Understanding Different Types of Goods in Property Law
Singular and Collective Goods
Singular goods are considered as individual, natural goods. Collective goods represent a unique set of goods of the same species. For example, a book is singular, while a collection of books is a library, which is a collective good.
Main and Accessory Goods
NOTE: Main goods have an autonomous existence, meaning they do not depend on any other to exist (e.g., a home). Accessory goods have a dependent relationship to the main item (e.g., a job).
Fruits
Fruits are accessory goods characterized by the fact that once removed from the main good, they do not cause its destruction. Fruits can be:
- Natural: When derived from nature, such as an orange from an orange tree, or a calf from a cow.
- Industrial: Those coming from human work, e.g., a purse, a shoe, etc.
- Civil: Income derived from the main item, such as rent, interest, etc.
State of Fruits
This is important for the Law of Obligations and Rights for Real.
- Pending: Still connected to the main thing because the time for harvesting or highlighting them has not arrived.
- Perceived or Harvested: Already detached from the main thing (Natural – already taken; Industrial – already recovered).
- Stored: Fruit stored for sale or consumption.
- Percipiendos: Fruit ready to be picked up or noticed, but still connected to the main good (in rem, this makes a significant difference on the issue of possession – whether they were collected in bad faith or good faith).
Products
Products are accessory goods that, when removed from the main good, cause wear or destruction, such as stones from a quarry, ore taken from a mine, etc.
Improvements
(Article 96 of the Civil Code) Works or improvements made to the main good. They can be:
- Necessary: Made to conserve or service the main item (e.g., rewiring that is deteriorated, work to repair leakage, car brake repair, motor repair, etc.).
- Useful: Those that improve the usefulness of the property, such as building a new room, installing ramps, or installing handrails.
- Voluptuous: Works that make the property more beautiful or pleasurable (e.g., a winter garden, a fountain, a sauna, etc.).
Note on the accessories studied so far: The general rule is that the accessory good follows the main one. Exceptions: Legal and contractual (if the law says differently, the accessory does not follow the main).
Belongings
(Articles 93 and 94 of the Civil Code) Movable goods that are not part of the main good but whose function is to contribute to the use, utility, or beautification of the main good. A significant feature of belongings is that they maintain a relationship of identity with the main item. Example: Agricultural machinery belonging to a farm; furniture represents the belongings of a house or apartment.
ATTENTION: The general rule for belongings is that they do not follow the main good, except for contractual or statutory provisions.
Private Property
Private Property is defined by exclusion; they are those that do not belong to a public entity.
Public Goods
Public Goods are owned by public entities and possess the following categories:
- For Common or General Use: Goods destined for use by the population, such as streets, squares, and roads. The fact that the state collects some value for the use of such property does not deprive them of the classification of goods in general use.
- For Special Use: These have the purpose of exercising a public function. In other words, the property is affected by a state purpose, such as a police car, public buildings in operation (the building of the Public Prosecutor, the Defender of Social Security, etc.).
- Dominical or Domains: Assets that have no specific state destination and are not intended for the general use of the people, such as closed public buildings, tide lands, vacant lands, and old railways that no longer work.
Note 1: The first two categories of public goods are affected by some activity, so the property cannot be sold, whereas the sale of dominical property is possible, as they are not affected by any activity.
Note 2: Public goods are not subject to prescription.
Note 3: The Theory of Affectation and Disaffectation of Public Goods.