PropertyProf Blog

New Book: Destabilized Property

Cambridge University Press has just published a new book by Shelly Kreiczer-Levy (College of Law & Business in Ramat-Gan) titled Destabilizing Property: Property Law in the Sharing Economy. Here's a summary:

The sharing economy challenges contemporary property law. Does the rise of access render our conception of property obsolete? What are the normative and theoretical implications of choosing casual short-term use of property over stable use? What are the relational and social complications of blurring the line between personal and commercial use of property? The book develops a novel conceptualization of property in the age of the sharing economy. It argues that the sharing economy pushes for a mobile and flexible vision of engaging with possessions and, as a result, with other people. Property's role as a source of permanence and a facilitator of stable, long-term relationships is gradually decreasing in importance. The book offers a broad theoretical and normative framework for understanding the changing landscape of property, provides an institutional analysis of the phenomenon, discusses the social, communal, and relational implications of these changes, and offers guidelines for law reform.

 

 

UConn Law Presents: Historic and Green - A New Climate Agenda

This just in from Sara Bronin (UConn):
Historic preservation is, at its core, an exercise in sustainability. Older buildings are often energy-efficient, made with renewable materials (such as wood or brick), and longer-lasting. Moreover, maintaining an existing structure avoids the environmental costs of replacing it with new construction. Despite their environmental benefits, Connecticut’s historic places face unprecedented threats, including climate change and needless demolition. Preservationists must recognize that in the face of these threats, not everything can be preserved. At the same time, preservationists must build consensus for changes to law and policy that protect historic places in service of environmental goals.

This UConn School of Law conference, cosponsored by the State Historic Preservation Office, Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennesy LLP, Preservation Connecticut, and the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association aims to craft a statewide policy agenda that recognizes preservation as a fundamental environmental value.

Panels will focus on:

• Documenting the status of and threats to historic sites;
• Reducing potential damage to historic places through performance, construction, and siting standards; and
• Ensuring that disaster response encompasses historical and cultural resources at all levels, from planning to recovery.

$50 for those seeking CLE or AICP CM credit, free for the general public, parking $1/hour. A light breakfast and lunch will be served. 

RSVP by January 17, 2020 by clicking here. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: While we encourage commuting, public transportation, and bicycling, those seeking to park a vehicle on campus must pay $1/hour through the PayByPhone system. On-street parking is also available where posted.

SNOW DATE WILL BE MONDAY, JANUARY 27

Weiss on Law Clinics and Progressive Property Theory in Action

Brandon Weiss (UMKC) has posted Progressive Property Theory and Housing Justice Campaigns on SSRN. Here's the abstract:

Progressive property theory emerged a decade ago to challenge law and economics as the dominant theoretical mode of property law analysis. Offering a fresh look at the rights and obligations of ownership, progressive property theory argues, among other propositions, that property rules and institutions should further the ability of all people to obtain the basic resources necessary to engage in the social and political life of a community.

Meanwhile, housing justice campaigns being waged across the United States, promoting policies like inclusionary zoning and rent control, are frequently met by critics who make theoretical arguments about the fundamental nature of property. Housing advocates often cede the theoretical domain, and instead respond with pragmatic data-driven appeals or technical precedential arguments that, I argue here, would benefit from a more robust theoretical grounding of the sort progressive property theory could provide.

Progressive property theory, however, is yet to exert any measurable influence outside of legal academia. Scholars have offered a variety of critiques of the theory that may help to explain its limited impact. I argue that exogenous factors—those external to the theory itself—also hold significant explanatory force. I conclude that the law school clinic could serve as one “theory delivery mechanism” to infuse progressive property theory more broadly into U.S. law and legal institutions.

RIP Roger Bernhardt

I am very sorry to share the news of Roger Bernhardt's passing. He taught for many years at Golden Gate University and was a huge name in real estate law. He was very active with both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and was a mentor to many junior lawyers and law professors. He will be dearly missed.

You can view his extensive scholarship by clicking here.