Parts - Property/Landlord-Tenant, Property/Real Estate,

Part I – Property/Landlord-Tenant

This exercise is pertaining to real property, specifically residential landlord -tenant provisions. All real property law is state law. This means that each state has its own law that pertains to real property in that state. As part of this exam, we will learn to use the Secretary of State’s website as a reference for the Code of Alabama which houses real property law for the State of Alabama. The Code of Alabama is the source for all law in Alabama. There are additional rules and regulations, but this is the source for all statutes passed by the Alabama Legislature. If you do not live in Alabama, I am certain that your state has similar provisions in your state law; the idea is to learn where to look for information.

Directions:

1. Go to the Alabama Secretary of State’s website at https://www.sos.alabama.gov.

2. Click on the Records tab at the top of the page.

3. Click on the Code of Alabama.

4. On the left-hand side of the page, there are various Titles organized by subject matter. Click on Title 35 Property.

5. Within each Title in the Code of Alabama, there are Chapters that deal with specific subject matter pertaining to the broader reference in the Title. Please click on Chapter 9A Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The information that you will need to complete this question is found in this section.

Facts:

John owns an apartment building in College Town USA. His apartments lease from August 1 to July 25.

Tenants must move out by July 25 so the apartments can be ready for new renters on August 1. All of John’s tenants move timely, except for Joan. Joan refuses to move. She has also not paid her June or July rent. John has a new tenant for Joan’s apartment who will be ready to take possession of the apartment on August 1. Joan has not previously indicated that she would remain in the apartment and has not indicated that she intends to sign an extension on her lease. As part of the lease provisions, John provides water, sewer, and trash pick-up for the tenants. John has decided to terminate water and sewer to Joan’s apartment to encourage her to vacate the apartment.

(1) Is this a valid method to use in this situation? Please provide a citation to the appropriate Code of Alabama provision in your respons

(2) e.

(3) What remedies does the Code of Alabama provide for this type of situation? Please discuss using citations from the Code of Alabama.

Part 1 - Property/Real Estate

Please go to Chapter 24 in your textbook. Please read the following items in the Problems and Problem Cases section beginning on page 40 of the chapter. Please answer these questions completely, beginning your discussion with a summary of the topic that is addressed in the problem. Then, address the issue presented, making sure that you support your statements by answering the question “Why?”

Problems and Problem Cases #2

Problems and Problem Cases #5

Part 2 – Contracts Discussion

This section of the exam will include questions that you will answer in paragraph form. Please use the facts in the question and the textbook to reason through your answers. Relate the answer, using the facts.

The best way to accomplish this is to 1) restate the facts – briefly, 2) state the applicable law, and 3)  apply the applicable law to the facts. Also, if the result is not desired, it would be helpful to explain how the application of the law would be different if the facts were different.

1. ABC Realty Company enters into a contract with Jose who is an artist who creates large pieces of abstract art for public spaces, including building lobbies, to produce two paintings for the ABC Building  contracts to sell the building to XYZ Management Company, but before ethe transaction is complete,  ABC receives a much better offer (higher price) for the building from Frogmore Corporation. ABC subsequently refuses to sell the building to XYZ. In separate lawsuits by XYZ against ABC and ABC against Jose, each plaintiff seeks specific performance as a remedy. Please answer this question using the instructions in the introductory comments to Part 3.

a) How might the court rule, and why?

b) What is an appropriate remedy in each of these cases?

2. National Drilling Company ships its only pump to American Hydraulics Corporation, the manufacturer,  for repair. National hires Overland Transport to take the pump to American Hydraulics and to return the repaired pump to National as soon as the repair is complete. Nation is forced to suspend operations without a pump, but Overland does not know this. National expects to be without the pump for five days and to lose profits of $5,000. The pump is repaired, but Overland does not return the pump to National. When the pump is not returned by the end of the fifth day, National rents a pump at a cost of $100 per day. Overland delays five more days before returning the pump. National files a lawsuit against

Overland, asking for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Please answer this question using the instructions in the introductory comments to Part 3.

 

a) Will National recover? If so, for which types of damages. Please address each type of damage separately.

b) If not, why? (Parts a and b can be answered together.)

3. Sam buys a used Camry from Best Motors, paying $2,000 down and agreeing to pay off the balance in thirty-six payments of $400 each. The terms of the agreement call for Sam to make a payment on or before the first of each month, beginning October 1. During the first six months, Best Motors receives a $400 payment before the first of each month. Starting in April and continuing for the subsequent five months,  Sam’s payment is never made until the fifth of the month Best Motors accepts and cashes the payment check each time. Before the next payment is due, Best decides that it is no longer willing to accept late payments. Please answer this question using the instructions in the introductory comments to Part 3.

a) Can Best sue Sam immediately for breach?

b) Can Sam continue to make late payments without liability?

4. Go to Chapter 9, page 9-3 which is the first page of the chapter. There is a scenario provided on the title page for the chapter. Please read the scenario and answer the five questions provided after reviewing the chapter. Please discuss the answers fully, providing information from the chapter as support for your answers. Be sure that you provide a complete introduction to the topic that the questions address before answering the questions.

5. Go to Chapter 10, page 10-1 which is the first page of the chapter. There is a scenario provided on the title page for the chapter. Please read the scenario and answer the five questions provided after reviewing the chapter. Please discuss the answers fully, providing information from the chapter as support for your answers. Be sure that you provide a complete introduction to the topic that the questions address before answering the questions.

6. Go to Chapter 11, page 11-1 which is the first page of the chapter. There is a scenario provided on the title page for the chapter. Please read the scenario and answer the five questions provided after reviewing the chapter. Please discuss the answers fully, providing information from the chapter as support for your answers. Be sure that you provide a complete introduction to the topic that the questions address before answering the questions.

7. Go to Chapter 16, page 16-1 which is the first page of the chapter. There is a scenario provided on the title page for the chapter. Please read the scenario and answer the five questions provided after reviewing  the chapter. This scenario pertains to the parole evidence rule. As you answer the questions, you will be considering how the parole evidence rule applies to this scenario. Please discuss the answers fully,  providing information from the chapter as support for your answers. Be sure that you provide a complete introduction to the topic that the questions address before answering the questions.

Part 3– Intellectual Property

1. Shadrach Winstead, the author of The Preacher's Son—But the Streets Turned Me into a Gangster, filed a suit in a federal district court against Curtis Jackson, who wrote and performed the songs on the CD Before I Self–Destruct and wrote, starred in, and directed the companion film of the same name. Winstead alleged that Jackson’s CD and film infringed the copyright of Winstead's book. The court dismissed the complaint. Winstead appealed. The U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed.

A comparison of Winstead's book and Jackson's CD and film did not support a claim of copyright infringement. “A lay observer would not believe that Jackson's album/CD and film copied protectable aspects of Winstead's book. * * * Winstead's book and Jackson's works share similar themes and setting,” but “the story of an angry and wronged protagonist who turns to a life of violence and crime has long been a part of the public domain. * * * In addition, Winstead's book and Jackson's works are different with respect to character, plot, mood, and sequence of events.” Please use the instructions provided in the introductory comments to Part 2 in preparing your answers to the following questions.

a) Which expressions of an original work are protected by copyright law?

b) Is all copying copyright infringement? If not, what is the test for determining whether a creative work has been unlawfully copied?

c) How did the court in this case determine whether the defendant’s work infringed on the plaintiff’s copyright?

d) Is a claim of copyright infringement supported if two works’ share similar themes and setting, as well as words and short phrases? Explain.

2. With respect to patents, how does the first-to-invent rule differ from the “first-to-file”? Explain the law that changed the rule.

3. Patents and trademarks are filed with the US Patent Office and the US Trademark Office. Visit the website at https://www.uspto.gov and review the information provided there for those seeking both trademarks and patents.

https://www.uspto.gov/

a) With respect to trademarks, find the Trademark Basics and review the tration Toolkit. Imagine that your business is interested in filing for protection of your business’s trademark. Based on the information provided in the Toolkit, what do you think one your biggest challenges or hurdles might  be? You can provide your own fact pattern to give this answer context.

b) Many businesses create or invent items every year that the inventors want to protect. Based on the information contained on the website, outline the patent process.

c) One of the important parts of the patent process is making sure that the item you have invented is not patented already. What does the website provide as the seven-step patent search?

Part 4 -Torts

1. Sarah is a driver for City Delivery Company. She carelessly leaves the truck’s motor running while making a delivery. The transmission engages and the truck crashes into the nearby Gas Guzzler gas station pump, igniting a fire and spreading quickly to a construction site a block away. A burned wall collapses onto a crane, which falls on, and injures, a bystander, Carol. The issue is, “To whom is Sarah liable?” Please answer this question with respect to the following individuals, supporting your answer with an analysis of the required elements to prove negligence, being sure to include the concept of foreseeability in your answers. Please use the instructions provided in the introductory comments to Part 2 in preparing your answers to the following questions.

a) Is Sarah liable to the gas station for damages to its pumps?

b) Is Sarah liable to the bystander for the bystander’s injuries?

Part 5 - Employment Law

Please go to Chapter 51 in your textbook. Please read the following items in the Problems and Problem

Cases section beginning on page 40 of the chapter. Please answer these questions completely, beginning your discussion with a summary of the topic that is addressed in the problem. Then, address the issue presented, making sure that you support your statements by answering the question “Why?”

Problems and Problem Cases #4

Problems and Problem Cases #6