Interference with property interests - Next Generation Bar Exam
- What is trespass to chattels?
- Intentional interference with another's chattel causing dispossession or damage. Actual damages are required for trespass to chattels.
- What is the status of a good-faith purchaser of stolen goods in a conversion action by the owner?
- The purchaser is liable, because a thief cannot pass good title and good faith is no defense. The purchaser's remedy is against the seller, not the true owner.
- What are the elements of trespass to land?
- An intentional physical entry onto land in the possession of another. No damage is required, and mistake about ownership is no defense.
- What is the general rule on aircraft flights over land as trespass?
- Flights at reasonable altitudes are not trespasses. Very low flights that interfere with use may be trespass or nuisance.
- What is the remedy for conversion?
- Damages equal to the chattel's full market value at the time of conversion. The defendant in effect is forced to buy the chattel.
- What is the status of a person who enters land with permission and then refuses to leave when asked?
- The person becomes a trespasser. Remaining after consent ends is a trespass.
- A hiker, believing she is on public land, walks across a private field without causing damage. What is her liability?
- She is liable for trespass, with at least nominal damages. Mistake about ownership is no defense to trespass to land.
- What is conversion?
- An intentional exercise of dominion over a chattel so serious that the defendant must pay its full value. Factors include the extent and duration of control and the harm done.
- A valet takes a car on a weekend trip and crashes it. What tort best fits?
- Conversion. Extended unauthorized use causing serious damage justifies full-value recovery.
- What is the intent required for trespass to land?
- Intent to enter the land, not to trespass. A person who walks onto land believing it is her own is a trespasser.
- What is the status of a projectile thrown onto another's land?
- It is a trespass if the thrower intended the object to land there or knew it was substantially certain. Entry may be by the person or by an object the person causes to enter.
- What distinguishes conversion from trespass to chattels?
- The seriousness of the interference. Minor interference is trespass to chattels; major interference is conversion.