PropertyProf Blog: Real Estate & Property Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Real Estate & Property Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

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

Aesthetic Nuisance in the News

Posted on April 19, 2010
You just have to read a news story that begins like this: They say a man's home is his castle, but does that include the right to turn it into an eyesore? On a quiet side street south of Daytona...

Historic Preservation and Takings

Posted on April 19, 2010
My property class did Penn Central late last week. With impeccable timing, the St. Petersburg Times ran a story this weekend about a somewhat similar lawsuit arising out of local historic preservation regulations. The City of St. Petersburg has designated...

Is that Property which the Law Declares to be Property?

Posted on April 15, 2010
In response to Virginia's celebration of confederate history month, and in connection with teaching takings this week, yesterday I had my property class read Henry Clay's argument against the emancipation of humans held as slaves. Clay's argument was that if...

Neighbors v. Neighbors in New Jersey Beach Renourishment Dispute

Posted on April 13, 2010
The AP has a great story about a controversy brewing in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The beach is eroding, placing some beachfront homes at risk and endangering the community?s main recreational attraction. But renourishment of the beaches would create...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

The Policy Tensions of Non-conforming Uses

Posted on April 12, 2010
An article in this weekend's Sarasota Herald-Tribune provides a nice real-world example of the policy tensions that underlie the law of non-conforming uses, especially in developing areas that bring lots of new residents. A family whose businesses have been allowed...

Blacklisted

Posted on April 12, 2010
The New York Times ran a fascinating piece last week about tenant blacklisting. Turns out there are over 600 firms in the country that collect and sell to landlords the names of people who've been in housing court eviction proceedings....

Supreme Court Denies Cert in Marshall Islands Takings Case

Posted on April 09, 2010
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by Marshall Islanders seeking to reverse a 2009 ruling of the Federal Circuit. The case has a fascinating factual context and raises interesting questions about the relationship between...

The General Average and Necessity

Posted on April 08, 2010
Over at CoOp, Gerard Magliocca has an interesting post comparing the maritime doctrine of general average, where some compensation is owed to people whose property is destroyed to save a ship, and the property doctrine of necessity, which holds that....

Salkin on Nonconforming Uses

Posted on April 06, 2010
Patricia Salkin (Albany) has posted Abandonment, Discontinuance and Amortization of Nonconforming Uses: Lessons for Drafters of Zoning Regulations on SSRN. Here's the abstract: With a significant volume of litigation focused on the subject of nonconforming uses, this article offers practical...

More on the Meteorite

Posted on April 06, 2010
Andrea Boyack (Catholic) has an interesting essay in the National Law Journal on ownership of the Lorton, VA, meteorite. Check it out! Ben Barros [Comments are held for approval, so there will be some delay in posting]

Unlawful Possession and the Foreclosure Crisis

Posted on April 06, 2010
I dislike the word 'squatting' because we tend to use it to mean unlawful possession we don't like; unlawful possession we do like we call 'pioneering' or, if it continues for long enough, perhaps 'adverse possession.' Therefore, to describe unlawful...

Sterk on Settlement of Land Use Disputes

Posted on April 03, 2010
Stewart E. Sterk (Cardozo) has posted Structural Obstacles to Settlement of Land Use Disputes on SSRN. Here's the abstract: In many states, legal doctrine discourages settlement of land use litigation by requiring that any settlement undergo the same review process...

Bell and Parchomovsky on Takings Compensation

Posted on April 02, 2010
Abraham Bell (San Diego) and Gideon Parchomovsky (Penn) have posted The Hidden Function of Takings Compensation on SSRN. Here's the abstract: To date, scholars have justified the constitutional mandate to pay compensation for takings of property on the intuitively appealing...

Moringiello on Mortgage Modification

Posted on April 02, 2010
Juliet M. Moringiello (Widener) has posted Mortgage Modification, Equitable Subordination, and the Honest but Unfortunate Creditor on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Mortgage foreclosures are at an all-time high and property values in many parts of the country have declined precipitously...

Avatar: awful but useful

Posted on April 02, 2010
There are some films I eagerly want to watch; there are many I'm completely indifferent to; and there are a few I determinedly avoid. Avatar was one of the latter. I'm grumpy about 'blockbusters' and I can't stand tired old...

Blumm and Ruhl on Background Principles and Takings Law

Posted on April 01, 2010
Michael C. Blumm (Lewis & Clark) and J. B. Ruhl (Florida State) have posted Background Principles, Takings, and Libertarian Property: A Response to Professor Huffman on SSRN. Here's the abstract: One of the principal, if unexpected, results of the Supreme...

Chase on Rethinking the Homeownership Society

Posted on April 01, 2010
Arlo M. Chase (Brooklyn) has posted Rethinking the Homeownership Society: Rental Stability Alternative on SSRN. Here's the abstract: This paper radically challenges two of the dominant theories about housing policy: (a) that promoting homeownership is the best way to achieve...

Burdon on Land Use Ethics

Posted on April 01, 2010
Peter D. Burdon (Univ. of Adelaide) has posted What is Good Land Use? From Rights to Relationship on SSRN. Here's the abstract: Food is our most basic common need. It nourishes us, brings people together and is a source of...

Rybczynski on Centralized City Planning

Posted on March 31, 2010
At Slate, Witold Rybczynski has a post skeptical of centralized city planning that raises some points similar to those discussed in the recent Prawfs bookclub on Nicole Garnett's Ordering the City. Ben Barros [Comments are held for approval, so there...

In New York, Roommates and Normatively Acceptable Deviance

Posted on March 29, 2010
The New York Times today ran a great piece ("In New York, Breaking the Law on Roommates") on a regulation that captures the dynamic between acceptable deviance and property rights quite well: limits on the number of roommates that can...

Hernando de Soto and Property in a Market Economy

Posted on March 29, 2010
I'm delighted to announce the publication of Hernando de Soto and Property in a Market Economy, a book that I edited for Ashgate. Here's the back-cover blurb: Hernando de Soto is one of the world's leading public intellectuals. His books...

More Popular Outrage Today over Westboro

Posted on March 29, 2010
I'm sorry to keep beating this drum, but when the news demands it . . . Today the newswires and blogs are crackling with outrage over the 4th Circuit's ruling that the man who sued Westboro Church for demonstrating at...

Is Federal Land Subject to State Eminent Domain Power?

Posted on March 29, 2010
Several weeks ago, one of my students (hat tip: Emily Pabalan) forwarded an article about a bill pending in the Utah legislature that would authorize the state to condemn certain parcels owned by the federal government. According to this AP...

The Sidewalk at the Corner of Property and Norms

Posted on March 26, 2010
In my last post, I wrote about the predictable malfunction legal institutions face when behavior regarding property is illegal but normatively acceptable: selective enforcement. Today I want to write about the opposite dynamic -- behavior that is legal but normatively...

Norms, File-Sharing and the Latest from the Thomas Case

Posted on March 22, 2010
Legal institutions struggle when the legality of behavior, and the normative acceptability of that behavior, diverge. Sometimes behavior that is formally illegal is normatively acceptable; sometimes behavior that is legal is normatively unacceptable. Want proof? When you drive home today,...

Ordering the City Book Club at Prawfs

Posted on March 22, 2010
This week, PrawfsBlawg is hosting a book club on Nicole Garnett's great new book Ordering the City. I'll post links as the contributions go up: Ben Barros, Complexity and the City Tracey Meares, Ordering the City Chris Serkin, Ordering the...

How Many Credits For First-Year Property?

Posted on March 22, 2010
How many credits should the first-year Property course have? I was recently asked whether we've taken on this topic here before, and much to my surprise I don't think we have. I recall it coming up a few years ago...

Understanding the Conflict Behind Stop The Beach

Posted on March 21, 2010
Today's NY Times Magazine has a fantastic story by Andrew Rice about the conflicts in Destin, Florida that led to the Stop The Beach Renourishment case now before the Supreme Court. (We've blogged before about Stop The Beach Renourishment, especially...

Thanks, and Day Labor Markets

Posted on March 20, 2010
Thanks so much to Ben for the opportunity to blog here at PropertyProf, and for the kind welcome. As Ben said, a large part of my research focus is on the evolving relationship between property rights and social standards. I...

Mark Edwards Guest Blogging

Posted on March 19, 2010
I'm delighted that Mark Edwards (William Mitchell) will be guest blogging with us. Mark is doing some interesting work on social standards and property rights, and I'm looking forward to his posts. Welcome! Ben Barros [Comments are held for approval,...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

New Baptist Covenant Blog
Last week, I pointed to the New Baptist Convenant website, now onl...

The Mexico Trucker Blog
I've written before about the perceived problems with relaxed rest...