Abandoned property is defined as personal property left by an owner who intentionally relinquishes all rights to its control. Real property may not be abandoned; see adverse possession.
Overview:At common law, a person...
Abandoned property is defined as personal property left by an owner who intentionally relinquishes all rights to its control. Real property may not be abandoned; see adverse possession.
Overview:At common law, a person...
Affirmative waste, also referred to as voluntary waste, refers to overt and willful acts of destruction performed by a tenant or life tenant that lead to the drop in value of a piece of property by harming the property or depleting natural...
Ameliorative waste refers to modifications that increase the value of property made by a tenant who failed to obtain the landowner or future interest holder’s permission. Ameliorative waste differs from permissive waste and voluntary waste,...
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), codified in 42 U.S.C. Chapter 103, is a large piece of legislation passed in 1980 that gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to...
Eminent domain refers to the power of the government to take private property and convert it into public use, referred to as a taking. The Fifth Amendment provides that the government may only exercise this power if they provide...
Landlord-tenant law refers to the body of law regulating the rental of commercial and residential property. It controls, among other aspects of a lease:
The length of a lease The reasons a landlord may deny a potential tenant’s...In 1908, pursuant to the General Railroad Right-of-Way Act of 1875 (43 U.S.C. §§ 934-39) (“1875 Act”), the United States granted a right-of-way from Laramie, Wyoming to Colorado to the Hahn’s Peak and Pacific Railroad Company. See Petition for...
Between 1994 and 1995, Joseph, Michael, Donna, and Peggy Murr (collectively, “the Murrs”), received from their parents two neighboring lots along the St. Croix River—Lots E and F. See Murr v. Wisconsin, No. 2013AP2828, at *2, 4 (Wis. Ct. App. Dec. 23,...
The open mines doctrine is a common law doctrine in property law that permits a life tenant to commit voluntary waste on a piece of land by depleting it of natural resources. The general rule is that a life tenant should avoid committing...
In property law, permissive waste is a tenant’s failure or neglect to adequately maintain and care for a property in their care. Examples of permissive waste include the tenant’s omission of property maintenance, neglecting ordinary repairs,...