Personal Property Flashcards
The finder of lost articles is the owner “against all the world” …
… Except for its owner
An object deposited on the soil through natural processes is a part of that soil, not a moveable object.
The rule in Goddard v. Winchel
When property is lost, abandoned, or without an owner, occupation or possession of it requires …
… an actual taking of [property] with the intent to possess it.
Indicating intent to appropriate property does not constitute possession; persistent efforts to retrieve and guard the property does.
The rule in Eads v. Brazelton
The finder of lost property has a title superior to all but the true owner.
The rule in Armory v. Delamirie
When lost property is found in a shop, the finder’s claim to the property is greater than that of all but the true owner, including the shop-owner
The rule in Bridges v. Hawkesworth
The definition of “trover”
A suit to recover the value of the plaintiff’s chattel that the defendant has converted
Where a person has possession of land with a manifest intent to exercise control over it and the things on or in it, he is presumed to also possess anything found on that land.
The rule in South Staffordshire Water Co. v. Sharman
When property is found in a house whose owner did not have prior possession or control of it, that property belongs to …
… the finder of the property within the house
Where a house owner has had no prior possession or control over property lost in his house, the property belongs to its finder not the house owner.
The rule in Hannah v. Peel
A finder has no title to …
… property that is mislaid
A finder has no title to property that is mislaid.
The rule in Macavoy v. Medina
The definition of “replevin”
An action an owner may use to recover goods from one who has wrongfully taken them
When the statute of limitations for an action for replevin of property has run, the original owner of the property cannot circumvent the statute by physically repossessing the converted or taken property.
The rule in Chapin v. Freeland
A cause of action for replevin accrues …
… once the injured party discovers—or should have discovered—facts that form the basis of the cause of action.
The statute of limitations for replevin does not accrue until the injured party discovers, or should have discovered, that the chattel was missing.
The rule in O’keefe v. Snyder
UCC § 2-403 requires that …
… a good-faith purchaser of ART be concerned with a seller’s status as a merchant and their authority to sell the ART.
Transferring possession of property, without more, is not sufficient …
… to equitably estop an owner from asserting their title against a purchase in good-faith
1) an ART purchaser is not a good-faith purchaser if they don’t care who’s selling it to them and their authority to do so—according to UCC § 2-403
2) an owner of ART can still assert title against a good-faith purchase
The rule in Porter v. Wertz
Buyers beware: state law may prevent a bona-fide purchaser from taking good title to a motor vehicle if…
… the seller has no motor vehicle title certificate
A person with only voidable title cannot pass good title to a motor vehicle to a bona-fide purchaser for value if he does not have a Certificate of Title, because his voidable title is not perfected until he has the certificate.
The rule in Sheridan Suzuki, Inc. v. Caruso Auto Sales
Promises to give a gift later are …
… unenforceable as contracts: 1) because there is no consideration, 2) to allow donors to re-think impuse decisions, and 3) because delivery helps disprove false claims
A gift is valid if accompanied by an instrument of gift and proof of the intent to make a gift, and the property need not be delivered at that time, if there is a reasonable and satisfactory excuse.
The rule in In re Cohn
Donors may make living gifts while reserving the right to keep the item for their lifetime
The rule in Gruen v. Gruen
