Mansoor Akhtar lived rent-free in the basement of Anila Dairkee's duplex in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for more than a year. When Dairkee asked Akhtar to move out, he refused. She changed the locks and advised him to remove his property from the duplex. But he did not. About a year later, while Dairkee was staying in New York, her father had the basement cleaned out. When Dairkee returned four months later, she learned that her father had disposed of Akhtar's property. Akhtar filed a suit in a Minnesota state court against Dairkee, alleging that she had wrongfully disposed of his property.

(a) Dairkee contended that Akhtar had abandoned his property. Is she correct? Explain.

(b) Using the Review step of the IDDR approach, consider whether Dairkee's handling of Akhtar's property was ethical.

Adverse Possession. The McKeag family operated a marina on their lakefront property in Bolton, New York. For more than forty years, the McKeags used a section of property belonging to their neighbors, the Finleys, as a beach for the marina's customers. The McKeags also stored a large float on the beach during the winter months, built their own retaining wall, and planted bushes and flowers there. The McKeags prevented others from using the property, including the Finleys. Nevertheless, the families always had a friendly relationship, and at one point a member of the Finley family gave the McKeags permission to continue using the beach. He also reminded them of his ownership several times, to which they said nothing. The McKeags also asked for permission to mowgrass on the property and once apologized for leaving a jet ski there. Can the McKeags establish adverse possession over the statutory period of ten years? Why or why not?

Eviction. James owns a three-story building. He leases the ground floor to Juan's Mexican restaurant. The lease is to run for a five-year period and contains an express covenant of quiet enjoyment. One year later, James leases the top two stories to the Upbeat Club, a dance club for teens. The club's hours run from $5:00$ P.M. to $11:00$ P.M. The noise from the Upbeat Club is so loud that it is driving customers away from Juan's restaurant. Juan has notified James of the interference and has called the police on a number of occasions. James refuses to talk to the owners of the Upbeat Club or to do anything to remedy the situation. Juan abandons the premises. James files a suit for breach of the lease agreement and for the rental payments still due under the lease. Juan claims that he was constructively evicted and files a countersuit for damages. Discuss who will be held liable.

Luis and Maria Rojas contracted to buy a house in Westchester County, New York, from Andrew and Karen Paine. The house was on property designated as "Lot No. $8$" on a subdivision map filed in the county clerk's office. The Paines had acquired the property in two parts by the transfer of two separate deeds. At the closing, they delivered a deed stating that it covered "the same property." In fact, however, the legal description attached to the deed covered only the portion of Lot No. $8$ described in one of the two previous deeds. Attorney Paul Herrick represented the Rojases in the deal with the Paines. When the Rojases sought to sell the property two years later, the title search revealed that they owned only part of Lot No. $8$, and the buyer refused to go through with the sale. Is Herrick liable for malpractice? Explain.

Anastasio Guerra agreed to loan his pickup truck to Gina Mandujano so that she could go grocery shopping in exchange for her making him lunch. When Mandujano drove out of the store's parking lot, the truck's power steering failed. Her wrist was caught in the spokes of the steering wheel, and she was severely injured. Guerra knew that there was a problem with his truck's steering, but he thought he had fixed the problem by replenishing the steering fluid. He did not believe that the issue was dangerous and had not told Mandujano. What type of bailment existed between Guerra and Mandujano? What standard of care did the bailor owe the bailee? Was the duty breached? Who is liable for the cost of Mandujano's injury? Explain.

Suppose that instead of putting the Zissus' personal property outside, IH $2$ had taken it to a storage facility. Would the result have been different?

Property Ownership. Madison owned a tract of land, but he was not sure that he had full title to the property. When Rafael expressed an interest in buying the land, Madison sold it to Rafael and executed a quitclaim deed. Rafael properly recorded the deed immediately. Several months later, Madison learned that he had had full title to the tract of land. He then sold the land to Linda by warranty deed. Linda knew of the earlier purchase by Rafael but took the deed anyway and later sued to have Rafael evicted from the land. Linda claimed that because she had a warranty deed, her title to the land was better than that conferred by Rafael's quitclaim deed. Will Linda succeed in claiming title to the land? Explain.

Chelene had been a caregiver for Marta's elderly mother, Janis, for nine years. Shortly before Janis passed away, Chelene convinced her to buy Chelene's house for Marta. Janis died before the papers were signed, however. Four months later, Marta used her inheritance to buy Chelene's house without having it inspected. The house was built in the $1950$ s, and Chelene said it was in "perfect condition." Nevertheless, one year after the purchase, the basement started leaking. Marta had the paneling removed from the basement walls and discovered that the walls were bowed inward and cracked. Marta then had a civil engineer inspect the basement walls, and he found that the cracks had been caulked and painted over before the paneling was installed. He concluded that the "wall failure" had existed "for at least thirty years" and that the basement walls were "structurally unsound." Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions.

Can Marta sue Chelene for fraudulent misrepresentation? Why or why not? What element or elements might be lacking?

Fraudulent Misrepresentation. Ricky and Sherry Wilcox hired Esprit Log and Timber Frame Homes to build a $\log$ house, which the Wilcoxes intended to sell. They paid Esprit $\$125,260$ for materials and services. They eventually sold the home for $\$ 1,620,000$ but sued Esprit due to construction delays. The logs were supposed to arrive at the construction site precut and predrilled, but they arrived unfinished. As a result, it took five extra months to build the house. To cover costs caused by the delay, the Wilcoxes borrowed an additional $\$ 200,000$. At trial, a jury awarded them the $\$ 200,000$ in damages, plus $\$ 250,000$ in punitive damages and $\$ 20,000$ in attorneys' fees. Esprit appealed, claiming that the evidence did not support the verdict because the Wilcoxes had sold the house for a good price. Is Esprit's argument credible? Why or why not? How should the court rule?

Fraudulent Misrepresentation. Charter One Bank owned a fifteen-story commercial building. A fire inspector told Charter that the building's drinking-water and firesuppression systems were linked, which violated building codes. Without disclosing this information, Charter sold the building to Northpoint Properties, Inc. Northpoint spent $\$ 280,000$ to repair the water and fire-suppression systems and filed a suit against Charter One. Is the seller liable for not disclosing the building's defects? Discuss.

Vanessa Denai purchased forty acres of land in rural Louisiana. On the property were a $1,600$-square-foot house and a metal barn. Denai later met Lance Finney, who had been seeking a small plot of rural property to rent. After several meetings, Denai invited Finney to live on a corner of her property in exchange for Finney's assistance in cutting wood and tending the property. Denai agreed to store Finney's sailboat in her barn. With Denai's consent, Finney constructed a concrete and oak foundation on Denai's property. Finney then purchased a $190$-square-foot dome from Dome Baja for $\$ 3,395$. The dome was shipped by Doty Express, a transportation company licensed to serve the public. When it arrived, Finney installed the dome frame and fabric exterior so that the dome was detachable from the foundation. A year after Finney installed the dome, Denai wrote Finney a note stating, "I've decided to give you four acres of land surrounding your dome as drawn on this map." This gift violated no local land-use restrictions. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the question.

What type of bailment relationship was created when Denai agreed to store Finney's boat? What degree of care was Denai required to exercise in storing the boat?

Did Shivley's misrepresentations rise to the level of fraud? Explain .

In this case, what did the jury find with respect to the plaintiff's claim of reliance? What was the appellate court's opinion of this finding?

Why, in addition to damages, was the plaintiff awarded attorneys' fees and costs?