Key Terms
Property
Tangible and intangible items that can be owned. Ownership: the right to exclude others.
Real property
Land and things attached to or associated with it — raw land, buildings, mineral rights. Also called real estate (includ
Personal property
Everything that is NOT real property. Tangible property: property that can be touched.
Fungible property
Property easily substituted with identical property.
Examples
Juice, oil, steel, aluminum, physical currency.
Fixture
Personal property that has been attached to land and is now legally part of the real property. Transfers with the real p
Crop example
Corn growing in a field = real property. Picked from the stalk = personal property.
Private property
Owned by individuals, corporations, or partnerships (non-government). Public property: owned by the government.
Ownership by production
You make it, you own it. Exception: if an EMPLOYEE produces it as part of their job, the EMPLOYER owns it.
Ownership by purchase
Most common method. Buyer acquires ownership from seller.
Gift
Voluntary transfer of property. Three requirements:
Conditional gift
Gift contingent on a condition being met first (e.g., graduation, wedding).
Bailor
The rightful possessor of personal property who gives it to someone else to hold. Bailee: the person who accepts the pro
Examples of bailments in business
Dry cleaners, package delivery carriers, warehousing goods with a third party, valet parking services.
Voluntary bailment
Both parties intend to create the arrangement (dry cleaner example). Involuntary bailment: created when someone finds lo