Property Law: Beyond the Fence — The Right to Exclude & Squatters’ Rights

Welcome to Season 6 of American Law Café, where we’ll explore the world of Property Law! Property isn’t just about land—it’s about power, rights, and fairness. From the right to keep others off your property to the possibility of losing land through adverse possession, these doctrines reveal how the law defines what it truly means to “own” something.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

• The Right to Exclude: Core Principle
  • “Keep off unless I say otherwise” — the essential stick in the bundle of property rights.
  • Jacque v. Steenberg Homes: Punitive damages for trespass, even when harm is nominal.
• Limits on the Right to Exclude: Property Rights Serve Human Values
  • State v. Shack: Property rights yield when human dignity and government services are at stake. Migrant workers’ right to privacy and aid on the land where they live.
• Adverse Possession: Squatters’ Rights Explained
  • Policy: cures title defects, encourages land use, promotes certainty.
  • The OCEAN elements: Open, Continuous, Exclusive, Actual, Not permissive (hostile).
    • Mannillo v. Gorski: Minor encroachments aren’t “open and notorious” without actual notice.
    • Howard v. Kunto: Seasonal use can be “continuous.”
  • Constructive vs. actual possession: when use beats the deed.
  • Color of Title: the shortcut to ownership with a defective deed.
  • Tacking & privity: connecting successive occupiers’ time on the land.
• Tennessee-Specific Rules
  • 20 years without color of title + property tax payments.
  • 7 years with color of title + tax payments (Tenn. Code Ann. § 28-2-103).
• Unresolved Questions in Property Law
  • Should owners be forced to sell land in hardship encroachment cases?
  • How far do exceptions to the right to exclude extend in emergencies?
  • Is adverse possession fair—or legalized theft?

🎧 Whether you’re new to Property Law or brushing up for class, Season 6 will guide you through the doctrines, cases, and debates that shape ownership in America.

 Introductory Music for American Law Cafe. In Jazz Short by moodmode / Vlad Krotov.