Chapter 11 discusses notions related to the title assurance, starting with the basic information pertaining to the recording system. The chapters introduces the basic, common law rule, which is that a grantee who was prior in time prevailed over one subsequent in time. The chapter continues by defining the several types of recording acts ("race" statutes, "notice" statutes, "race-notice" statues) and to the process of recordation, as well, as the effects of recordation and the requirements for this process.
The second part of this chapter refers to title registration. This is a process that is separate from the recording system and is currently used only in a couple of states. This type of approach does bring several potential issues, mainly claims of defects in conclusiveness. This is argued both with the defect in initial registration, because no notice is unconstitutional, and in the concept of BFPs.
Finally, the chapter ends with the issue of title insurance and first refers to the individuals that can be insured. These include property owners or mortgagees. Several elements regarding the extent of coverage and the general framework of exclusions are also included in the subchapter on title insurance and end the book.
Essay
The notion of property and all the related aspects of this concept appears to be a terribly complex one, which is why a book such as the Gilbert Law Summary on Property is so instrumental in passing onto the reader all the relevant information. With everything from acquisition to future interests to analyzing the relationship between the parties, including between landlords and tenants (with a separate chapter on that), the book goes through everything that the user should know regarding property.
An important special note needs to be made on the importance of the graphs and charts in this book and the way these are utilized to bring out and emphasize the different relationships that appear between concepts in terms of property law. This is one of the noticeable characteristics of the Gilbert Law Summaries, but one has the distinct feeling that such additional, auxiliary and helpful instruments are used even more in the Summary on Property.
It seems natural to be so, as there are so many elements contributing to the notion and legal concept of property that need to be tied together and correlated, starting with the way property is obtained, continuing with how one can manage and dispose of property and how this can be passed on to another individual. All of these notions seem intricately complex at some point, so it is a great relief that charts, graphs and table help synthesize and present this information in a clearer, coherent manner.
As always with the Gilbert Law Summaries, the Summary on Property is probably best used for the outline form that serves as the basis for the book, as well as for the chapters themselves. For a student and, in fact, for anybody interested in law, this helps make the learning process more efficient, as the reader can simply go directly to the chapter or subchapter that is of interest rather than skim through other chapters to get there. There is also an additional aspect worth mentioning: with such an approach, the entire book follows on its credo to provide the schematic instrument of auxiliary study for the user, in completion to the textbook and/or other law books.
The Gilbert Law Summary on Property also has great Exam Strategies that the student can use. These are great pointers that help the student keep in mind certain particular aspects that he or she needs to remember about a property subject,...
Even if an exam does not necessarily follow on the learning process, the Exam Strategies sections in the chapters help fix the necessary, summarized knowledge from each section of the book.
One of the things that impresses in the book is also that, for many of the theory and notions presented in the book, a historical perspective is used to present the elements rather than simply focusing on what they mean in the present. This historical perspective is very important because it helps the reader understand exactly how those notions came about, how they have evolved and, in fact, what their background and basis is. This helps enormously in the learning process, as the user can process the information in a historical perspective rather than simply accept it and embrace it as such.
Beyond the obvious advantages that the Gilbert Law Summary on Property has, there is one aspect where something additional could be included in the book: more examples and case studies. The book is occasionally keen to complete the theoretical approach with practical example, however, especially in the case of notions about the concept of property, there can never be enough of this. The reader or user constantly feels the need to understand how that respective theoretical approach is translated into practice and how lawyers can actually use that theory when dealing with legal cases. Certainly, this is only a way to probe that the theory was properly understood, but an essential manner to do so.
The other complaint that one might have about the book may be that, compared to some of the others, it lacks somewhat a structural timeline through the chapters. For example, the theory of property could perhaps have been better structured if the acquisition, actual ownership and renouncing the rights to property were the main three categories around which each notion would have been grouped. With this manner of presentation, it does appear that the theory does not follow what might appear like a natural flow of the concept.
The subchapter on rights against neighbors should have naturally been attached to a discussion on rights and obligation related to the actual ownership of property, but it is not, it is placed without any connection to the other subchapters. At the same time, the chapter on sale of land should have been followed by a chapter on inheritance of property and other means of transferring ownership.
The book is extremely detailed, sometimes even with elements that could have been skipped in this summary. The rights in airspace is definitely something that should be analyzed and further investigated, but it is dubitable that this is a topic that needs to be included in what is a summary of the most important notions. At the same time, the rights in airspace or water might also make the object of international conventions, which means that this takes precedence over the internal legal framework governing such property rights. The book does not seem to give too many details on the international conventions.
Overall, two of the main characteristics of Gilbert Law Summaries in general appear in this book as well: a massive amount of information, an almost exhaustive process that seems to cover everything related to the topic at hand; and the use of auxiliary support instruments, such as charts, tables, outlines etc. all aimed at making the learning process easier and more accessible. This is all extremely useful, especially given the challenges of the subject matter at hand and the difficulties that property law has.
