ABSTRACT
Property law, and especially the common law understanding of private property, has always been heavily laden with hard-edged doctrines that tell people exactly where they are. From all appearances, and despite the obvious advantages of crystalline property rules for the smooth flow of bargains and and commerce, seemed at least to be caught in an era of intractable and perhaps even increasing muddiness. The purchaser was thought to be perfectly capable of inspecting the property and deciding for himself whether he wanted it, and if anyone were foolish enough to buy a pig in a poke, he deserved what he got. Early common law mortgages were very crystalline indeed. In establishing recording systems, legislatures have stepped behind private parties' efforts to sharpen the definitions of their entitlements. The very raison d'être of such a system is to clarify and specify landed property rights exactly, for the sake of easy and smooth transfers.
