Coursepage Outline
| Property | Fall 2013 |
Professor
Marcilynn A. Burke |
Coursepage Outline |
|
| Meeting Place | TUII - 211 |
| Meeting Times | Mondays and Tuesdays, 6:00 - 7:20 p.m.; Wednesdays, 7:30 - 8:50 p.m. |
| Office Hours | Mondays: 4:15 - 5:15 p.m.; Wednesdays: 4:15 - 6:00 p.m; or by appointment (e-mail me and my assistant to schedule) |
| Exam | December 17, 2013, 6:00 - 10:00 p.m If you require special accomodations, please see Student Services. Here is a sample exam. Here is a sample answer sheet for the multiple choice. Here are sample exam instructions. NOTE: These instructions are subject to change. Be sure to read the actual instructions when you receive you copy of the exam on exam day. |
| Required Text | Jesse Dukeminier & James E. Krier, Property (7th ed., Aspen Law & Business, 2006) [hereinafter "Casebook"] Perspectives on Property Law (Robert C. Ellickson, et al. eds., 3d ed., Aspen Law & Business, 2002) [hereinafter "Perspectives"] Linda H. Edwards, Estates in Land and Future Interests: A Step-by-Step Guide (4th ed. 2013) [hereinafter "Estates in Land"] |
| Grading | Your final grade will be based upon the final exam and class participation. Class participation will be counted in accordance with the Law Center's policy. The class will be divided into 3 panels for class participation purposes. On the day that your panel is "on", you will potentially be called upon. Each panel will be on every 3d class. |
| Coverage | Anticipate that the coverage will be approximately 15-25 pages per class. Assignments will be detailed below as the semester progresses. |
| Attendance Requirements | In accordance with the Law Center's requirement, you must attend at least 80% of the classes. Attendance will bet taken via a roll sheet passed around at the beginning of class. It is your responsibility to be on time and sign the roll sheet when it comes by your seat. Please see the General Class Requirements for additional information regarding absences. |
| General Class Requirements | Please see the linked document for General Class Requirements regarding attendance, participation, use of computers, exam policies, grading, and other important items. |
| Academic Enrichment Assistant |
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| Links to Useful Documents | |
| Links to Useful Web sites | City of Houston Planning and Development Department Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Texas General Land Office (GLO) |
Announcements
I. |
INTRODUCTION Property: What is it, how can I get some, and why do I care? |
II. |
TRANSFERS OF LAND The American Dream According to Fannie Mae |
III. |
ESTATES AND FUTURE INTERESTS My house is an estate? And who can (or can't) inherit it? |
IV. |
THE "ESTATE FOR YEARS": LANDLORD-TENANT What every law student should have known before getting his/her apartment. |
| V. | LAND USE CONTROLS/NON-POSSESSORY ESTATES When someone else can tell you what you can do with your property. |
| VI. | EMINENT DOMAIN AND TAKINGS This land is my land or is this land your land? |
| Date (2013) | Topic and Slides | Assignment |
| Aug. 26 | ACQUISITION BY DISCOVERY/CONQUEST
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Required: Optional: Washington Post article on Dept. of Interior's Mishandling of Trust Fund for Native Americans Article on 2007 Settlement Regarding Trust Fund
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| Aug. 27 | ACQUISITION BY CAPTURE
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Required: Optional: |
| Aug. 28 | Acquisition by Capture Cont'd
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Required: |
| Sept. 2 | No Class
|
 The
History of Labor Day from the U.S. Department of Labor |
| Sept. 3 | Aquisition by Capture Cont'd: A Theory of Property Rights and THE COMMONS
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Required: |
| Sept. 4 | The Commons Cont'd and Property as Personhood
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Required: Perspectives: 129-35; 1-19 (Acheson, Goffman, Radin) |
| Sept. 9 | The Problem of Social Cost: The Coase Theorem & Its Limitations
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Required: Optional: John Cassidy, Ronald Coase and the Misue of Economics, The New Yorker, Sept. 3, 2013 (written upon the death of Coase) |
| Sept. 10 | ACQUSITION BY CREATION
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Required: Optional: |
| Sept. 11 | Acquisition by Creation Cont'd (and Personhood)
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Required: Perspectives: 336-43 (Radin, Inalienability) |
| Sept. 16 | Acquisition by Creation Cont'd
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Required: Perspectives: 159-69 (Heller & Eisenberg) Optional: |
| Sept. 17 | ACQUISITION BY ADVERSE POSSESSION
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Required: Perspectives: 190-99 (Merrill) |
| Sept. 18 | Acqusition by Adverse Possession Cont'd
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Required: |
| Sept. 23 | THE LAND TRANSACTION: Introduction to Buying and Selling Real Estate, Duty to Disclose Defects
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Required: Texas Residential Contract of Sale Casebook: 541-42, 547-57 |
Sept. 24 Revised |
The Land Transaction Cont'd: Duty to Disclose Defects Cont'd and Implied Warranty of Quality
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Required: Casebook: 557-73 (skip note on Merger on 563-64), 583-84 (notes 3, 4, & 5 only) |
Sept. 25 Revised |
The Land Transaction Cont'd: The Deed
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Required: Casebook: 585-93, 605-15
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| Sept. 30 | The Land Transaction Cont'd: Financing Real Estate Transactions
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Required: Casebook: Revisit 149 Problems 2 & 3, 616-27, 630-36, |
| Oct. 1 | The Land Transaction Cont'd: Financing Real Estate Transactions Cont'd & TITLE ASSURANCE: The Recording System
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Required: Casebook: 639-43, 651-58, 661-67 |
| Oct. 2 | Title Assurance Cont'd: The Recording System Cont'd
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Required: Casebook: 667-80 |
| Oct. 7 | Title Assurance Cont'd: The Recording System Cont'd
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Required: Casebook: 667-80 (revisited) |
| Oct. 8 | Title Assurance Cont'd: The Recording System Cont'd | Required: Casebook: 680-89 |
| Oct. 9 | Title Assurance Cont'd: The Recording System Cont'd; | Required: Perspectives: 304-19
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Oct. 14
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POSSESSORY ESTATES | Required: Casebook: 202-09, 210-217 (through note 3) Optional: Review Casebook: 195-96 (inheritance terms) |
Oct. 15 *Double Session of Property* |
Possessory Estates Cont'd: The Life Estate Cont'd and Defeasible Estates | Required: Estates: 21-36 Casebook: 222-31 |
| Oct. 16 | No Property |
Double Session of Procedure |
| Oct. 21 | ||
| Oct. 22 | ||
| Oct. 23 | ||
| Oct. 28 | ||
| Oct. 29 | ||
| Oct. 30 | ||
Nov. 4 |
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| Nov. 5 | ||
| Nov. 6 | ||
| Nov. 11 | ||
| Nov. 12 | ||
| Nov. 13 | ||
| Nov. 18 | ||
| Nov. 19 | ||
| Nov. 20 | ||
| Nov. 25 | ||
| Nov. 26 | ||
Nov. 27
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 Thanksgiving Holiday Break  |
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| Dec. 2 | ||
| Dec. 3 | ||
| Dec. 4 | Review Session |
Students to come prepared with questions or to e-mail them ahead of time to be answered during the session. |
