Legal Issues in Real Property Law

Barry's Claim to Ownership of the Property

Q1.Sheldon Cooper is the Professor who resides in Vancouver and teaches at the. Sheldon was recently contacted by a lawyer who acts for his late uncle who died a few months ago. The lawyer tells Sheldon that his late Uncle’s will contained a bequest to Sheldon consisting of title to a large farm near Prince George, British Columbia. A transfer of the property from his Uncle’s estate is registered in the BC Land Title Office and the lawyer provides Sheldon with keys to the house on the property and directions on how to get there.

Reflecting on the scenario set out above please answer the following questions:

a)When Sheldon arrives at the house, he finds someone living there named Barry Kripke. Barry says that he is the owner of the property as he has been living there since 1972, has been farming the property since then and no one has ever asked him to leave. On investigation, Sheldon discovers that his uncle considered Barry to be a harmless vagrant who took care of the property for him, so in return he let him live there. Discuss the merits of Barry’s claim of ownership to the property. (10 marks)

b)After dealing with Barry’s claim, Sheldon moves into the house on the property. While out for a walk one night, Sheldon discovers a freshwater creek with great tasting drinking water in it. Sheldon builds a dam on the creek to trap the water and divert it to his house. Later in the year, Sheldon’s downstream neighbour delivers a strongly worded letter to Sheldon claiming that Sheldon is stealing all of the water for himself and threatening to take legal action. Explain the legal position of both Sheldon and his neighbour in this circumstance.

c)Sheldon and his downstream neighbour continue to fight over rights to the water in the creek. In order to gather evidence the neighbour regularly flies a small remote controlled aircraft fitted with a camera over Sheldon’s property to take pictures of the creek. Describe the rights, if any that Sheldon may have to prevent the drone from flying over his property.

d)Sheldon’s neighbour does not adjust his flying of the drone despite Sheldon’s attempts to deal with the issue through legal means. Sheldon is a physics professor and so decides that he will invent a machine to prevent drones from flying over his property. Sheldon is able to invent a machine that disrupts the radio signal from the pilot to the drone making the drone crash once it enters his property. Sheldon decides that there may be a large market for this invention and would like to try to protect the idea somehow. Discuss what mechanism Sheldon could use to protect his idea from being sold by other companies without his permission and describe any legal requirements that would have to be met.

e)Sheldon decides that all of the fighting over the property is too exhausting he just wants to rent the house out to a tenant. Sheldon quickly finds a good tenant and draws up a residential tenancy agreement. The agreement is for a fixed term of a year. The agreement states that the tenant will vacate the property at the end of the year unless they agree to a rent increase of $500 in which case they can remain in the property for an additional year. Discuss the enforceability of the residential tenancy agreement and explain any legal requirements that Sheldon should be aware of when renting out the property.

Q2.You are a prominent property lawyer in Vancouver, BC. One day you are contacted by a Member of the Legislative Assembly who is not happy with the current state of property law in British Columbia and is considering advocating for sweeping changes to one area of the law. They are not sure which area is most suitable for major change and would like you to choose and draft an essay explaining the area of law and your position.

Drawing on the material covered in the course to date (including both theory and the law), explain the current law in the area and develop a novel argument either in support of or against ONE of the following proposed amendments:

a)The doctrine of tenure and all related concepts should be abolished in British Columbia;

b)Canada’s constitutional documents should be amended to include protection for private property;

c)The law regarding the concept of adverse possession should be relaxed and expanded so that the many vacant residential properties in Vancouver can be used for housing;

d)The law regarding copyright, trademark and patent should be abolished so that intellectual property such as art and medicine is freely available to all citizens;

e)Equitable remedies and all related concepts should be abolished in British Columbia.