Property Law

This lesson examines the duty of the landlord to deliver possession of the leased premises to the tenant. Courts have split as to whether the landlord has an implied duty to deliver actual physical possession of the property. Express lease provisions that bear on the delivery of possession are also considered. There is also a short discussion of a related topic: covenants of title in leases.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the periodic tenancy, also known as the periodic estate. Topics include creation of the periodic tenancy by express agreement, creation by implication, and termination of the periodic tenancy by notice. Hybrid transactions, which combine elements of the periodic tenancy and the term of years, are also considered. A sample essay exam question is included.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the covenant of quiet enjoyment. Topics include use of an express covenant of quiet enjoyment, including variations in wording; implication of the covenant; the scope of the covenant (protection against the landlord; persons claiming through the landlord; and paramount titleholders), actual eviction; and remedies for breach of quiet enjoyment.

This lesson addresses the application of the statute of frauds to leases of real property. Topics include the conveyance and contract provisions of the statute; the contents of the lease document that are required to comply with the statute of frauds; the effect upon the parties when a tenant takes possession under an invalid oral arrangement; the doctrine of part performance; and the statutory exception for short-term leases.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the tenancy at sufferance, also known as the estate at sufferance. This subject is also known as the law of holdover tenants. Topics include creation of the tenancy at sufferance by implied and express agreement, the landlord's election to treat the tenant at sufferance as a trespasser or as a tenant under a new lease, and the liability of the tenant at sufferance for rent and other obligations. Eviction rules and procedures are not covered in detail in this lesson.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law addresses the tenancy at will, also known as the estate at will. Topics include creation of the tenancy at will by express agreement, creation by implication, and termination of the tenancy at will by notice. Hybrid transactions in which one or both parties relinquish or modify their right to terminate at any moment are also considered.

This lesson in landlord-tenant law covers the tenancy for years, also known as the estate for years, term for years, or term of years.

This lesson examines the law of licenses, specifically as that law intersects the law of easements. The Lesson first defines licenses and contrasts that definition with the definition of easements. It then explores the circumstances in which a license, normally revocable, becomes irrevocable and explains that an irrevocable license essentially gives the parties the same rights and duties as an easement would.

This lesson will examine the life estate, the shortest freehold estate in land recognized by Anglo-American law.

This lesson teaches you about the operation of Marketable Title Acts which are also known as Marketable Record Title Acts. The focus is on statutes based on the Model Act. You should already be familiar with recording acts before attempting this lesson.

This lesson lays the foundation for the advanced study of mortgages and financing that is based on the security of mortgage, mortgage variants, and mortgage substitutes.

This lesson examines the four traditional negative easements of air, light, support, and access to water from an artificial stream, as well as three modern negative easements: easements of view, solar easements, and conservation easements.

This lesson explores the concepts of notice and knowledge. These are important concepts in many areas of law, e.g., contracts, property, constitutional law, criminal procedure and civil procedure.

This exercise introduces one of the most significant vehicles for acquisition of an easement without the agreement of the servient landowner. Prescriptive Easements (also known as Easements by Prescription) arise out of open, notorious, adverse and continuous use of another person's land for the statutorily determined period of time. Through this use, a person essentially "adversely possesses" an easement over another's land. This tutorial introduces the user to the significant hurdles that face a claimant of an easement by prescription.

This lesson consists of 60 hypothetical factual situations designed to reinforce the student’s skills in applying the major principles and precepts of basic property law. The student is expected to determine the correct answers by reasoning from hypothetical facts through the applicable precepts and principles, rather than merely being able to identify the rules that apply. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This lesson consists of 60 hypothetical factual situations designed to reinforce the student's skills in applying the major principles and precepts of basic property law. The student is expected to determine the correct answers by reasoning from hypothetical facts through the applicable precepts and principles, rather than merely being able to identify the rules that apply. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This lesson consists of 60 hypothetical factual situations designed to reinforce the student's skills in applying the major principles and precepts of basic property law. The student is expected to determine the correct answers by reasoning from hypothetical facts through the applicable precepts and principles, rather than merely being able to identify the rules that apply. This lesson is designed to be used late in the semester by students and in discussion groups of two or three, where the reasoning can be aired before answering.

This is the first of two advanced lessons on real estate purchase options. In so doing, the lesson covers their contract nature of options and their uses.

This is the second of two lessons about real estate purchase options. This lesson explains the problems in using purchase options that arise when the subject of the option is real estate.

Professors Brown and Grohman, authors of several CALI lessons on covenants, give students a framework to approach studying the material and offer real-life applications of the doctrines.

This lesson will introduce you to real estate brokers and familiarize you with: 1) the traditional relationship between real estate brokers and the parties to real estate transactions; 2) the duties that arise from that relationship; and 3) the effects of the breach of that duty.

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the methods by which real estate brokers are compensated. Before beginning this lesson, you should complete Real Estate Brokerage Relationships.

This lesson focuses upon the purpose, interpretation, and application of recording statutes. The lesson should help students understand the following: what a recording act is and what functions a recording act serves; what kinds of interests are covered by recording acts, and what types of persons may claim the protection of a recording act; the three types of recording acts used in American jurisdictions and the differences between them; how to interpret the language of a typical recording act (and to distinguish between the three basic types); and how to apply a recording act to resolve conflicting claims to the same land.

This lesson introduces students to one of the constitutional issues that can arise as a result of environmental and natural resources regulation: regulatory takings under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It begins by giving students an overview of regulatory taking claims, their distinction from physical takings of private property, and some of the rules that apply in evaluating whether a regulatory taking has occurred.