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Real Estate & Property Law

PropertyProf Blog

By D. Benjamin Barros and Alfred L. Brophy et al.

Post Frequency: 12.4/day

Last Entry: March 31, 2011 at 11:58:57

Recording Acts, MERS, and the Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on October 20, 2010
I haven't posted lately for a very good reason -- I've been distracted by the recording acts, the residential foreclosure crisis, and the Mortgage Electronic Recording System (MERS). I've been fascinated by the news articles making vague and mysterious references...

Sample Real Estate Financing Documents for Teaching?

Posted on October 19, 2010
I'm looking for forms of (a) a deed of trust; (b) a sale-leaseback; (c) an installement land contract; and (d) a subordination agreement from a real estate context to use with my students. I have the Fannie Mae form deed...

Low Buildings, High Costs

Posted on October 19, 2010
Matt Yglesias on the high cost of the height restrictions that Washington D.C. imposes on builders: [G]overnments of growing municipalities need to understand that urban space is a hugely valuable commodity. Rules which mandate that the space be used inefficiently...

Property Symposia

Posted on October 18, 2010
It seems to me that there is a relative lack of law review symposia on property-related issues. I don't have any solid data to go on, but it seems to me that there should be more property symposia given that...

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The Worst Things About Sprawl

Posted on October 15, 2010
Jeff Speck, co-author of the seminal Suburban Nation (along with Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater- Zyberk), puts togehter a slide show about the worst consequences of sprawl. From the author: [S]prawl has quietly been identified as a central cause behind...

Our Bipolar Relationship with Central Banking

Posted on October 14, 2010
For 219 years, the United States has indulged a funny-if-it-wasn't-so-awful bipolar impulse with regard to central banking and -- more relevant for our purposes -- housing lending. We have an ideological distaste for central banking authority that stretches back to...

Propety and the American Life

Posted on October 13, 2010
I know it's comically bourgie, but I just love NPR's This American Life. It simply goes without saying that the two best episodes are "The Breakup" and "Music Lessons." Nonetheless, the show has also put together a variety of programs...

Home, Home on the Range (For Now)

Posted on October 12, 2010
The New York Times has an article today about the rising tensions caused by Arizona's so-called "Open Range" laws, which absolve livestock owners of liability if their animals cause damage after wandering onto land not enclosed by a "lawful fence."...

The Geography of Military Service

Posted on October 11, 2010
Richard Florida examines the military's deepening geographic divide: The social divisions of class and inequality have always run through the military. Fighting forces have long been drawn disproportionately from lower-income, lower-skilled, and more economically disadvantaged populations...

The End of Sprawl?

Posted on October 08, 2010
New Jersey is, evidently, running out of land. For a more skeptical take, see here. Steve Clowney [Comments are held for approval, so there will be some delay in posting]

An Overview of Property

Posted on October 06, 2010
The Boston Globe's Big Picture feature recently ran a hypnotic series of ariel photos that depict the housing collaplse in South Florida. The photo team states: Many homes there are empty and have been for years. Huge developments sit partially...

Unsolicited Advice for Candidates Heading to DC

Posted on October 05, 2010
?A year ago at this time, I was stressing over my impending speed-dating exercise to the Wardman. This year, I?m writing a midterm for my Real Estate Transactions students. Take heart, candidates! I thought I?d take a brief break from...

The Sooty Spectre

Posted on October 04, 2010
Joel Kotkin, writing in Foregn Policy, examines the future of urban development. Kotkin argues that planners should do more to resist the growing trend of megacities. On the global scale, he thinks that small cities (like Austin, Tel Aviv, and...

Fischel on Zoning Since the 1980s

Posted on October 04, 2010
William A. Fischel (Dartmouth) has posted The Evolution of Zoning Since the 1980s: The Persistence of Localism on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Zoning is the regulation of the use of land by local government. Although it is the most jealously...

Brown and Williams on Adverse Possession

Posted on October 04, 2010
Carol Necole Brown (UNC - Chapel Hill) and Serena Maria Williams (Widener) have posted Rethinking Adverse Possession: An Essay on Ownership and Possession on SSRN. Here's the abstract: In the wake of the present real estate crisis, there has been...

Dorfman on Numerus Clausus

Posted on October 04, 2010
Avihay Dorfman (Tel Aviv) has posted Property and Collective Undertaking: The Principle of Numerus Clausus on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Property rights are subject to the principle of numerus clausus, which is a restriction that means that it cannot be...

It's You-Know-Who Esque

Posted on October 04, 2010
The New York Times magazine is running a great story about the on-going court battle for Franz Kafka's papers. The basics of the story of Franz Kafka and Max Brod are well-known: Kafka's friend Brod disregarded Kafka's last request that...

Denial

Posted on October 01, 2010
The N.Y. Times digs into a problem that's long puzzeled me: Why don't the nations upstream of Egypt lay claim to more of the Nile's water? Egypt takes 80%. By many accounts, it uses the water in a terribly wasteful...

PropertyProf Wanted at Elon

Posted on October 01, 2010
Elon University School of Law invites applications for tenure-track or visiting faculty positions for appointments to begin in August 2011. Our principal needs are in the areas of property law and/or wills, trusts, and estates. We may also attempt this...

Mossoff on Patent Takings

Posted on October 01, 2010
Adam Mossoff (George Mason) has posted How the "New GM" Can Steal from Toyota on SSRN. Here's the abstract: This essay explains how a 2006 court decision arising from the manufacture of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet paves the way...

Document Flaws in Mortgage Foreclosure Process

Posted on October 01, 2010
Today's NY Times has an interesting story about how various documentation issues are creating problems in the mortgage foreclosure process. A taste: The foreclosure machinery that has forced millions of Americans out of their homes is beginning to seize up...

Recording Acts In-Class Exercise

Posted on September 30, 2010
Today in Real Estate Transactions we began talking about the Recording Acts (Chapter 14 in Professor Lefcoe's book). We talked a little bit about the reasons that we have Recording Acts and how the system works in America. I walked...

Property LLMs?

Posted on September 29, 2010
In the last two weeks, LLM programs have come under scrutiny (See here, here, here, and here). The general consensus seems to be that the master of law degree is valuable for aspiring tax attorneys and graduates of foreign law...

The Fight for the Arctic

Posted on September 28, 2010
In 2007, Russia planted its flag on an underwater mountain range arising from the oil-rich Arctic seabed, adding a show of power to its legal claim that the range belonged to it under international law. Not surprisingly, other nations claiming...

Diamond and Homeownership, Shared Equity, and Poverty

Posted on September 27, 2010
Michael Diamond (Georgetown) has posted The Meaning and Nature of Property: Homeownership and Shared Equity in the Context of Poverty on SSRN. Here's the abstract: While a Blackstonian view of property envisaged a "despotic dominion" of an owner over a...

Smith on The Structural Causes of Mortgage Fraud

Posted on September 27, 2010
Jim Smith (Georgia) has posted The Structural Causes of Mortgage Fraud on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Mortgage fraud, often a violation of federal and state criminal statutes, covers a number of different types of behavior, all of which have the...

Eagle on The Really New Property

Posted on September 27, 2010
Steven J. Eagle (George Mason) has posted The Really New Property: A Skeptical Appraisal on SSRN. Here's the abstract: This article reviews recent scholarship invoking the prophetic tradition in American jurisprudence and calling for the transformation of property law...

Ng on Property and Progress

Posted on September 27, 2010
Alina Ng (Mississippi College School of Law) has posted Property and Progress on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Copyright laws aim to protect intangible interests in the use of literary and artistic works to provide creators with an incentive to produce....

Sidney (NY) Town Board Objects to New Cemetery

Posted on September 27, 2010
At its August 12th meeting, the town board of Sidney, New York (population 10,000) voted to seek an injunction against the Muslim Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Sufi Order on Wheat Hill Road to prevent it from continuing to use a portion...

Bikeshare Programs, Ctd.

Posted on September 25, 2010
In reponse to this post, a commentator writes: Your account of what 'history' tells us about bikesharing is too selective to offer any true insight. Your omission of any mention of success stories like Montreal and Minneapolis, and your eagerness...

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