 2:45 p.m., Room 304
Peter J. Karol
pkarol@nesl.edu
Tel: x 7327
Room 417
Fall Office Hours: Tues. 4:00 pm -7:00 pm; Wed. 10:00 am – 1 pm
- by appointment with the Faculty Receptionist
Text: Property Law: Rules, Policies and Practices, 6th Ed., Joseph William Singer
(Aspen 2014)
Readings are assigned according to the table below. Please be sure to closely read any
statutory provision or “Problem” covered in the assigned text, even if not specifically
listed below. Cases not in the reading are all hyperlinked or posted by PDF on Twen (I
give a full, formal, citation to indicate a case not in the reading). I expect you to check
the class page on Twen regularly, and to keep your email address current on Twen, as I
will use the page to post revisions and additional case materials. At times, we will not
get to a certain case or reading during the assigned class due to time constraints. I still
expect you to remain familiar with that reading for the next class (in addition to the
readings assigned on the syllabus for that next class).
I expect to teach the class largely on a cold-call basis. Everyone is expected to be
prepared for class every day, including a close familiarity with the cases, statutes,
problems and other readings. If, for a legitimate reason, you are not able to prepare for a
given class, I expect you to email me at least two hours before class to let me know.
You may elect to pass if called upon for a given question; however passes without the
two hours prior notification may impact your participation grade negatively. You are
always welcome and encouraged to participate voluntarily, in addition to being called
upon.
Each semester, your grades will primarily be based on a final exam. Quality class
participation may impact your grade positively. Unexcused passes, excessive absences,
or missed or late assignments may impact your participation grade negatively.
I will be assigning two practice exams throughout the year, as well as other shorter
assignments. You are expected to draft a complete written answer to these practice
essays and questions, and upload them to the Drop Box section of the Property Class
Twen site. We will generally discuss the questions, and model answer, as a class. The
assignments will NOT be graded, however failure to complete them or submit them in a
timely manner may impact your participation grade negatively.
You are strongly encouraged to meet with me at office hours to discuss the material
and/or review any of your written work individually.
PROPERTY I: FALL SEMESTER
Class
Date
Assignment (Page Numbers from Singer in parentheses)
No.
The Right to Exclude and its Limits
1.
August 24, 2015
1. A Guide to This Book (xxxi-xl only)
2. How to Brief a Case and Prepare for Class (xlvii-liii)
3. Intro to Trespass (3-9)
a. State v. Shack
2.
August 26, 2015
1. Trespass, Cont. (9-30)
a. Desnick v. ABC
b. Uston v. Resorts Int’l Hotel
3.
August 31, 2015
1. Trespass Remedies (30-38)
a. Glavin v. Eckman
b. Jacques v. Steenberg Homes
4.
September 2, 2015
1. Federal Public Accommodation Statutes (40 bottom of
page – 52 middle of page) (read statutory texts closely)
2. Problem Set 1 (Submit to Twen by Midnight Sept. 1.).
N/A
September 7, 2015
NO CLASS- LABOR DAY
5.
September 9, 2015
1. Free Speech Rights of Access to Private Property (61-68)
a. Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner
2. A Local Example of Free Speech Rights in Conflict with
Private Property
a. Excerpts from Occupy Boston et al. v. City of
Boston et al., (Twen)
6.
September 14, 2015 1. Beach Access and the Public Trust
a. Matthews v. Bay Head Improvement Ass’n (68-78)
2. The Right to be Somewhere and the Problem of
Homelessness (78-82)
Acquiring Property Rights
7.
September 16, 2015 1. How Important is Possession? (130-141)
a. Pierson v. Post
b. Popov v. Hyashi
2. Capture of Natural Resources (141-146)
a. Elliff v. Texon Drilling Co.
8.
September 21, 2015 1. Possession and the Presumption of Title (146-150)
a. Willcox v. Stroup
2. Relativity of Title and Finders (150-158 middle of page)
a. Armory v. Delamirie
b. Charrier v. Bell
3. Transfer of Stolen Property (161-162)
9.
September 23, 2015
** Hand out Practice Exam Question One **
1. Intro to Adverse Possession (283 - 306)
a. Brown v. Gobble
b. Romero v. Garcia
c. Nome 2000 v. Fagerstrom
Class
No.
10.
Date
12.
October 5, 2015
Assignment (Page Numbers from Singer in parentheses)
September 28, 2015
1. Adverse Possession, cont. and Prescriptive Easements
(306-318)
**Likely to be
a. Community Feed Store Inc. v. Northeastern
rescheduled—
Culvert Corp.
Time/Date TBD**
2. Review Answer to Practice Exam Question One (post to
Drop Box on Twen by 10 AM))
Nuisance: Limits on the Freedom to Use Land
11.
September 30, 2015 1. Intro to Nuisance (333-353 middle of page)
a. Dobbs v. Wiggins
b. Page County Appliance Center, Inc. v. Honeywell
1. Nuisance Remedies (353-359)
a. Boomer v. Atlantic Cement
2. Light and Air (367 – 379 bottom of page)
a. Fountainebleau Hotel Corp. v. Forty-Five TwentyFive, Inc.
b. Prah v. Maretti
13.
October 7, 2015
1. Support Rights (400-419)
a. Noone v. Price
b. Friendswood Development Co. v. Smith-Southwest
Industrs., Inc.
N/A
NO CLASS OCTOBER 12— COLUMBUS DAY
Zoning and Land Use Regulation
14.
October 13, 2015
1. Intro to Zoning (421-434)
a. Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty
*Monday class
schedule on Tuesday
15.
October 14, 2015
1. Prior Nonconforming Uses (434-439)
a. Town of Belleville v. Parrillo’s
2. Vested Rights (439-444)
a. Stone v. City of Wilton
16.
October 19, 2015
1. Challenges to Zoning Classifications (444-452)
a. Durand v. IDC Bellingham
2. Administrative Flexibility and Variances (452-460)
a. Krummenacher v. Minnetonka
17.
October 21, 2015
1. Exclusionary Zoning (461-473; 1125-1128)
a. Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Mount
Laurel
b. Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas
Easements and Covenants: Agreements to Use Land or Limit its Use
18.
October 26, 2015
1. Intro to Servitudes and Easements (511-522)
a. Green v. Lupo
2. Easement Scope (522-527 top of page)
a. Cox v. Glenbrook
** Hand out Practice Exam Question 2**
Class
No.
19.
Date
Assignment (Page Numbers from Singer in parentheses)
October 28, 2015
N/A
November 2, 2015 at
11:10-12:10
(AEP Class)
November 2, 2015
1. Apportioning In Gross Easements (527-533)
a. Henley v. Continental Cablevision
2. Easements by Estoppel (533-544)
a. Lobato v. Taylor
1. Review Practice Exam Question 2 (post to Drop Box on
Twen by Nov. 1 at Midnight)
20.
(Regular Time)
21.
November 4, 2015
1. Easements Implied from Prior Use and by Necessity (544556)
a. Granite Properties v. Manns
b. Finn v. Williams
2. Modifying and Terminating Easements (556)
1. Intro to Covenants (556-570 middle of page)
a. Neponsit Property Owners v. Emigrant Industrial
22.
November 9, 2015
1. Restatement (Third) of Property Approach to Covenants
and Problems (570 middle of page -574)
2. Covenants and Remedies (574-576)
23.
November 11, 2015
1. Implied Reciprocal Negitave Servitudes in Residential
Subdivisions (577-586))
a. Evans v. Pollock
2. Intro to Common Interest Developments and Property
Owners Assocs. (586-598)
a. Appel v. Presley
24.
November 16, 2015
1. Substantive Limitations on Covenants (598-613)
a. Davidson Bros. v. D. Katz & Sons
b. Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village
25.
November 18, 2015
1. Rules and Bylaws (614-622)
a. O’Buck v. Cottonwood Village
b. Neuman v. Grandview at Emerald Hills
26.
November 23, 2015
1. Constitutional Limits on Covenants (623-633)
a. Shelley v. Kraemer
N/A
NO CLASS-THANKSGIVING BREAK
27.
November 30, 2015
1. Restraints on Alienation and Anticompetitive Covenants
(635-647)
a. Northwest Real Estate v. Serio
b. Woodside Village Condominium Assoc. v. Jahren
28.
December 2, 2015
1. Modifying and Terminating Covenants (647-658)
a. El Di V. Town of Bethany Beach
b. Blakely v. Gorin
N/A
TBD
Voluntary Review Session
DECEMBER FINAL EXAM -- TBD