What Is Property Ownership?

Property in the legal sense is what belongs either to a person or to something, whether as a partial aspect or as an independent feature of that thing. It is different from personal property which is the right and ownership to use a certain place for one’s own private purposes. When one owns a thing (which can be anything from a vehicle to real estate), one has the full right to use and access that thing, subject to restrictions imposed by the laws that particular jurisdiction have in place on the access and use of private property.

Property, as distinguished from personal possessions, is legally owned by a person. That is to say, the person who owns the property actually possesses the property, at least in the eyes of the law. It does not exist in its ‘autobiographical’ sense, i.e., it exists only in relation to a person. A property, in this sense, may be a piece of land or a house. It may be something as varied as a building or a collection of houses or something else.

The property that a person owns is equivalent to his possession and control over it. It includes whatever remains after his possession and control is terminated. This right of ownership extends to all his belongings, regardless of their destination or the cause of their removal. It also includes whatever belongs to or is made by the person who owns the property.

A person owns property because he occupies it. He receives the rights to use and access the property, subject to the limitations imposed by the law. Private property includes anything done inside a private residence or any other structure made by him. It does not include goods or commodities that are not permanently fitted to a person’s body. It includes immovable property, the movable property of the other person, but does not include his rights in his home. It also includes his rights to use, enjoy, use or possess any land or house, if he has the right to use it.

A person does not acquire property by gift nor does he become the owner by deed. He owns property by contract. His title to a property remains exclusively his; no one else can give or lend it. A debtor can recover debts against a property only by taking possession of it and proving that the loss was through the negligence or default of the owner of the property.

A mortgage gives a legal title to a property. It transfers the legal rights of ownership to a mortgagor. A mortgage is a lien on the property for the benefit of the lender. If the borrower fails to pay the debt, the lender may have legal action against the borrower for the payment of the debt.