Real Estate PL Topic - Bundle of Rights

Bundle of Rights

Traditionally, ownership rights of real property are described as a bundle of legal rights. These rights include the

• right of possession,
• right to control the property within the framework of the law,
• right of enjoyment (to use the property in any legal manner), right of exclusion (to keep others from entering or using the property), and
• right of disposition (to sell, will, transfer, or otherwise dispose of or encumber the property).

The concept of a bundle of rights comes from old English law. In the Middle Ages, a seller transferred property by giving the purchaser a handful of earth or a bundle of bound sticks from a tree on the property. After accepting the bundle, the purchaser became the owner of the tree from which the sticks came and the land to which the tree was attached. Because the rights of ownership (like the sticks) can be separated and individually transferred, the sticks became symbolic of those rights. (See Figure)

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