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 — buildings, undeveloped land, mineral rights. Also called real estate
Personal property
Everything that is NOT real property.
Tangible property
Physical; can be touched. Intangible property: no physical form; still owned, transferred, and sold.
Chattel
Moveable, tangible personal property. Fungible property: property easily substituted with identical property.
Fixture
Personal property attached to land so it legally becomes part of the land. Treated as real property.
Example
Growing corn is real property (attached to land). Once harvested, it becomes personal property.
Private property
Owned by individuals, corporations, or partnerships — not the government. Public property: owned by the government.
Ownership by production
Creator owns what they produce. EXCEPTION: if an employee produces something as part of their job, the EMPLOYER owns it,
Ownership by purchase
Most common method.
Gift
Voluntary transfer of property. Three required elements:
Conditional gift
Gift that requires a condition to be met before transfer. Examples — a wedding, a graduation.
Bailor
Rightful possessor who gives property to someone else to hold.
Bailee
Person who receives and holds the property; must return it on demand. Bailment: the arrangement itself.
Voluntary bailment
Parties intend to create the arrangement. Example — giving clothes to a dry cleaner.