Property has various forms in various legal systems and cultures. But the right to property definition is almost expected in every democratic nation. Since the states practice significant domain power against private property, it is good to discuss the concept of personal property in brief. The private property establishment has always been a controversial issue with classifying perspectives; one supports private property holding, and the other denies the right to own personal property.
The property right is a fundamental right of every homeowner, but the collection of protections and privileges differs from every state or country. Let’s go through this article to understand how these property rights are affected by ordinances, laws, covenants, and codes. Let’s get into the property definition and intellectual property rights before going through the points of the right to property.
Definition of property law
The right to property can be explained as the intellectual and legal ownership of the resources and assets and the one who can use the same. These resources and support can both be tangible and intangible by nature, and the owner can be individuals, businesses, and governments.
In various countries, including the developed ones like the USA and the UK, people can exercise their rights of private property to collect, sell, delegate, hold or sell their property. Moreover, in the world of finance, property rights constitute the basis of every exchange.
Intellectual property rights
Intellectual property rights are legal rights that also allow creators or inventors to protect their inventions, works or product appearance, scientific developments, and many more. There are mainly four intellectual property types:- patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks.
- Patent:- The patent is used to prevent the invention from being sold by any other party without the owner’s permission. The patents are termed the most common types of intellectual property that come to the person’s mind while thinking of protecting intellectual property rights. The patent owner possesses every right to commercialize their parents, including selling and buying the patent or giving permission to any third party to use their inventions under the agreed terms.
- Trademarks:- These are the other type of intellectual property rights. The trademarks are known as the distinctive sign which allows the consumers to identify the services or goods which the company provides.
Some examples of trademarks are TATA, McDonald’s, Amazon, and so on. The brand might be in the form of phrase, text, sound, symbol, smell, or color scheme. It is not like parents; it can only protect a particular set of services or products, instead of anyone service or product.
- Copyright:- This right to property is not for protecting the ideas. It can cover the tangible creations and the original work—for instance, music, art, software codes, and architectural designs. The copyright owner possesses the right to publish, reproduce, or sell any musical, dramatic, architectural work or literary work by the author.
- Trade secret:- The secrets are essential business secrets. They are the proprietary strategies, systems or formulas, or any other information that is termed confidential, which is not meant for unauthorized commercial use by the others. This is a form of protection that can help the business to gain the advantage of competitiveness.
Things you must know about property rights
1. Possession rights
The right to possession is a property law that guarantees you that you own the property’s title. But you might lose the right under some circumstances. For instance, if you indeed fail to pay the mortgage payments or fail to make a property tax payment, then the lender can start the proceedings, and you might lose the property.
2. Right to control
When you purchase a house, you have a right to property control inside your house and on the land, but with law barriers. You can host barbecues or hold meetings, but you cannot sell drugs in your home. You cannot run any home-based business from your house without permission from the authorities in various cases.
3. Restrictions of Homeowners association
If you live in a locality governed by the HOA or homeowners association, you are subjected to some restrictions. For example, HOA has the right to determine the siding type which you can install in your house, might forbid you from parking in the driveway, or instruct you whether you can erect the fence or not.
Under this property law, HOAs can enforce and set the regulations because their actions are meant to protect the value of the property and the quality of life of everyone who lives around.
4. Right of Quiet Enjoyment
Right of quiet enjoyment property law is slightly from its name. For instance:- you can tell your neighbor not to trim grass in the morning because you need to sleep in. But you possess the right to tell the factories nearby you not to pollute the water supply and don’t damage the trees. If you feel that your request for quiet enjoyment is violated, then you report the issue to the authorities. If they don’t solve your problem, then you can file a case against the person who is offending your rights.
5. Right of choosing the visitors
You can thank the right of choosing the visitors, and you possess the right to decide who can enter your property and who cannot. Like every property right, it comes with some restrictions. The law officials have the right to walk to your door, and if they contain the warrant, they can even enter your house without your permission. The emergency workers can also get into your home without your consent if they sense danger for someone inside.
6. Property rights and easements
An easement is known as the legal interest of your property which is owed by someone else. It is commonly granted in utility companies, but scenarios are different there. For instance, an owner can grant an easement to his neighbor to out driveway across the property. These are recorded on the deeds and get passed from one seller to another seller. However, having the right is expected not to damage your property by his actions while practicing his right.
7. Right to disposition
This right means that a property owner has the right to transfer or sell the property to anyone whom you want. You can share it with your child through the will, or you can even rent it to another person. If you still have a mortgage on the home, then this right is entirely restricted for you. For exercising this right, you will have to clear your entire mortgage. Even many HOAs might prohibit you from renting out your property.
8. Mineral rights
The mineral rights are linked with structures of ownership, trees, and various objects which sit on your property. Mineral rights concern the ownerships of oil, gold, coal, and different below-ground materials. Mainly in cities, the minerals are rarely found because if you even own them, the local authorities will prohibit drilling your yard. But in the rural areas, if you don’t own mineral rights of your property, then someone else might rent your property to dig minerals or oil.
9. Right to use the property as collateral
While owning the property right, you possess the right to use the property as the collateral for any loan. Your home is an asset, so if you have some extra money for any emergency or needs, then you can use this asset to get a loan. But it doesn’t mean that the lender is bound to give you a loan. Many banks do offer home-equity loans, but you will not lend your loan if you possess a low credit score if they sense any risk.
10. Right to make improvements
You are making improvements such as upgrading the fencing in the property, building an additional floor in your house, or altering the yard or home. You can do everything as you possess the right to improvements, but this right also comes with some restrictions like all others. The local zone laws limit it. If you are planning any such improvements, you must check it with the local authorities to check whether the plans are perfect and determine the restrictions that might affect the projects and what permissions are necessary.
Conclusion
These are the rights to property that every owner should be aware of. Knowing each and every right is a person’s essential duty and privilege. Being aware of every right of your property will determine to protect them from any problem you are not prepared for. For example, every woman who owns a property should be aware of women’s property rights which are very important in today’s generation.
There are many people out there waiting to find a fault in you and your property so that they can take advantage of that. Always be careful while doing any sort of thing with your property. Always take the advice of your lawyer before doing anything. Being aware and knowledgeable of every right to property is the key to protecting your property.
