What Could You Do With Allodial Title?
July 8, 2008
I noted previously that I’d like to write more about Allodium, in response to Orville Seymer left a comment on Why You Can’t Buy Allodial Title. He suggests a book by John Cobin, Ph.D. and I was able to locate a PDF version of the book for $5.95.
Most states in the Union which have or had a clause in their constitution pertaining to Allodium (e.g., New York) have rescinded that section in whole or in part, because they determined that Allodial title is an antiquated notion. It must be nice to make the laws, and determine that certain impediments to increasing one’s own arbitrary dominion, are “frivolous” or “antiquated.”
Much like the “frivolous” arguments against paying one’s taxes (PDF), (determined to be frivolous, of couse, by the same entity that levies and collects those taxes!) any constitutional provision quickly becomes “antiquated” when the governnment unilaterally decides to stop respecting it. Allodial title is “antiquated” becaues the government stopped respecting it.
According to the wikipedia entry on Allodial title,
[I]n the United States most lands are not allodial, as evidenced by the existence of property taxes
Fee simple is the highest form of ownership that any individual may generally attain in the United States. In the United States individuals cannot acquire Allodial title, because under what is essentially martial law, the Federal Government has declared itself owner of all lands, through the issuance of a Land Patent drafted and deemed sufficient by its own agents. The same Government which declares itself the rightful owner of all lands, is the arbiter who ultimately determines that you or I can’t own those lands.
There are some websites suggesting that an individual can assume the original land patent from the time when the Federal Government held land in trust for future conveyance. This looks to me very much like the spurious claims that one can record an affidavit renouncing the IRS at the local register of deeds. I doubt the applicability of these propositions with regards to one’s right to claim full Allodial title through secession (especially because they suggest that property taxes are a “contract” entered into between a landowern/tenant and the governing municpality), although the section explaining the difference between “real estate” and “land” is interesting.
Some people say that you can’t transfer or convey Allodial title to real property without it losing its Allodial status. This argument appears to be facially absurd: if you own the property as an outright freehold, you can do whatever you want with it. There is no other status to which it ought logically revert upon sale. Then again, I’m not a legal scholar.
Some people say that Allodial title fell out of favor because it can’t be mortgaged for improvements since land held Allodially can’t be encumbered. That possibility, by itself, is only an explanation for why few properties are held in Allodium, it is not an explanation for the legal disregard of a centuries-old principle.
The current system of title and encumbrance and the governing jurisprudence is heavily influenced by the State’s laws. Any contest pertaining to this system also must be fought in one of the State’s courts. Accordingly, the State could refuse to recognize as valid, certain mortgage contracts, to the final effect of creating a disincentive to lend to Allodial titleholders. I have no idea whether this is historical fact, or not, but I see no reason why an owner of Allodium couldn’t put up his property as collateral for a loan.
There are probably about a dozen ways that you could work around this detail through contracts and joint ownership in a free society, as long as you expunge the patently retarded notion that Allodial title can’t be conveyed; there is no reason a proper conveyance couldn’t occur if both the grantor and grantee wished it to remain a freehold, and there’s little reason to believe they wouldn’t.
If Allodial title can’t be conveyed, it’s because the State refuses to accept such conveyance as legitimate. If the State can exercise this sort of overarching ownership interest, title is not really held in Allodium to begin with. The State cannot permit Allodium; doing so would invalidate its fraudulent claim of monopolistic ownership pertaining to all land within its arbitrarily defined, violently created and maintained borders.
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As interesting as I find this topic, I tend to think it’s rather a dead end.
Suppose for example that the government of Florida one day up and declared that allodial title could be purchased, perhaps by some fraudulent “pay all your future taxes now” arrangement like that described for Nevada in the Wikipedia article. So, you pays your taxes and the state gives you a document saying you now have allodial title to your land.
But wait… the state granted it? What the state granteth, surely the state can take away… and where does the state get the authority to issue title to land anyway?
If we’re to acquire just and legitimate freehold, it’ll have to be done some other way. Some way that doesn’t involve states. Unless I’m missing something essential here.
I should mention that “Allodial Title” is much more than the ability to be exempt from property taxes. In Wisconsin, while we do have the clause in our Constitution that says, “All land within the state is declared to be Allodial and feudal tenures are prohibited” we also have a clause in the Constitution that allows the state to tax your property.
What “Allodial Title” means in my mind, is the state does not the right to regulate your private property. So in other words, all of the Zoning laws and other restrictions on your property are unconstitutional. Of course you would have to convince numerous Judges of this, which would be very difficult if not almost impossible and it would take bundles of money to pay the Attorneys.
What is really sad, is very few if any law schools teach this concept.
If you want to have a little fun with any friends who are Attorneys or historians, give them this little quiz.
1. Who was the 1st President of the united States? Most people will look at you a little funny and then answer George Washington. That would be the wrong answer. While it is a bit of a trick question, the 1st President of the united States was a guy named Samual Huntington. Remember the Articles of Confederation. They existed for 10 years prior to our current Constitution. Our Presidents served for terms of 1 year under the Articles.
2. What Federal Document started the Revolutionary War? Don’t over think this question, it is really simple.
The answer is of course, the “Declaration of Independence”
3. Now it gets a little more difficult. What Federal document ended the Revolutionary War? I will give you a little hint on this one. The signing of this document did not occur in this country.
Give up?
The “Treaty of Paris” ended the Revolutionary War.
4. Now comes the really difficult question.
What specific rights did the “Treaty of Paris” give us?
Any guesses?
“The Treaty of Paris” gave us “Allodial Property Rights” You will not find it specifically enumerated in the treaty but if you talk to historians and other Constitutional scholars, they will tell you that that was the purpose of the treaty and and in part the Revolution. Remember, our Founding Fathers wanted government to do 2 things.
1. Protect your private property
2. Secure your individual liberties.
Tommorrow’s lesson will be….
Concerning Allodial Property title in the State of Florida. I would like to know if there are any readers who have done this, how much it cost, what kind of obstacles were overcome to achieve this status, and does it hold up against local, state & federal jurisdictions ? We have an opportunity to do this with our property but the information is a bit conflicting, Can anyone clarify?
I do understand that this was the original way of property ownership in the US many years ago until the governement found they could not make any money this way.
Please respond.