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Real Law Society

A School of the Academy

School of Property Law

Department of Real Property & Conveyancing

Estates in land, recording acts, conveyancing, and title.

§ 0·a

The Record

Publications
5
Treatises
3
Volumes
2
Chapters
60
Articles
60
Authorities
11
Research Collections
1
Certificates
1
Library Divisions
3

§ 0·b

Foundational Treatise

Foundations of Property Law — Second Edition

A ground-up redevelopment of the property law treatise under the current Real Law Society Press editorial standards.

41 chapters published of 41 planned · 1 volume

  1. Volume I

    Foundations of Property Law — Second Edition

    41 of 41 chapters published

Open the treatise in the Press →

§ I

Introduction

Scope of Study

Property Law

Title is a record. The School teaches the chain of title from patent forward: deed, mortgage, lien, satisfaction, and the rules of the recorder's office.

§ I·b·2

Subject Navigation

The subject architecture of this School.

Each group below is generated from the Society's own taxonomy — the Parts of the School's treatises, its editorial categories, and its Library divisions.

Foundations of Property Law — Second Edition

Foundations of Property Law

Editorial Categories

Library Divisions

§ I·d

Research Areas

Where the work of this School is catalogued.

§ II

Philosophy of the School

On how this School reads.

Title is established by a public record kept according to statute. The School treats the recorder's office as a primary archive and the recording acts as the procedural law that governs it. Estates and future interests are read as a vocabulary inherited from the common law and modified by code.

§ III

What Students Will Study

The commitments of the School.

A School commits to a set of questions and to a method of reading them. The following are the working commitments of this department.

  1. 01

    The estates in land and the future interests recognized at common law

  2. 02

    The execution, delivery, and recording of a deed

  3. 03

    The mechanics of title examination and the abstract of title

  4. 04

    The operation of recording acts and the priority of competing interests

  5. 05

    The treatment of easements, covenants, and equitable servitudes

§ IV

Reading and Study Framework

The departmental reading and study framework.

A departmental framework for reading the field, arranged in six tiers by depth of inquiry. It is a reference for study within the School, not the syllabus of an active course, and it carries no enrollment, assignments, or record of completion. Foundations are read before advanced work presumes them.

Foundations

  1. 01

    Fee simple, life estate, and the defeasible estates

  2. 02

    The Rule Against Perpetuities, in the form a state applies it

  3. 03

    Deed types: warranty, special warranty, quitclaim

Intermediate Study

  1. 01

    Delivery, acceptance, and the recording requirements

  2. 02

    Race, notice, and race-notice statutes compared

  3. 03

    Mortgages: creation, recording, and the satisfaction of record

Advanced Study

  1. 01

    Easements appurtenant, in gross, by necessity, and by prescription

  2. 02

    Real covenants and equitable servitudes

  3. 03

    Adverse possession under a recording state's rules

Research & Method

  1. 01

    Examining a chain of title from patent to current record

  2. 02

    Reading a state recording statute against the common-law rule

  3. 03

    Surveying state variations on the Marketable Record Title Act

Reference Materials

  1. 01

    State recording statutes

  2. 02

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages; Servitudes

Suggested Reading

  1. 01

    Stoebuck & Whitman, The Law of Property

  2. 02

    Powell on Real Property

§ IV·b

Learning Path

A working sequence for the School.

A staged reading order — from institutional introduction through primary authority to advanced research.

  1. 01

    Introduction

    Title is a record. The School teaches the chain of title from patent forward: deed, mortgage, lien, satisfaction, and the rules of the recorder's office.

  2. 02

    Core Treatise

    The Duties of a Trustee

    Open the treatise →
  3. 03

    Foundational Treatise

    Foundations of Property Law — Second Edition — 41 chapters published in 1 volume.

    Open the series →
  4. 04

    Working Articles

    Editorial articles for this School.

  5. 05

    Primary Authorities

    Featured entries from the Legal Corpus.

  6. 06

    Advanced Research

    Property Law Collection

    Open the collection →
  7. 07

    Related Schools

    Departments that read alongside this one.

§ V

Learning Outcomes

The capacities a member should leave with.

Outcomes are stated as capacities, not credentials. They describe what a member should be able to do after sustained reading.

  1. 01

    Trace a chain of title and identify breaks of record

  2. 02

    Apply a state's recording statute to a competing-interests problem

  3. 03

    Distinguish covenants that run from those that bind only the parties

§ VI

Primary Authorities

The texts the School takes seriously.

Authorities are listed by category. Entries marked in preparation are catalogued and reviewed before they enter the working record.

Statutes

2 entries

  • Authority

    State recording acts

  • Authority

    Uniform Marketable Title Act, where adopted

Treatises & Restatements

3 entries

  • Authority

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages

  • Authority

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes

  • Authority

    Powell on Real Property

Practice Manuals

1 entry

  • In Preparation

    Forthcoming — catalogue in preparation

§ VII

Featured Publications

From the press of the institution.

The following volumes are drawn from, or supply, the work of this School. Each is reviewed by faculty before publication.

The Society Press

All publications →

§ VII·b

From the Press

Articles associated with this School.

Editorial articles tagged to the subjects of this School, drawn from the Real Law Society Press.

§ VII·c

Certificates

Certificate programs associated with this School.

Certificate programs of the Academy that draw on the reading of this School. A certificate program is entered through the Academy, not through the School itself.

  • Certificate · Intermediate

    Certificate in Property & Title

    Curriculum in Development

    Estates in land, conveyancing, and the recording acts that govern the public chain of title.

    Not open for enrollment. The readings, assessments, and faculty review of this certificate are still in preparation.

§ VII·e

Research Collections

Working collections of this School.

  • Collection

    Property Law Collection

    Estates, recording acts, and the doctrines of title, possession, and conveyance.

§ VII·f

Legal Corpus

Authorities catalogued for this School.

Entries drawn from the Real Law Society Legal Corpus that supply the primary reading of this School.

  • statute

    Magna Carta

  • statute

    De Donis Conditionalibus

  • statute

    Quia Emptores

  • statute

    Statute of Uses

  • statute

    Statute of Enrolments

  • statute

    Statute of Wills

  • statute

    Statute of Frauds

  • restatement

    Restatement (First) of Property

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages

  • restatement

    Restatement (Third) of Property: Wills and Other Donative Transfers

§ VII·g

Authors

Contributors to this School.

  • Journal · Author

    Faculty of the School of Property Law

§ VII·h

From the Journal

Institutional news associated with this School.

  • Journal

    Reading the Recorded Instrument as Evidence

    A research note on the recorded instrument as the unit of analysis in real property litigation. The note argues that the deed, the mortgage, and the satisfaction are read first as evidence of what the public record shows, and only secondarily as substantive law.

  • Journal

    The Recording Acts in Comparative Perspective

    The article compares the three principal models of state recording statutes — race, notice, and race-notice — and surveys the doctrinal consequences of each in the context of competing interests.

§ VIII

Research in the Library

Where this School reads.

The divisions below carry the primary materials this School draws on. The catalogue opens in stages as the index is reviewed.

  • Library Division

    Statutes

    Codified federal and state statutory law, organized by title and chapter.

  • Library Division

    Treatises

    Restatements, hornbooks, and reference works of accepted authority.

  • Library Division

    Forms

    Court-approved forms, registers, and recorder instruments.

Catalogue · XI Divisions

Enter the Research Library →

§ IX

Related Schools

Departments that read alongside this one.

Doctrine does not respect departmental boundaries. The following Schools take up adjacent questions.

§ X

Timeline

Recent activity of this School.

The institutional record — publications, articles, primary authorities, and journal notices — in date order.

  1. 2026

    Press · Article

    Title Insurance and Marketable Title
  2. 2026

    Press · Article

    Promissory Notes
  3. 2026

    Press · Article

    Mortgages and Deeds of Trust
  4. 2026

    Press · Article

    Foreclosure and Redemption
  5. 2026

    Press · Article

    Fair Housing and Civil-Rights Overlays
  6. 2026

    Press · Article

    Digital and Intangible Property
  7. 2026

    Press · Article

    Chain of Title and Title Examination
  8. 2026

    Press · Article

    Recording Acts

§ XI

Continue Research

Next reading for this School.

A short standing recommendation drawn across the institutional record.

Publication

The Duties of a Trustee

Authority

Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes

Research Collection

Property Law Collection

§ XI

Browse This Subject

Where to continue in the institution.

Each gateway opens the family surface in which this School's records are catalogued.

Society Membership

Membership in the Real Law Society.

Membership is in the Society, not in a single School. Members may read every School, including Property Law, together with the Library and the Press. A School is a subject-area home and is not itself enrollable or completable. Certificate programs are entered separately within the Academy, and enrollment requires an active Society Membership; the Certificate in Legal Research and the Certificate in Estate Administration are open now, and the remaining programs are announced as each one opens. Founding Membership is a separate, optional designation reviewed by the Office of Administration.

View MembershipReturn to the Academy →
The Real Law Society · Est. MMXXVRead Law. Not Lore.™Vol. I — Folio I