Have you ever wondered what might happen if a meteorite landed on your rental property? This lighthearted video from Rentec Direct discusses a historical lawsuit and one landlord’s interesting lease rule that arose as a result.
Can a landlord claim ownership of a meteorite in a lease agreement?
This question may sound like a joke, but some landlords have genuinely discussed adding it to their lease agreements. Furthermore, there is real legal precedent for a landlord claiming ownership of a meteorite if it falls on their rental property, from an Iowa lawsuit that was filed in 1892.
In this video, Rentec Direct’s Brentnie and Kaycee discuss this historical lawsuit, the ultimate results of the suit, and whether or not a landlord can put a provision in their lease that allows them to claim ownership of a meteorite that has landed on their property.
A Meteorite Hits Your Rental Property. Who Owns it!? – Video Transcript
Brentnie:
Hi, this is Brentnie and Kaycee again from Rentec Direct. And as you guys know, we love to discuss landlord questions and hang out on landlord forums. This is so interesting. The thing that I saw today was a discussion on the best tips for new landlords. And someone had commented on something that was very unique and interesting that I had not seen before.
He was saying that, in his lease agreement, he says, “I put in all of my leases that if a meteorite lands on the property, it belongs to me and the tenant can’t keep it. Even if it lands inside the house and is embedded or inside a tenant’s personal property.”
Kaycee:
Gosh. Okay. So I was thinking of it more as a dangerous thing, but this is more about who gets to own the meteorite if it lands there? Is it the first-come, first-served, like “Dibs, I touched it”, or who does it actually belong to? So my guess without knowing would be the property owner, since, if you think of a tree, like if a seed fell on a property and a tree grew, that would be the property owner’s, right? It’s not in a pot.
What did you find out when you were looking more into it?
Brentnie:
Okay, there is a little bit of precedent for this. There was actually a lawsuit, I believe it was in Iowa, and it was between a farmer and a property owner. So the farmer was the tenant, and he either found the meteorite or a guest of his found it; I can’t remember the exact circumstances. But the tenant was the one who found this meteorite, and there was a lawsuit over who owned the rights to it.
The courts did side with the property owner, and the reasoning behind that was that the soil on the land, if you add more soil to the land, once it has mixed with the soil on the land, it’s the property owner’s. You can’t differentiate once something lands there. So we’re treating this meteorite like it’s any other deposit on land, even though it came from space.
Kaycee:
Oh my gosh, so in that case, was it a meteorite that recently landed and was fresh, or was it dug up from the soil?
Brentnie:
So, that I don’t know. I believe that case was a fresh meteorite. I know that there were cases. I was just looking up discussions on this; I know that there were cases in the past where they had been discovered, and it had clearly been on the property for a long time. And I feel like legally, there was a lot more argument for that being the property owners. But in this circumstance, I believe it was a little bit fresher.
What’s interesting, too, is that the legal precedent that exists is that it is the property owner’s, but this landlord is talking about, specifically, if it lands on the tenant’s property. And that’s where I feel like there’s a legal gray area. If you don’t have this in your lease agreement, which I don’t think most do, let’s say it lands in your tenant’s vehicle, and it hasn’t touched the property, I feel like there’s definitely a larger case to be made that that is the tenant’s property now, which is pretty fascinating.
Kaycee:
Totally. Yeah. And I mean, these big disputes over meteorites. And I definitely also think about like, even if it’s in a lease, is it legally allowed to be in the lease? Because I know in our state, there are things that you can and can’t put in a lease.
What else could the tenant possess that suddenly the landlord can say, “Well, it’s in the lease, so it’s mine”? That’s also an interesting piece to that, of having it in a lease, and is it enforceable in court just because it’s in the contract?
Brentnie:
Absolutely. And, from the research that I did —which admittedly was just kind of a fascinating little tangent that I went on this morning— but from my understanding, there’s really only that one situation with the court system.
So there’s absolutely precedent now, but that was in Iowa. And if you lived somewhere else, would the same outcome happen? I don’t know. And would this be considered a legal addition to the lease? I don’t know. I just find it really interesting.
Kaycee:
Well, we love space at Rentec. So that was definitely an on-brand discussion. And I hope that whoever loves the meteorite more gets a little piece of it, no matter what.
Additional Fun Facts About Meteorite Rights:
While landlords and property owners should always consult with a licensed attorney when it comes to even simple legal matters regarding their rental property, understanding legal ownership of meteorites is such a unique legal topic that only a lawyer can adequately help you understand how your jurisdiction will treat your situation. That said, for curious minds, these deep-dive links can be an interesting jumping-off point for understanding the nuances of legal ownership of meteorites.
Iowa Landlord-Tenant Meteorite Court Case:
Goddard v. Winchell (1892) is the Iowa legal case referenced in the discussion. The case involved a 66-pound meteorite fragment that fell on leased prairie land. The tenant and the tenant’s neighbor collected the meteorite and then sold it to Winchell (Defendant). The landowner and Plaintiff (Goddard) filed a Writ of Replevin to have the meteorite returned. The court affirmed that the meteorite becomes part of the soil on which it falls and cannot be removed without the permission of the owner of the land.
BLM Meteorite Guidelines:
Unlike you might expect, meteorites are not legally treated like a standard mineral on the land. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), “Meteorites do not meet the definition of a mineral resource under the general mining and mineral laws. The extraterrestrial origins of meteorites have made them unique and of extreme commercial and scientific value.” The BLM offers a FAQs page on meteorites on public land.
