Practice Property Midterm

While sitting in his backyard, Noah noticed a squirrel (whose nest was in a neighboring yard) slowly moving over his grass looking for nuts. Suddenly, a stranger, Ava, jumped over Noah’s fence, grabbed the squirrel, and ran away. If Noah sues Ava to recover the squirrel, who will win?

Elsie finds an unoccupied one-acre tract of rural land. She buys a used mobile home, which she places near one of the front corners of the tract. Elsie uses the mobile home as her residence, living there continually with the exception of infrequent, short vacations. Immediately adjacent to the home she plants a small area with grass and flowers, which she thereafter maintains in a neat and attractive condition. Elsie has two dogs, which she lets run loose whenever she lets them outside her home. They wander throughout the one-acre tract. Elsie notices that along the rear boundary of the tract there are wild blackberry bushes. They bear fruit annually, and each year she picks berries, which she eats and shares with friends and relatives. Assuming that Elsie’s activities continue for a period longer than the relevant statute of limitations, Elsie may obtain title by adverse possession to the following part of the tract:

Bob holds title to Redacre, a 100-year-old mansion. Over the objection of his family and his neighbors, Bob plans to demolish Redacre in a week. A group of Bob’s neighbors file suit, seeking a court order to prevent the demolition. What is the most likely basis for obtaining such an order?

In 2000, Joe purchased a two bedroom condominium, intending to move into the unit when he retired. The condominium was located in a state far from his current residence. Unbeknownst to Joe, Skyla occupied Joe’s condominium unit for three years, beginning in 2001. Skyla knew that someone else owned the unit, and often commented to her friends, “Hey, if the owner isn’t going to use it, I might as well use it.” When Skyla needed to leave the unit in 2004 because of a job transfer, she conveyed all interest she had in the condominium unit as well as all her furniture to a coworker, Danica, for $175,000. Danica occupied the unit for nine more years, at the end of which Joe appeared, having recently retired. The jurisdiction has a ten year statutory period for adverse possession and applies the modern rule re intent. In a suit to quiet title, how should a court rule?

Catalina owned Desertacre in 2000 when Mira took possession. Catalina was mentally incompetent at the time Mira began her occupancy. In 2002, Catalina died intestate never having regained mental capacity. Her sole heir was her brother Felipe who was also mentally incompetent. Felipe regained mental competency in 2020. The statutory period in this jurisdiction in ten years. A statute in this jurisdiction also provides: “If a person entitled to bring an action in adverse possession is, at the time the cause of action accrues, within the age of minority or of unsound mind, the person, after the expiration of ten years from the time of the cause of action accrues, may bring the action within five years after the disability is removed.” When is the earliest that Mira can perfect title by adverse possession?

Ella owned Swampacre, a wild and undeveloped tract of wetlands spanning 1,500 acres, which she used for hunting wild ducks a few weeks each year with her son Fred. When Ella died, Fred assumed that he had inherited Swampacre, because Ella had always promised to leave it to him. But instead her valid will transferred Swampacre to a local church. Fred never read the will; nor did anyone tell him that the church owned Swampacre. For the next 10 years, no one visited Swampacre except for Fred, who hunted ducks on every part of the land during duck season for two weeks each year. Fred built three small “duck blinds” on the land; each one consisted of a wooden floor surrounded by reed-like camouflage to hide Fred from passing ducks. Fred’s hunting on the land was quite successful; each year, he was able to kill the maximum number of ducks allowed by law, though many of his shots missed their intended targets. Last week, a representative of the church visited Swampacre for the first time, saw Fred hunting there, and shouted: “Get off the church’s land!” The period for adverse possession in the jurisdiction is 10 years. Who owns Swampacre in most jurisdictions?

Tripp was walking along a trail on unowned land when he noticed a shiny object on the ground. He picked up the object, which turned out to be a lost Rolex watch. Noticing that the Rolex was not working, Tripp took it to a local jeweler to be repaired and explained to the jeweler that he found the lost watch while on his daily walk. The next day Tripp went to the jeweler to retrieve the watch. The jeweler refused to return the Rolex, simply saying “Hey, it isn’t your watch.” Tripp brings an action in replevin. Which statement is correct?

Justin was a renowned movie star. Because Justin’s fame and high visibility made him and his home a common target of overzealous fans, Justin employed Brent as his private security guard. One day while making his daily security sweep around Justin’s estate, Brent found a small paper bag in the middle of a patch of tall grass. Brent picked up the bag and discovered a gold pendant inside. Both Brent and Justin now claim the pendant. Both have stipulated that the pendant was a lost item. Who has the better property right to the pendant, Brent or Justin?

Jay owned an expensive gold pen. When Jay became seriously ill, he wrote a will leaving all his property to his wife, Gene. Jay then summoned Aya to his bedside and handed her his pen, saying: “Take this. I want you to have it to remember me by.” Aya took the pen and Jay died shortly thereafter. Who has the better claim to the pen?

In which of the following situations do you think a court is most likely to find that an owner of goods has abandoned ownership?