FINDERS-RIGHTS AS AGAINST THE OWNER OF THE LOCUS IN QUO

Authors

Helen G. Wilson, University of Michigan Law School

Abstract

Two recent decisions, Flax v. Monticello and Hannah v. Peel, have again called attention to the problem of the rights of a land occupant to possession of an article found on his land. Typical of the conflicts which the finders cases as a group present, these courts reached opposite results on similar facts. In the Flax case, a guest found a diamond brooch on the dresser of his hotel room. The brooch had been placed there by a cleaning maid who was under the impression that it belonged to him. As between the guest, who claimed as finder, and the hotel, the latter was held to be entitled to the brooch on the basis of its prior possession. Yet in the Hannah case, a diamond brooch was found in a house temporarily requisitioned by the British Army, and the Court of King's Bench awarded possession to the finder as against the owner of the house.

Recommended Citation

Helen G. Wilson, FINDERS-RIGHTS AS AGAINST THE OWNER OF THE LOCUS IN QUO, 46 Mich. L. Rev. 235 (1947).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol46/iss2/6