Also known as: immovable things · immovable property · res immobiles
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Property that cannot be relocated because it consists of land or items affixed to land.
Ivy Ibarra forged her co-owner's signature on a deed conveying a jointly owned construction staging lot to a third party. She arranged for the purchase money to be paid directly to her rather than the company. The transfer was unlawful because it lacked any actual authority and diverted value to a person not entitled to it.
Ilana Isaacs owned a warehouse in the forum state but resided elsewhere. A plaintiff brought suit arising from her prior use of that warehouse. The court exercised jurisdiction because the claim arose directly from ownership of the immovable thing located inside the state.
Iris Irons recorded a mechanic's lien against a partially completed structure in the state where the building stood. The owner argued that a choice-of-law clause in the construction contract should control. The court applied the law of the situs because the lien concerned rights in an immovable thing located there.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Movable property is defined as property whose location can be changed, including items growing on or affixed to land. Immovable property is everything else, principally land and things legally regarded as part of the land.
Supporting sources
A state may exercise judicial jurisdiction over a nonresident who has owned, used, or possessed an immovable thing inside the state with respect to any cause of action arising from that thing while it was owned, used, or possessed by the nonresident.
Supporting sources
No. Even when parties select another state's law to govern their contract, questions about the creation and priority of interests in land are governed by the law of the situs because the state where the immovable is located has the dominant regulatory interest.
Supporting sources
…religious and charitable purposes; "(b) to manage its own affairs in matters of religion; "(c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and "(d) to administer such property in accordance with law." See 1 Chaudhri, Constitutional Rights and Limitations (1955), 875. This Article does not, however, appear to have completely…