Tag Archives: real estate

Lunar Real Estate is “for Sale” and People are Buying it

October 15, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Article II of the United Nations 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which governs the activities of states in the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, states that the Moon:

“…is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.”

In other words no country can claim ownership of the Moon. But Dennis Hope, a struggling actor who was looking for a new line of work in 1980, read that sentence a little differently.

According to Hope, the treaty does not bar individuals from claiming sovereignty over the Moon. So, he wrote a polite letter to the United Nations informing them that he owned the Moon and started selling plots of land on it.

Since 1980 he has sold over 16 billion acres of lunar real estate to over seven million individuals in 197 different countries through his company Lunar Embassy and made millions of dollars. He once sold a country-sized plot of lunar land, 2.66 million acres of lunar land, for $250,000.

He’s the first extraterrestrial real estate tycoon.

Who would buy lunar real estate? Three former Presidents of the United States (George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan), current president Donald Trump, and numerous celebrities, including Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, George Lucas (of course!) and Nicole Kidman.

Is any of this legal? He doesn’t really own the Moon, does he?

No, he doesn’t, nor does he own Pluto, which he offers in its entirety for an enticing $250,000.

Professor Anupam Chandler, a law professor at UC Davis who’s just one of many experts to weigh in on Mr. Hope’s business, says that just one of the many reasons Mr. Hope can’t protect the property rights he promises to purchasers is that there’s no governing body to grant the right to a celestial body. No recognized government does that.

Naturally, Mr. Hope fixed this problem by forming his own government in 2004 complete with a ratified constitution, a congress, a unit of currency, and even a patent office.

When China’s space program recently announced plans to send a rover to the Moon, Mr. Hope sent them a polite letter granting them permission to explore, but informed them that any permanent settlement would have to be preempted by a lease with the property owner.

They didn’t get back to him.

Take a Virtual Tour of the Moon

If you’re thinking about buying some lunar real estate of your own, why not have a look at the Moon first.

Below is a virtual tour of the Moon in all-new 4K resolution, produced with data provided by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

Other Extraterrestrial Land Disputes

A German man named Martin Juergens claims that the Moon has belonged to his family since 1756, when Frederick the Great presented it to his ancestor Aul Juergens as a symbolic gesture of gratitude.

In 1997, three men from Yemen sued NASA for landing on Mars without permission. They claimed that they had inherited the planet from their ancestors 3,000 years ago. Their claim was based on the mythologies of the Himyaritic and Sabaean civilizations, which existed between 2000 and 3000 B.C.

Gregory W. Nemitz sent NASA an invoice of $20 for parking a spacecraft Asteroid 433 Eros, which he claimed to have ownership of through his company Orbital Development. NASA declined to pay, citing a lack of legal standing.

About Punctual Abstract

Punctual Abstract is a national title abstracting company located in Harvey, LA. Whether you need an abstractor for a certain county or region, or you’re looking for a national provider, Punctual Abstract is here to help.

We have extensive experience performing commercial and residential abstracts of all kinds and perform complete title searches plus attorney opinion package-deals all with the same average turn-time of 24-48 hours!

Visit our homepage or contact us today for more information.

Real Estate

Selling Haunted and Stigmatized Property

September 13, 2018 admin Leave a comment

Real estate is home to lots of history. And not all history is good. Stigmatized property is an industry term for a home whose value is negatively affected by something unrelated to its physical condition, usually something that’s occurred in or around the home in the past.

One of the most notorious examples of stigmatized property is the home that George and Kathy Lutz bought back in 1974 on suburban Long Island. Their experiences there, until they left after 28 days, became the basis for the famous movie The Amityville Horror.

Interestingly, the Lutzes knew that the home might be haunted. The realtor had told them before the bought it what had happened there. They bought it anyway. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising. A recent survey found that 30 percent of people were open to living in a haunted house, while 25 percent ‘might be’.

Real estate disclosure requirements vary by state

Real estate does not operate on a caveat emptor (buyer beware) basis. Legislation varies state by state, but in most states certain material defects, like leaking roofs and crumbling foundations, must be disclosed.

But what about emotional stigmas, like grisly murders, urban legends, and covered-up graveyards, the kinds of things that might creep some buyers out but not others? Is there a requirement to disclose these? Depends, once again, on the state.

About half of the 50 states have no law on the books regarding stigmatized property. In California, the seller must disclose if there has been a death on the property, but only if it occurred within the last three years.

In New York, you must disclose a poltergeist

Most states do not allow sellers to lie to cover up an emotional stigma. They don’t have to tell the buyer about it, but they cannot omit information if asked directly. A famous example is the 1991 New York case, Stambovsky v. Ackley, in which the seller had written in the local paper and Reader’s Digest about her Victorian home’s rambunctious poltergeist.

Yet when it came time for her to sell the house, she said nothing. After the buyer had put down a large deposit, they learned about the poltergeist from someone in town. In the end an appeals court allowed the buyer to rescind the transaction.

Similar cases in other states have followed this precedent. When ghost stories and the like significantly impact the property’s value, and the seller is on record as being aware of the stigma, the buyer may have recourse to back out of the transaction.

About Punctual Abstract

Punctual Abstract is your national solution with a local touch, a national title abstracting company located in Harvey, LA. Whether you need an abstractor for a certain county or region, or you’re looking for a national provider, Punctual Abstract is here to help.

Visit our homepage or contact us today for more information.

Title and Real Property

Volcanoes create new land, but who owns it?

August 8, 2018 admin Leave a comment

The volcanic eruption that started on May 3rd on the big island of Hawaii is still ongoing. Tens of thousands of tons of molten rock have flowed into the Pacific Ocean, hardened, and created new land — terra firma.

It’s a process that’s been underway on the Big Island of Hawaii for over 5 million years. Foot by foot, yard by yard, and acre by acre, land takes the place of the sea. 5 new acres were added after a 2016 eruption. The 1960 Kapoho eruption added a whopping 500 acres to the island’s southeast tip.

Hawaii isn’t unique in this regard. In 2012, a brand-new 75-acre island sprang into existence, seemingly from nowhere, in the middle of the Red Sea, the result of an undersea shield volcano eruption. Wikipedia keeps a running database of new islands, though the list includes new land created by “volcanism, erosion, glacial retreat, or other mechanisms.”

This all got us thinking: Who owns the new land formed by a volcano? With no previous ownership history, and certainly no need for a title search, is it up for grabs?

Who owns new land created by a volcano?

According to a University of Hawaii at Manoa law professor who specializes in land use, it belongs to the state. These so-called “lava extensions” were the subject of a Supreme Court case in 1977 in which two residents sued the state over 7.9 acres of new land formed by a 1955 Kilauea eruption.

Though their deed (obviously) did not contain any description of the new land, because the deed preexisted the land, the two residents carried on as if the lava extension belonged to them. They planted trees and shrubs and even had part of it bulldozed. In the end, after a lengthy legal battle, the court decided that lava extensions would be for the “use and enjoyment of all the people.” Their reasoning is as follows:

“Rather than allowing only a few of the many lava victims the windfall of lava extensions, this court believes that equity and sound public policy demand that such land inure to the benefit of all the people of Hawaii, in whose behalf the government acts as trustee.”

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