MEMORANDUM To: From: Re: Date: Associate Partner Jessie Rancher’s Potential Action to Quiet Title March 19, 2019 Jeff Smith owned Triple R Ranch, consisting of a plot of land with a house and a detached four car garage in Hutchinson County in New York. Jeff grew tired of the fracking that had begun nearby and decided to move to the city. In 2007, he moved to an apartment in New York City. When Jeff moved, he decided to give Triple R Ranch to his nephew, Rodney Newman, as a gift so that the property would stay in the family. Rodney was ecstatic to own Triple R Ranch, as he spent many happy summers there as a child. Rodney did not record his uncle’s gift in the land records in Hutchinson County. When Jeff gave Triple R Ranch to Rodney, it was appraised at $150,000. Rodney did not move into Triple R Ranch right away, choosing instead to stay in his home in Stamford, Connecticut. He used the property only to store his collection of unique potted plants, which he kept on the property’s front yard. Jeff had been living extravagantly in the city and by 2012 found himself in need of cash. Rodney had taken on a second job as a cartoonist in Connecticut, and when Jeff heard through family members of the new position, Jeff assumed Rodney no longer wanted Triple R Ranch. Jeff figured he could earn some quick money if he were to sell Triple R Ranch, so he listed the property for sale in October 2012. Jeff did not advise Rodney of the listing of the property given his understanding that Rodney did not care about the property. In January 2012, Rodney returned to Triple R Ranch, and seeing that the potted plants were struggling in the cold weather, decided to build a greenhouse for them and make some much needed repairs to the main house and the garage. So he hauled his tools, some lumber and other building materials out to the property. Inspired by the scenery, he painted a caricature of himself on the side of the garage. He stayed for a few days, and left his sleeping bag and some clothes at the house, as well as some beer in the refrigerator. Soon after he returned to Connecticut, his second job as a cartoonist soon became a full-time primary position that afforded him the opportunity to telework. He moved to Triple R Ranch full-time in March 2012. Jeff sold Triple R Ranch to Jessie Rancher for $150,000 in April 2012. Jessie inspected the premises only once in February 2012 before signing a contract with Jeff to purchase Triple R Ranch. During his inspection, Jessie was drawn to the living plants in the greenhouse, and quite liked the signed painting on the side of the garage. She saw the building materials, clothes and beer and assumed they belonged to Jeff even though Jeff told him no one had lived at Triple R Ranch 1 in several years and that he was prepared to sell the property “as is” for $150,000. The property otherwise appeared unused. Jessie did not obtain an appraisal of the property. Jessie searched the Hutchinson County land records prior to signing a contract with Jeff and saw no evidence of Rodney’s alleged interest in Triple R Ranch. After Jeff conveyed Triple R Ranch to Jessie, Jessie promptly recorded the conveyance in the Hutchinson County land records. Jessie tried to move into Triple R Ranch in May 2012 but he found Rodney there, wielding a pitch folk in one hand and a paint brush in the other and claiming to be the rightful owner of Triple R Ranch. INSTRUCTIONS You will ultimately prepare a prepare a memorandum evaluating whether Jessie Rancher would be successful in an action to quiet title against Rodney based on your analysis of the New York law. You will use the facts in this hypothetical for the following assignments: • Research Assignment – Due March 27, 2019 by 4:00 PM This assignment requires you to locate 10 legal documents that you will rely on to draft your memo. Create a list of the 10 legal documents, using proper Bluebook format and identify if the document is a primary or secondary resource and if the document is mandatory or persuasive authority. You must explain why the document is primary or secondary and why it is mandatory or persuasive. You also must explain why the document is relevant legal support for your memo. • Draft of Memo – Due April 10, 2019 by 4:00 PM This assignment requires you to create an initial draft of your memo using the research you have conducted and using the format for a memo that we have discussed in class and that you have read about in your assignments. You do not have to use the 10 legal documents you identified for the first assignment if you have found more relevant legal authority. • Memo – Due April 22, 2019 by 4:00 PM This assignment requires you to draft a final memo in response to this hypothetical. Your memorandum should be typed, double spaced, in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and organized in the manner set forth in the Nedzel book (see, e.g., pages 99 and 107). Your memorandum should be no longer than six (6) pages in length. You may not confer with your LRW “buddy,” or anyone else, regarding this assignment (except for the writing center and your LRW professor). 2 1 Research Assignment Legal documents 8 out of 15 ARWA: 1. Alexandra K. Glazier, The principles of gift law and the regulation of organ donation, Transplant International, 24(4), 368-372, (2011). This source provides the necessary conditions that must be met for a gift to be legally recognized. These are: donative intent, the gift must be physically transferred/delivered, and the gift must be accepted. It’s a secondary source because it is a recently published source deriving its content from other sources focusing on transfer of gift. It is persuasive authority because it is not specific to the case but it is a peer reviewed source. Arwa – You are accurate in that this is secondardy and persuasive. However, this article is related to the donation of body parts which is unrelated to your problem. You need to find materials related to property gifting, property disputes, etc. Please review Bluebook R. 16 for proper citation – eg, where to place commas and capitalization. 2. Cohen E Charles, Eminent Domain After Kelo v. City of New London: An Argument for Banning Economic Development Takings. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 29:491–568 (2006). This is a secondary source because it reviews other case laws about Eminent Domain. The case is also a persuasive authority because it is a scholarly peer reviewed article. I will use it in my memo to help analyze the Eminent Domain best practices. 2 Arwa – You are accurate in that this is secondardy and persuasive. However, this article should only be used to assist in your initial research, it is not a resource to support legal argument in a memo since given it is a law review article. Please review Bluebook R. 16 for proper citation – eg, where to place commas and capitalization. 3. Johnson v Buttress (1936) 56 CLR 113. Primary source because it is a case law. It is derived from decisions of court. It’s, a law source which the court can consult in deciding a case but not a binding precedent. Persuasive authority, I will use this in my memo to help understand conditions when a gift is not valid. 4. NY Est Pow & Trusts L § 6-2.2 (2014) This New York Statute code provides that a transfer of real estate gift must be done through gift deed written and recorded in land records at the local recording office. This is a primary source because is a legislative law. More so, it is persuasive authority because it is not legally binding as precedent but court can rely on it while making decision. I will use this to show the conditions necessary to transfer a property in form of gift. 5. 12 U.S.C. § 3763 (Date). This law spells necessary conditions of transfer of tittles and possession of properties. This applies to the case. This is a primary source since it is a statute arising from legislation. It is also a mandatory authority because court must rely on it when deciding the case. I will use it in my memo to show why Jessie did not meet all conditions to own the property. 3 6. 26 U.S.C. § 1014 (Date). This statute provides for transfer of property from one person to the other. This is a primary source because it is a legal statue arising from legislative law. More so, it is mandatory because court must rely on it when deciding related case. I will use it to support the necessary situations when transfer of gift cannot be revoked. 7. Gift Tax, 26 U.S.C. §§ 2501-2524 (1964) This statute provides conditions that a gift giver need to meet for a transfer to be considered a gift. It is primary source because it is derived from legislative law. It is mandatory authority since courts must rely on it when giving decision. I will use it to show conditions necessary to transfer gift. 8. N.Y. Real Prop. Law § § 460-467 (Date). This statute spells the details that a property seller must disclose to property buyer before sealing the purchase. This is a primary source because it is a legislative law. It is also a mandatory authority since it must be considered by court because it is a law that governs property purchase. I will use it in my memo to show conditions a property seller must meet before selling the property. 9. Knapp v Knapp [1945] SAStRp 4 The case spells and outlines the elements of gift and show that it is necessary to consider them for a gift to be valid. This is a primary source because it arises from case law. More so, it is persuasive authority because it is from Australian court hence might cannot be used as precedent in the U.S. I will use it to show the elements of gift necessary to make gift property transfer to be valid. 4 10. The Trustee v Cole [1964] Ch 175 This case determines whether verbal offer by the giver of the gift is enough to make the transfer of gift valid. It shows conditions necessary for a gift to be considered valid. This is a primary source because it arises from case law. However, it is persuasive authority since it might not apply in the U.S. being an English verdict. I will use it to argue about elements necessary to make a gift valid.
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