Review the case titled: "Case Study." Then, review the attachment titled: "Reply." Based on what was written in the "Reply" attachment, would you agree or disagree with what was stated? From an ethical and spiritual standpoint, provide a response in at least 300 words with the use of 3 references (pertaining to business ethics).
Topic: Property
Barney has finally decided to retire after many years on the job as a deputy in a small North Carolina town and as a detective in the “big city” of Raleigh, NC. Though Barney sometimes appeared to be a bumbling law enforcement officer, it turns out that he was adutiful saver and a shrewd investor who now owns an interest in a second home on the North Carolina coast as well as some prime real estate in the North Carolinamountains.
Barney purchased the mountain property some 31 years ago as joint tenants with a right of survivorship with his old friends Andy, Floyd, and Howard. All of the friends have passed away, and Barney has not been back to the property in more than 20 years.
Andy had apparently indicated in his will that he was leaving his interest in the property to his son Opie, and, a few years back, Opie took out a personal loan using his alleged interest in the property as collateral. When Opie defaulted on the loan last month, the lender initiated a legal action to foreclose on the property. Barney hired an old friend with whom he used to go to church (who is now an attorney in Raleigh) to address the lender’s legal action. The matter is still pending.
Remembering that a trout-filled stream ran through the property, Barney decided to do a little fly-fishing. Driving out to the property, Barney was surprised to see smoke rising from the stone chimney of a little cabin that some unknown person had constructed in the center of the property. Approaching the cabin, Barney suddenly heard a shot ring out and a bullet whiz past his head. Ducking for cover, Barney heard a familiar voice; it was Ernest, from the small town where he had been a deputy, yelling out and telling him to “Git off my land.”
Gathering his senses, Barney yelled back, identifying himself and telling Ernest that it was actually his land and that he had the deed to prove it. Ernest replied that he didn’t care about the deed, that he had lived on the property—openlyand notoriously—for some 20 years, and, as far as he was concerned, it was now his.Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Barney hopped into his 1963 Ford Galaxie, which he had bought at auction from the sheriff’s office,and headed back east. He stopped in Raleigh to contact his attorney and asked him to deal with Ernest’s claim as well, but he also warned the attorney, "He's anut!"
Since his fishing trip was spoiled, Barney decided to head to his beach house in Carolina Beach, NC. Barney noticed several signs for a new Nickelodeon Family Resort along the way. The signs all said, “Coming Soon.” Barney half-smiled as he thought to himself how sorry he was for whatever poor schmuck owned property next to that tacky establishment.Turning the corner to the street where his beach house was located, Barney was horrified to see that several of his neighbors’ properties were being torn down and that there was a sign stating, “Future home of the Nickelodeon Family Resort” positioned right next door to his beach house.Pulling in the driveway, Barney noticed a bright orange envelope attached to his front door. Inside the envelope, Barney found a notice from the town authorities notifying him that his property was being taken by eminent domain in order to make way for the new resort. The notice had a letter attached talking about all the new businesses and jobs the resort would bring to the community.
Having just survived the encounter in the mountains and now being faced with the loss of his beach house, Barney became enraged and marched down to the town offices, determined to “nip this plan in the bud.” The town attorney told Barney he was sorry but that there was really nothing he could do about the seizure of the house. He assured Barney that Barney would receive the full market value for his property in compensation.
Barney placed another call to his attorney for assistance in dealing with the seizure.
As Barney was hanging up the phone he heard a knock at the door. Opening the door, Barney was pleased to see that it was his formerlong-time girlfriend, Thelma Lou. After exchanging pleasantries, Thelma Lou told Barney that she had decided to leave the small town where they had both lived and resettle at the beach. Caught up in the excitement of the reunion, Barney invited Thelma Lou out to dinner at the swankiest restaurant in Wilmington, NC, Le Nez Augmenté (loosely translated from the French, “The Upright Nose”). Thelma Lou, embarrassed, said she wasn’t sure she had an outfit that was fancy enough for Le Nez, but Barney assured her that even the fancy restaurants at the beach allowed casual attire, so her casual dress and his polo shirt and shorts should be fine.
Driving up to the restaurant, Barney noticed a sign that indicated valet parking was available. A young man in a neatly pressed Le Nezuniform, who identified himself as Carl, approached the vehicle and asked Barney if he would like his car parked. Barney handed over his keys and walked around to the other side of the car to open the door for Thelma Lou. Taking her arm under his, Barney proudly escorted his date into Le Nez as the young man drove off in the Galaxie.
Entering the restaurant, Barney was horrified to see that everyone inside was wearing dress attire. Quickly ushering Thelma Lou back out the door, he looked for the valet. Not seeing the young man anywhereand noticing that the sign indicating that valet parking was available was now folded up and lying under some bushes, Barney went back to the entrance and asked the hostess if there was anyway she could call the valet to retrieve his car. “Valet?” asked the hostess. “We have no valet service tonight monsieur, only on weekends.” “But what about Carl?” argued Barney. “We had a valet name Carl,” she responded, “but he quit yesterday. We are still waiting for him to return his uniforms.”
The Carolina Beach police officer couldn’t help but snicker as he took the police report. “1963 Ford Galaxie, huh? Shouldn’t be too hard to find that.” On the cab ride home, Barney felt a mixture of anger and mortification. “Its OK, Barney,” said Thelma Lou, “I never was that fond of French food, and I’m sure your car will turn up.”
Barney’s car was found 3 weeks later at the Classic Car Show in Mount Olive, NC. It seems the man showing the car had purchased the vehicle from a used car lot in Kinston, NC, which had taken the vehicle from a young fellow matching Carl’s descriptionin trade for a 1967 Mustang convertible. Neither the man who was showing the car nor the used car dealer had any idea that the vehicle had been stolen. Barney asked for the car back, but the man in possession said he was not giving it up until somebody reimbursed him for the $5,600.00 that he had paid for the vehicle. Barney placed another call to his attorney.
Your assignment:
Looking at the situation from both a legal and spiritual perspective, as Barney’sattorney, give him your best assessment of his legal rights in connection with the various property law issues that he has encountered as well as your best advice as a brother in Christ as to how he should handle the situation.
In connection with this assignment, you may want to research the following legal concepts and incorporate what you find in your DB response if you consider them relevant:
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship
• Lapsed devises in a will
• Adverse Possession
• Eminent Domain
• Bailments
• Good Faith Purchasers for Value
• Any other legal concepts you believe may be relevant
You may also want to look at this case regarding eminent domain:
Kelo v. NewLondon, 545 U.S. 469 (2005).
Reply:
In this twisted tale of property law, Barney, a humble law enforcement officer has had three of his pieces of property taken from him; the first was a piece of mountain property that he had joint ownership of, the second a beach front home and finally his automobile. Each of these cases has very different laws that will need to be considered in relation to what rights and recourses Barney has.
In the first situation, Barney had created a contract with joint tenancy and the right of survivorship between himself and his old friends Andy, Floyd, and Howard. The survivorship in this contract was void however because it was enacted 31 years earlier. The reason for this is because it was not until January 1, 1990 that this was a legal form of ownership in the state of North Carolina. "The 1989-90 North Carolina General Assembly amended North Carolina General Statues section 41-2 to allow the creation of a right of survivorship in joint tenancy, a right that had been abolished in the state more than two hundred years ago (Orth, 2013)." Thus the possession of the land by Opie, the late Andy’s son, was not legal. Opie therefore had no right to claim ownership of the land, and could not legally enact a loan on his father’s share of the property because it would have passed back to the other owners of the property (Nancy K. Kubasek, 2012).
For the second legal action against this piece of real property, Earnest has made a claim to ownership since he has been there for 20 years. According to North Carolina State law concerning 20 years of adverse possession, “ No action for the recovery or possession of real property, or the issues and profits thereof, shall be maintained when the person in possession thereof, or defendant in the action, or those under whom he claims, has possessed the property under known and visible lines and boundaries adversely to all other persons for 20 years; and such possession so held gives a title in fee to the possessor, in such property, against all persons not under disability (North Carolina State Legislature, 2013).” Therefore, since no legal claim has been made on the land by Barney, or any of the other owners, it is unlikely that he will be able to reclaim his land. Earnest will likely be able to stay on the land.
For the next piece of property in question, Barney’s North Carolina beach house located in Carolina Beach which has been taken through the use of eminent domain by the state of North Carolina. The property was likely taken to further economic growth in the area by building a beach resort. Barney is likely to be out of luck here as well. The most famous case involving a similar situation is the Kelo v. New London. In this case which was heard by the United States Supreme Court, it was decided that the plaintiff, Ms. Kelo, who had her beach front house taken by eminent domain for the furthering of economic development in the city of New London, that this was a legal use of the law of eminent domain (Nancy K. Kubasek, 2012). Therefore, it is yet again unlikely that Barney would be able to fight this case. However, Barney in this matter would be receiving the fair market value of the property as compensation from the state.
In the final property case that Barney is in, his car was fraudulently taken from him by Carl who posed as a valet at a restaurant. The car was subsequently sold to a dealer in trade for a Ford Mustang in an act of conversion. The car was sold again to a man who bought it from the dealer at an auction. In this case Carl was guilty of a class H felony in the state of North Carolina (North Carolina State Legislature, 2013). In this case Carl was acting as a bailee who was entrusted with the car. He then converted the car for his own personal use by selling it to the dealership. Carl is responsible for the car and because it was sold fraudulently it is Carl who would need to be litigated to get the car back. Thus, Barney’s first course of action would be to notify the police of Wilmington Beach of the incident so that he could have the justice system begin the process of getting his vehicle back.
From a Christian perspective, I would have to tell Barney first “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).” While Barney may be going through a difficult time right now it will not last forever and that he will eventually overcome all of the adversity that he is facing. I would remind him that God does not allow bad things to occur without a good reason, and that in the end, whether he wins these cases or not he still has a mansion in heaven that will never be sold or taken. Therefore, he should keep his eyes on Jesus, and remember his words, “19Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be (Matthew 6:19-21).”