FIU Property Law Discussion

part A: Debate This:Common carriers should not be able to limit their liability.

Vanessa Denai owned forty acres of land in rural Louisiana. On the property were a 1,600-square-foot house and a metal barn. Denai met Lance Finney, who had been seeking a small plot of rural property to rent. After several meetings, Denai invited Finney to live on a corner of her land in exchange for Finney’s assistance in cutting wood and tending her property. Denai agreed to store Finney’s sailboat in her barn.

With Denai’s consent, Finney constructed a concrete and oak foundation on Denai’s property and purchased a 190-square-foot dome from Dome Baja for $3,395. The dome was shipped by Doty Express, a transportation company licensed to serve the public. When it arrived, Finney installed the dome frame and fabric exterior so that the dome was detachable from the foundation. A year after Finney installed the dome, Denai wrote Finney a note stating, “I’ve decided to give you four acres of land surrounding your dome as drawn on this map.” This gift violated no local land-use restrictions. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.

1. Is the dome real property or personal property? Explain.
2. Is Denai’s gift of land to Finney a gift causa mortis or a gift inter vivos?
3. What type of bailment relationship was created when Denai agreed to store Finney’s boat? What degree of care was Denai required to exercise in storing the boat?
4. What standard of care applied to the shipment of the dome by Doty Express?

Part B write a comment/opinion about the following postCommon carrier refers to a carrier’s liability regarding a person or company that transports goods where they are accountable for any loss that might arise when in transit. The company transporting commodities such as Doty Express could be liable for any damages when transporting the 190-square-foot dome. However, the carrier’s liability law has the exception of limiting the liability if the injury was not caused by the company (Miller, 2021). Therefore, common carriers not being able to limit their liability on such occasions would not be ideal. Real property refers to an immobile possession of items such as land in addition to anything that is grown on it, erected on it, and attached to it, which is inclusive of man-made objects like buildings, fences, sewers, and excluding anything that can be removed from the land without injuring it. On the other hand, personal property refers to a portable possession of an item such as appliances, electronics, and furniture. In this case, I would categorize the dome as personal property because it was mounted on top of the land, and it could also be unmounted if need be without damaging the land.

A causa Mortis gift is applied when a party, aware that their death is approaching, gifts something to the other party. On the other hand, Inter Vivo gift is applied, and the party gifting is still alive even without the notion of death approaching. In this case, Denai’s gift of land to Finney could be termed as inter Vivo since it was gifted while alive without and not because death was looming (Miller, 2021). When Denai agreed to store Finney’s boat in the metal bark, a bailment for the sole benefit of the bailee relationship was conceived since she had full custody of the boat even though it still belonged to Finney. It is because Denai had already offered Finney to live on the corner of her land in exchange for his assistance in woodcutting and tending to her property. The degree of care required is to keep the boat in the same form as when it came in and protect it from damage or theft, which is under the duty of care. Strict liability is the standard of care used by Doty Express in safeguarding the boat. If there is any damage or loss to the dome caused by Doty Express flaws like negligence, they will be liable for the damages caused.