David C. Jordan, Esq., Attorney at Law
Professor of Law/Director of Paralegal Studies
Telephone: (Campus) 818/364-7720
E-Mail: abogado@pacbell.net
Pager: 818/546-7060
Office Hours: Monday-Thursdays 5:15 - 6:45 PM or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Catalog: Law 19 is a study of the law of property including community property, joint tenancy, leases, deeds, contracts, escrows, deeds of trust, a study of the system of recording and search of public documents, a study of bankruptcy laws and forms and evictions (unlawful detainer actions).
The student will prepare all of the forms related to an
eviction (unlawful detainer) and a simple Chapter 7 ("liquidation")
bankruptcy, along with reviewing the documentation for transfers
of real property and related escrow documents, and will also prepare
a UCC-1 Financing Statement.
The student will also study secured transactions, collateral,
purchase money secured interests, liens, attachment, garnishment,
and other creditor's remedies.
Law 19 introduces the student to the nature of property and personalty,
acquiring and owning property, real property, and the landlord-tenant
relationship.
COURSE TEXT
West's Business Law by Clarkson,
Miller, Jentz, and Cross (Eighth
Edition - red book) and
can order
it online see #3 or directly from West Publishing
1-800-328-4880.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. The student will learn substantive
personal and real property law, including secured transactions,
bankruptcy, bailments, eviction (unlawful detainer), and
real property escrow documentation, and other laws relating to
real and pesonal property.
2. The student will learn to "think critically" in law,
and in the area of real and personal property. This will be accomplished
through the multiple-choice quizzes,
the postings to the "threaded discussions",
and the assignments. The assignments
require the student to prepare a UCC-1 Financing Statement, a
personal debtor, Chapter
7 Petition for Bankruptcy, and accompanying schedules, and
an Unlawful Detainer (both landlord and tenant forms), and papers
dealing with the transfer of property (i.e. escrow paperwork).
3. The student will learn how to do legal
research in the area of Personal and
Real Property law.
4. The student will improve
his/her writing skills and legal
drafting/writing skills.
5. The student will improve
their study skills and will improve
how they study law.
GRADING & EVALUATION
The class will be composed of quizzes, postings to an "electronic
bulletin board" - threaded discussions, and written projects,
including the preparation of bankruptcy schedules, and a landlord-tenant
eviction case.
Grades will be posted on the internet using microsoft excel. There
will be a column for each quiz, project, and posting. Grades will
be posted for each student under their last four numbers of their
social security number in order to preserve confidentiality.
Note: Many students ask about the point grade. It is calculated
by taking the total number of actual points earned to date, divided
by the total amount of possible points to date and multiplying
it by 100 to give a perenctage grade. At the upper left column,
under "perfect student", SS#, the actual total possible
points is listed for the use in calculating the students grade.
The "letter grade" scale is as follows.
A = 90-100 percent of total points
B = 80-90
C = 65-80
D = 55-65
F = Below 55
STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS & TESTS
1. LECTURE NOTES
2. QUIZZES
3. ASSIGNMENTS
4. DISCUSSIONS
COMPUTER POLICY
This class frequently uses materials which are posted on
the world wide web. Students are encouraged to learn
computer skills, including word processing, and use of the
internet. No computer skills are required for this class. The
student will learn, and will be taught the necessary skills to
access materials for this class from the class webpage. The first
time student is encouraged to take
a tour of the web page, and then to test their knowledge of
our webpage by taking the
quiz on the tour of our webpage.
The primary web address for this class is http://www.vcsun.org/~djordan,
and this class is located at http://www.vcsun.org/~djordan/21f/law19/.
The secondary site (only if the primary site is not working -
which is rare) is http://www.lamission.cc.ca.us/law.
All materials for this class may be printed from the web
site. If the student does not have access to a computer at home
or at work, the materials may be printed (at $.10 -ten cents per
copy) in the Learning Resource Center. The student should obtain
print cards for $1 or $5 purchased on the 2nd Floor of the Learning
Resource Center, or from the Business Office during regular business
hours.
All quizzes, assignments, and postings may be submitted, either
in writing or transmitted by email to the instructor, by the student,
at the time and dates due. Students are not required to purchase
or own or use a computer for their assignments. The use of the
web site for the class is in conjunction with the lectures, class
attendance and participation, and is intended to supplement the
learning of the assignments, and to provide easier access for
students.
Students are encouraged to obtain an email account at the beginning
of the class. This will help the student in communicating with
the instructor and other students. An email account may be obtained
at Yahoo.com. The student
should retain a copy of all emails sent to the instructor, in
case, in case the instructor losses the emailed work of the student.
It is the responsability of a student who wishes to "drop"
this class, to do so at admissions.
However, before dropping the class, the student is encouraged
to discuss the problems he/she might be having with this class
with Prof. Jordan to discuss the many ways these problems can
be resolved without having to "drop the class".
* This syllabus is subject to change. Please note revision
dates ("updated") above. Students are responsible for
the most recent updated version of this syllabus. Prof. Jordan