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Property Law CUNY Fall 2022

Sundowner, Inc. v. King

There is an extensive body of (sometimes conflict) law about so-called Spite Fences--structures built by a property owner for the purpose of harassing or inconveniencing a neighbor. Courts have grappled with the question of whether this use of property is one of the sticks in the bundle that a landowner has, or whether the nuisance principle sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas (so use your own as not to injure another) prevents this conduct.  The general rule seems to be that: 
"the right to use one’s property for the sole purpose of injuring others is not one of the immediate rights of ownership. It is not a right for the sake of which property is recognized by the law."

  --Holmes J., Rideout v. Knox (1889)