Students,
This is a wonderful opportunity to apply what you have learned in a new circumstance legal research assessment. This assignment will serve will require that you visit a law library website. The website is the Riverside County Law Library.
The objective of this review to introduce you to the legal resources that are available when conducting research and knowledge pertaining to the legal system.
This assessment aligns with student learning outcome of find the legal issue in a set of facts and state the applicable principle of law. Along with the course objective of describe the Constitutional basis for federal governmental regulation of business, including limits of government power.
The topic that you will research pertains to Real Property and Landlord Tenant Law.
Overview:
The Nature of Real Property
Property falls into three categories: real, personal, and intellectual. Real property, which is the focus of this assignment, consists of the following:
Land. Land is the most common and important form of real property. The law of real property had been of prominent importance for nearly 1,000 years, developing very gradually to reflect changing conditions.
Buildings. Buildings are real property. Houses, office buildings, apartment complexes, and factories all fall in this category.
Plant life. Plant life growing on land is real property whether the plants are naturally occurring, such as trees, or cultivated crops. When landlords sell their property, plant life is automatically included in the sale, unless the parties agree otherwise.
Fixtures. Fixtures are goods that have become attached to real property. A house (which is real property) contains many fixtures. The chandelier and the faucets were good when they were sold to the builder because they were moveable. When the builder attached them to the house, the items became fixtures. By comparison, neither the refrigerator nor a grand piano is a fixture.
Landlord-Tenant Law
Landlord-tenant law is a combination of three areas of law; property, contract, and negligence. The analysis of the different types of tenancy consists of the following:
Property law. Owning land is a freehold estate. This is the right to possess real property and use it in any lawful manner for an indefinite time. When an owner of a freehold estate allows another person temporary, exclusive possession of property, the parties have created a landlord-tenant relationship. When the owner of a freehold estate allows another person temporary, exclusive possession of the property, the parties have created a landlord-tenant relationship.
The owner is the landlord, and the person allowed to possess the property is the tenant. The landlord has conveyed a leasehold interest to the tenant, meaning the right to temporary possessions. The landlord is keeping a reversionary interest in the property, meaning the right to possess the property when the lease ends.
Contract law. Contract law as discussed in Chapter 7, plays a role because the basic agreement is between the landlord and tenant is a contract. A lease is a contract that creates a landlord-tenant relationship. The Statute of Frauds generally requires that a long-term lease be in writing.
A long-term lease is one year or more; anything shorter is usually enforceable without a writing. Even when an oral lease is permitted, it is wiser for the parties to put their agreement in writing because a written lease avoids many misunderstandings.
At a minimum, a lease must state the names of the parties, the premises being leases, the duration of the agreement, and the rent. A well-drafted lease generally includes many provisions, called covenants and conditions.
Tort Law. As discussed in Chapter 6 in the textbook, Tort law pertains to negligence. The law of negligence determines the liability of landlord and tenant when there is an injury to a person or property.
Sources:
Business Law I Essentials, Chapter 6, the Tort System, Chapter 7, Contract Law.
Beatty, Samuelson, Sanchez Abril, Real Property and Landlord-Tenant Law, 7th edition Introduction to Business Law.
Google Scholar – Case Law – Google Scholar Case Law – Unlawful Detainer
Instructions:
This assignment is worth up to 50 points total.
Review the legal section of the Riverside County Law Library pertaining to research guides.
Click on the link, Unlawful Detainers.
Review the document, Riverside County Unlawful Detainer and answer the following questions:
How is legal research described on the website?
How is an Unlawful Detainer Defined?
What are the online resources available? Click on the link and review each resource. List and describe each resource.
Review the print resources. Describe each print resource listed.
Research the pertinent California Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 1161-1179a. Describe the Civil Codes that apply to Unlawful Detainer.
Cite two additional sources pertaining to real property and landlord tenant law. Utilize Google Scholar case law as a resource to search for California cases pertaining lawful detainer – Google Scholar
