Chapter II　POSSESSION AND FIRST ACQUISITION

The Principles

Possession：

1.A legal determination that a person owns personal property is difficult to make because proof of ownership of personal property is often not evidenced by a writing.As a result，the law puts great weight on the observable fact of possession.

2.To say that a person has “possession” of personal property is to state either an observable fact or a legal conclusion or both.A person can be deemed to have possession of property as a legal conclusion even though she does not have actual possession of the property as an observable fact.

3.To say that a person has “title” to or “owns” personal property is to state a legal conclusion.A person can be deemed to have title to property as a legal conclusion even though he or she does not have actual possession of the property as an observed fact.To conclude that a person is entitled to possession of personal property does not necessarily mean that the person has title to or owns the property.

4.Title，as all property rights，is a relative concept.A person may have “title” to property as against one person but not another.

5.If it is determined that a person is entitled to the legal possession of personal property，that person has the right to：

a） Continue the possession against everyone except those persons，if any，who have a better right to the property；

b） Recover the property if it is wrongfully taken； and

c） Recover damages to the property against a wrongdoer.

6.To constitute possession，there must be：

a） A certain amount of actual control over the property； and

b） An intent to possess the property and exclude others