Spring Semester, 2001
Professor Chin
COURSE REQUIREMENTS & SYLLABUS
This document is your guide to this course. Even though we will discuss this document at the beginning of the course, you should read it carefully. This means that you are deemed to be on notice of all its contents (i.e., ground rules) regardless of whether you have actually read it or not.
CASEBOOK & COURSE WEBSITE
Berger & Williams, Property: Land Ownership and Use, (4th ed. 1997) (Aspen Law & Business)
All assigned handouts will be available on the course website:
http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/cchin/Property2.html
You will be responsible for retrieving, printing, and preparing the assigned handouts prior to class.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
You can contact me at 293-6838. If you get my voice mail, leave a number, state the reason for the call, and the best time to return your call. You can also send e-mail messages to me at cchin@wvu.edu My secretary, Tara George-Jones, is located in Room #210, and her office telephone number is 293-7776.
Don't hesitate to contact me with questions or comments about the course. You can drop in or make an appointment; however, it's to your advantage to schedule office appointments in advance to avoid scheduling conflicts with your classmates.
I cannot stress strongly enough how important it is to come and see me early in the semester if you think you need help understanding something. If you are doing the reading but still feel lost or confused, please do not wait until the last three weeks of class. I can help. But not at the last minute.
SEATING CHART:
You will have the opportunity to choose your seat for the rest of the semester during the second class session when the seating chart will be distributed for your signatures. It may take some time for me to learn all of your names so it is important that you sit in the seat you have chosen on the seating chart.
ATTENDANCE:
It is your responsibility to sign the class roster when it is circulated at the beginning of each class. Please remember that the Code of Conduct is in effect when you sign the class roster and represent that you are present for class.
You will be ineligible to take the final exam and will be dropped from the class if you miss more than four (4) classes without legitimate excuses (e.g., emergency, personal illness or family member's illness). It is also your responsibility to keep track of your absences during the semester.
LATENESS:
You should be in your seat and ready to begin work when class begins. Lateness is unprofessional, disruptive, and most of all, distracting, both to other students and the professor. If you will be unavoidably detained for legitimate reasons, please let me know ahead of time, and take your assigned seat when you come in. If you are unavoidably detained because of an emergency (e.g., a traffic accident), you may also take your assigned seat. Lateness is not tolerated in the courtroom, and it will not be tolerated in this class, and will lower your class participation grade as noted below.
CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Active class participation constitutes an important element of the learning process in law school. Open discussion permits comparison of ideas and builds analytical skills that you must develop to become effective advocates. As a result, class participation is not only greatly encouraged, but expected. Class time is the only time that we have to work together on the course material, and works best and is far more enjoyable when as many people as possible get involved and participate on any particular day, so it is extremely important that you be prepared for class. If no one volunteers to answer a question, I will call upon students at random.
Class participation will constitute 10% of your final grade, and you will be evaluated during every class on your class participation through a point system. This means that you can earn a maximum of 20 Class Participation Quality Points (Class PQPs) during every class - a maximum of 10 points for Preparedness and a maximum of 10 points for Participation Quality. You can also earn Negative Class PQPs during each class that will lower your daily score - 10 points will be deducted for unexcused latenesses and a miminum of 10 points will be deducted for disruptive behavior in class. Disruptive behavior constitutes disturbing the class by acting in an offensive manner, and any other disrespectful behavior; this includes disruptive talking in class, playing computer games on laptops or displaying/reading materials unrelated to Property (i.e., on laptops), disrupting class by early departures/mid-session exits other than for interviews, for a documented health problem or for some other legitimate reason. Absences without legitimate excuses can result in a deduction of 20 Class PQPs per class. As noted above, accruing more than four absences will result in dismissal from the class and ineligibility to take the final exam
You have satisfied the Preparedness Requirement for each class as long as you demonstrate that you have read the assigned material and thought about its implications and have made a good faith effort to understand it; you should come to class to express reasoned views, and to ask questions about material that is unclear. You have satisfied the Participation Quality Requirement by making useful comments that enrich the class discussion. Beyond merely agreeing or disagreeing or simply expressing personal views, a useful comment reflects consideration of issues addressed in the assigned readings and in previous class discussions, offers a unique, but relevant perspective, contributes to moving the discussion and analysis forward, builds on other comments, and transcends the "I feel" response by including some evidence, reasoned logic or recognition of inherent tradeoffs or contradictions created by the doctrine. In general, it will be to your advantage to volunteer, and not to your advantage to pretend to be prepared when you are called on.
COVERAGE OF MATERIAL:
In the syllabus below, I list tentative assignments for each class session; however, it is possible that we may move more slowly in the beginning of the semester or at various times during the semester depending on the learning curve of the class; if that occurs, I will adjust the syllabus and/or order of coverage and will announce if you should continue to follow the tentative schedule below or if, instead, you should prepare 25 to 30 pages of the material ahead of where the previous class session ended. If we end up following the latter schedule and you are absent from a previous class, it is your responsibility to find out on what page the previous class ended. Class discussion will supplement and review the assigned reading-I may not review everything in the readings. I will assume you understand the material unless you ask for clarification; nonetheless; you will be responsible for all assigned materials and materials noted in class lectures (i.e., you should read/complete the notes, note cases or footnotes following the cases in the casebook as well as any exercises/handouts assigned), unless I make changes in assignments.
FINAL EXAMINATION:
The final examination for this course will be a three hour, closed book examination consisting of short answer questions and multiple choice questions. More information about the exam will be provided towards the end of the semester, and there will be a review session on the last day of classes.
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY:
West Virginia University is committed to educational equity. WVU does not discriminate based on race, sex, age, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. I concur with this commitment and expect to maintain a positive learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF PROPERTY II COURSE
Chapter 3 Landlord and Tenant, Pages 197-375 + Handout + Drafting Exercise
Chapter 5 Adverse Possession, Pages 499-560 + Handouts
Chapter 10 Discrimination, Pages 1047-1110 + Handout
Chapter 11 Commodification, Pages 1111-1143, 1164-1173 + Handout
Chapter 12 Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1175-1343
SYLLABUS - Tentative Assignment Schedule
Class #1, Monday, January 8, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 197-211 (stop at Nitschke case)
Class #2, Wednesday, January 10, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 211-240 (stop at §3.5)
Class #3, Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 240-266 (stop at §3.9)
Class #4, Monday, January 22, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 266-285 (stop at c. Breach of the Implied Warranty)
Class #5, Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 285-315 (stop at 4. Statutes)
Class #6, Monday, January 29, 2001
Handout: Teller v. McCoy, 162 W.Va. 367, 253 S.E.2d 114 (W.Va. 1978)
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 315-322 (stop at §3.10)
Class #7, Wednesday, January 31, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 322-353 (stop at §3.13)
Class #8, Monday, February 5, 2001
Chapter 3: Landlord and Tenant Law, Pages 353-375
Class #9, Wednesday, February 7, 2001
Drafting Exercise: Drafting a Lease to rent your own home to a stranger
Class #11, Monday, February 12, 2001
Chapter 5: Adverse Possession, Pages 499-512 (stop at Nome 2001 case)
Handout: Justifications for Adverse Possession (Read handout before you read §5.3 on Page 511)
Class #12, Wednesday, February 14, 2001
Chapter 5: Adverse Possession, Pages 512-537 (stop at §5.5)
Handout: Brown v. Gobble, 196 W.Va. 559, 474 S.E.2d 489 (W. Va. 1996)
(Read Handout after you read c. Tacking on Page 526)
Monday, February 19, 2001 - Skills Week Classes: No Property II Class
Wednesday, February 21, 2001 - Skills Week Classes: No Property II Class
Class #13, Monday, February 26, 2001
Chapter 5: Adverse Possession, Pages 537-560
Class #14, Wednesday, February 28, 2001
Chapter 10: Discrimination, Pages 1047-1069 (stop at §10.2)
Handout: Asbury v. Brougham (10th Cir. 1989)
Class #15, Monday, March 5, 2001
Chapter 10: Discrimination, Pages 1069-1096
Class #16, Wednesday, March 7, 2001
Chapter 10: Discrimination, Pages 1097-1110
Class #17, Monday, March 12, 2001
Chapter 11: Commodification, Pages 1111-1125 (stop at §11.2)
Handout: Dred Scott v. Sandford/Allen excerpt
Class #18, Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Chapter 11: Commodification, Pages 1125-1143 (stop at §11.3)
Chapter 11: Commodification, Pages 1164-1173
Class #18, Monday, March 19, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1175-1196 (stop at §12.2)
Class #19, Wednesday, March 21, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1196-1224 (stop at c. Forms of Security Devices)
Monday, March 26, 2001 & Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - Spring Break: No Classes
Class #20, Monday, April 2, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1224-1249 (stop at d. Racial Geography: Redlining)
Class #21, Wednesday, April 4, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1249-1271 (stop at §12.3)
Class #22, Monday, April 9, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1271-1294 (stop at Lick Mill Creek)
Class #23, Wednesday, April 11, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1294-1318 (stop at Garriffa)
Class #24, Monday, April 16, 2001
Chapter 12: Introducing the Real Estate Transaction, Pages 1318-1343
Class #25, Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Chapter 12: Summation
Class #26, Monday, April 23, 2001
Review Session