Covenants
This doctrinal requirement asks whether a covenant affects the parties’ rights as landowners and determines whether a burden or benefit can run to successors.
Touch and Concern Test
Under zoning law, a regulation that treats one property owner differently from similarly situated owners without a rational basis may trigger this constitutional doctrine
Equal Protection
what is claim of title and what are some examples
requires adverse possessor occupies land with intention to own it (put up no trespass sign, change locks, etc)
This presumption guides courts in determining whether a right to use land is tied to a particular parcel rather than personal to an individual, influencing the automatic transfer of the right with the land. -- what case
Green v. Lupo
This is the default form of co-ownership when the type of concurrent tenancy is unclear
Tenancy by common
This constitutional case held that judicial enforcement of certain private covenants constitutes state action violating the Equal Protection Clause.
Shelley v. Kraemer
This principle limits the enforcement of zoning restrictions on land that was already being used in a substantially similar manner before the enactment of the zoning ordinance
doctrine of prior nonconforming use
what element of adverse possession is this -
The adverse possessor must exercise control over the property in the ways customarily pursued by owners of that type of property
continuous
Factors of Easement by Estoppel
When one party’s reasonable reliance on permission to use another’s property results in significant expenditure or position change, courts may enforce a right to prevent injustice, even absent a formal grant.
Courts may divide property equitably for long-term unmarried partners who both contribute, as in this case. -- what case
Wilbur v. DeLapp
What Case- prevents enforcement of a covenant when neighborhood transformations destroy the restriction’s ability to provide any meaningful advantage to the land it was meant to protect.
El Di, Inc. v. Town of Bethany Beach
This legal concept describes the condition under which a municipality’s zoning ordinance may be invalidated for preventing access to housing for low- and moderate-income families
exclusionary zoning
A neighbor has allowed repeated use of their land by another without objection, creating a presumption that the use was initially permitted; this legal theory can undermine a claim of adverse possession because it contradicts the requirement of proving the use was non-permissive.
acquiescence
Under the doctrine governing subdivisions with a common development plan, courts may bind all lots—even those without express restrictions
implied reciprocal negative servitudes
Contracts for personal services between cohabiting, unmarried partners are generally void under this principle
public policy prohibition (Tompkins v. Jackson)
This New Jersey case adopted a multi-factor reasonableness inquiry and refused to enforce a covenant that eliminated access to essential services in a community
Davidson Brothers v. Katz
This case established the policy that property owners gain vested rights in a zoning classification only when they have made substantial, project-directed commitments under the existing zoning scheme.
Stone v. City of Wilton
When a landowner exercises a long-standing, observable control over another’s property without seeking title, and the law recognizes a continuing legal right based on the nature of that activity rather than actual possession, this doctrine may create enforceable interests
Prescriptive Easement
Expansion of an easement is limited by what the original grantor contemplated and this
avoidance of unreasonable burden on the servient estate
What is the legal principle established by the ruling in Carr v. Deking regarding tenants in common?
a tenant in common who refuses to join a lease cannot eject the lessee
This case established the policy that common-interest development restrictions receive a presumption of validity because enforcing them promotes stability, predictability, and reduced litigation among unit owners.
Nahrstedt v. Lakeside Village Condominium Association
What are the three criteria that must be shown to establish undue hardship for a variance?
Can't reasonably use the property without the variance, problem is unique to your land and not your fault, and variance won't change your neighborhood's character
In a dispute over land occupation, the court denied a claim where the occupants’ minimal activities, though frequent, failed to demonstrate the level of control and visibility required to meet legal standards for ownership transfer.
What's the difference between servient and dominant estate
• Servient estate → land subject to the burden of a servitude
• Dominant estate → if the right to benefit from a servitude automatically passes to the owners of a particular parcel of land that is the benefitted or dominant estate
Compare the three forms: Which two require the presence of a survivorship mechanism, and which one can be partitioned unilaterally without affecting survivorship
Joint tenancy and tenancy by the entirety have survivorship; tenancy in common can be partitioned unilaterally