Chapter 49 Personal Property and Bailments

accession

"something added"; accession occurs when someone adds value to an item of personal property by the use of either labor or materials; EX) Josh buys all the materials necessary to customize his corvette. He hires Zach, a customizing specialist. Josh pays Zach for the value of the labor, obviously retaining title to the property

gift inter vivos

a gift made during the donor's lifetime

gift causa mortis

a gift made in contemplation of imminent death; to be effective, a gift case mortis must meet the three requirements of intent, delivery, and acceptance; does not become absolute until the donor dies from the contemplated illness; automatically revoked if the prospective donee dies before the donor

fixture

a thing affixed to realty; attached to the realty by roots, embedded in it, or permanently attached by means of cement, plaster, bolts, nails, or screws

trade fixtures

an exception to the rule that fixtures are a part of the real property; trade fixture is personal property that is installed for a commercial purpose by a tenant (one who rents real property from the owner, or landlord). Trade fixtures remain the property of the tenant, unless removal would irreparably damage to the building or realty

Confusion

commingling (mixing together) of goods to such an extent that one person's personal property cannot be distinguished from another's; frequently occurs with fungible goods such as grain or oil, which consist of identical units

constructive delivery

does not confer actual possession of the object in question, only thee right to take actual possession. EX) keys to a car

estray statutes

encourage and facilitate the return of property to its true owner and reward the finder for honesty if the property remains unclaimed; must report discoveries and after passage of a specified period of time, to acquire legal title to the property they have found

gift

fairly common means of acquiring or transferring ownership of property; essentially a voluntary transfer of property ownership for which no consideration is given

bailment

formed by the delivery of personal property, without transfer of title by one person (called a bailor) to another (called a bailee). Bailment agreements usually are made for a particular purpose- for example, to loan, lease, store, repair, or transport the property. On the completion of the purpose, the bailee is obligated to return the bailed property in the same or better condition to the bailor or a third person or to dispose as directed

lost property

involuntarily left; a finder of lost property can claim title to the property against the whole world- except the true owner. If the true owner is identified and demands that the lost property be returned, the finder must return it. If a third party attempts to take possession of the lost property, the finder will have a better tittle than the the third party EX) Kayla finds gold bracelet, takes it to jeweler, kayla holds title against everyone except the true owner

dominon

ownership rights

abandoned property

property that has been discarded by the true owner, who has no intent of reclaiming title to it

mislaid property

property that has been voluntarily placed somewhere by the owner and then inadvertently forgotten; a person who finds mislaid property does not obtain tittle to the goods. Instead, the owner of the place where the property was mislaid becomes caretaker of the property because is it highly likely that the true owner will return; EX) leaving IPhone at movie theater while getting popcorn

real property

sometimes called realty or real estate; means the land and everything permanently attached to it, including structures and anything attached permanently to the structures

personal property

sometimes referred to in case law as personalty or chattel; personal property is capable of being moved

bailee's lien

the bailee's right to place a possessory lien (claim) on the specific bailed property until she or he has been fully compensated