Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
The concept of good faith is a cornerstone of Louisiana private law. It plays a central role in the law of general and conventional obligations. It makes crucial appearances in the law of sales. It even affects subjects in the law of persons, such as the civil effects of absolutely null and putative marriages. But good faith is also a pivotal concept in Louisiana property law. Although it has always been a feature of that law, during an intense burst of law reform activity stretching from 1977 to 1982, the Louisiana Legislature (‘Legislature’) updated and extended the concept of good faith in several core areas of property law. This Article addresses the role of good faith in four of those distinct areas: (1) as a prerequisite to the establishment of a predial servitude benefiting the owner of a building that encroaches on the property of a neighbor; (2) as a mediating device allocating the rights of an original owner of a corporeal movable and a subsequent acquirer under the bona fide purchaser doctrine; (3) as a defining characteristic establishing rights and obligations under the law of accession when a person possesses immovable property without a valid title; and (4) as a prerequisite for the acquisition of ownership of, or other real rights in, immovable property by ten-year acquisitive prescription. Although this Article notes the sources of good faith in Louisiana jurisprudence, prior Louisiana civil codes, and European civil codes considered in the revision process, it focuses primarily on how good faith has functioned in the post-revision property law landscape. It does so by examining the text and structure of the good faith provisions in the continuous revised Civil Code and reported judicial decisions that have employed the new or reformulated definitions of good faith.

Lovett, John A, Good Faith in Louisiana Property Law (May 30, 2018).