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LOS ANGELES TIMES
8th Edition
Nolo’s Encyclopedia
of Everyday Law
Answers to Your
Most Frequently Asked
Legal Questions
by Shae Irving, J.D. & Nolo editors

EIGHTH EDITION JANUARY 2011
Editor EMILY DOSKOW
Cover design SUSAN PUTNEY
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Nolo’s encyclopedia of everyday law : answers to your most frequently asked legal
questions / by Shae Irving & Nolo editors. -- 8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1321-5 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 1-4133-1321-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4133-1347-5 (e-book)
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1. Law--United States--Popular works. 2. Law--United States--Miscellanea. I. Irving,
Shae. II. Nolo (Firm) III. Title: Encyclopedia of everyday law.
KF387.N65 2010
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2010031328
Copyright © 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2011 by Nolo.
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Dedication
For Edward F. Dolan
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Jake Warner for inspiring and Stephen R. Elias, author of numerous Nolo
supporting this project. And thanks to books, including The New Bankruptcy: Will
all the Nolo editors and hardworking It Work for You?, Special Needs Trusts: Protect
production folks who keep the book on Your Child’s Financial Future, How to File for
track. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, and Legal Research:
How to Find & Understand the Law
We’re also grateful to every Nolo author
whose fine work has shaped these Cora Jordan, author of Neighbor Law: Fences,
pages. You’ll find many of these talented Trees, Boundaries & Noise and coauthor
individuals listed in the Contributors section (with Denis Clifford) of Plan Your Estate
on the following page. But we want to give
Mimi Lyster Zemmelman, author of Building
special thanks to:
a Parenting Agreement That Works: Child
Paul Bergman and Sara Berman-Barrett, Custody Agreements Step by Step.
authors of Represent Yourself in Court and
Anthony Mancuso, author of Incorporate
The Criminal Law Handbook
Your Business, How to Form a Nonprofit
David W. Brown, author of Beat Your Ticket: Corporation (national and California
Go to Court & Win! editions), Form Your Own Limited
Liability Company, The Corporate Records
Denis Clifford, author of many Nolo titles,
Handbook, and LLC or Corporation?
including The Quick & Legal Will Book,
Nolo’s Simple Will Book, and Make Your Joseph Matthews, author of How to Win Your
Own Living Trust, and coauthor of Plan Personal Injury Claim and Long-Term Care:
Your Estate and A Legal Guide for Lesbian How to Plan & Pay for It, and coauthor
& Gay Couples (with Dorothy Matthews Berman) of Social
Security, Medicare & Government Pensions
Frederick W. Daily, author of Stand Up to the
IRS and Tax Savvy for Small Business. Fred S. Steingold, author of The Legal Guide
for Starting & Running a Small Business and
The Employer’s Legal Handbook
Contributors
Ilona Bray  Ilona’s legal background includes especially for same-sex couples. She is the
solo practice as well as experience in coauthor of several Nolo books, including
the nonprofit and corporate worlds. She Nolo’s Essential Guide to Divorce, The
has written or coauthored several Nolo Sharing Solution, A Legal Guide for Lesbian
titles, including Effective Fundraising for & Gay Couples, and How to Change Your
Nonprofits, Becoming a U.S. Citizen, and Name in California.
Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First
Diana Fitzpatrick  Diana worked on municipal
Home.
finance issues at the San Francisco City
Catherine Caputo  Before joining Nolo, Cathy Attorney’s office before joining Nolo. She
was an attorney in private practice assisting also worked at a law firm in New York for
start-up and small business clients with a several years before moving to the Bay Area.
wide range of legal needs. She edits small Diana is a graduate of New York University
business books and software and also School of Law and Barnard College.
focuses on issues affecting seniors, such
Lisa Guerin During her years as a law
as Social Security benefits and retirement.
student at Boalt Hall School of Law at
Cathy received her law degree, with honors,
the University of California at Berkeley,
from the University of San Francisco School
Lisa worked for Nolo as a research and
of Law.
editorial assistant. After a stint as a staff
Amy DelPo  Amy has been an editor at attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for
Nolo since January 2000. She specializes the Ninth Circuit, Lisa has worked primarily
in workers’ rights, sexual harassment law, in the field of employment law, in both
employment law, criminal law, and civil government and private practice. Lisa
litigation. She brings more than six years of rejoined Nolo in 2000 and is the coauthor
criminal and civil litigation experience to her of several employment titles, including
work at Nolo, having litigated cases in all Create Your Own Employee Handbook and
levels of state and federal courts, including Dealing With Problem Employees.
the California Supreme Court and the United
Shae Irving  Shae graduated from Boalt Hall
States Supreme Court. Amy received her law
School of Law at the University of California
degree, with honors, from the University of
at Berkeley in 1993 and began working for
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Nolo in 1994. She has written extensively
Emily Doskow  Emily is a Nolo author and on durable powers of attorney, health
editor, and a mediator and attorney in care directives, and other estate planning
private practice in Berkeley, California, issues. She is the managing editor for Nolo’s
specializing in adoption and family law, Quicken WillMaker Plus software.
Bethany K. Laurence  Beth graduated Betsy Simmons-Hannibal Betsy is a Nolo
from Hastings College of the Law at the editor specializing in estate planning books
University of California in 1993. She spent and software. She graduated with The
several years working for a corporate legal Honors Lawyering Program from Golden
publisher before coming to Nolo. She joined Gate University School of Law where she
Nolo’s editorial staff in 1997 and has never was research editor of the law review. Prior
been happier. Beth is the coauthor of Nolo’s to joining Nolo, she trained at two private
Business Buyout Agreements and the editor law firms as well as the San Francisco
of many of Nolo’s small business books. Superior Court and the Federal District
Court of Northern California.
Janet Portman  Janet received undergraduate
and graduate degrees from Stanford Marcia Stewart  Marcia is an expert on
University and a law degree from the landlord-tenant law, buying and selling
University of Santa Clara. She was a public houses, and other issues of interest to
defender before coming to Nolo. Janet is consumers. She is the coauthor of Nolo’s
Nolo’s managing editor, the author of Every Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, Every
Landlord’s Guide to Finding Great Tenants, Tenant’s Legal Guide, Renters’ Rights, and
and the coauthor of many Nolo titles, Leases & Rental Agreements, and editor of
including Every Landlord’s Legal Guide, Every Nolo’s LeaseWriter software for landlords.
Tenant’s Legal Guide, Renters’ Rights, and
Richard Stim  Rich graduated from the
Negotiating the Best Lease for Your Business.
University of San Francisco Law School and
Mary Randolph  Mary has been editing worked in private practice for 16 years until
and writing Nolo books and software for joining Nolo as an editor in 2000. He is the
more than a decade. She earned her law author of Profit From Your Idea, Getting
degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at Permission, and Music Law, and is the
the University of California at Berkeley, and coauthor of Patent Pending in 24 Hours.
her undergraduate degree at the University
Ralph Warner Ralph is a cofounder of Nolo.
of Illinois. She is the author of Deeds for
He is the author (or coauthor) of a number
California Real Estate, The Executor’s Guide,
of Nolo books, including Every Landlord’s
and other Nolo materials.
Legal Guide, Everybody’s Guide to Small
Alayna Schroeder  Alayna graduated from the Claims Court, Form a Partnership, and Get
University of California, Hastings College a Life: You Don’t Need a Million to Retire
of the Law, and worked as an employment Well. Ralph is a lawyer who became fed
attorney before joining Nolo’s staff in 2005. up with the legal system and dedicated
In addition to editing employment and his professional life to making law more
real estate titles, she is coauthor of Nolo’s accessible and affordable to all Americans.
Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home. ●
Table of Contents
About This Book................................................................................................................1
1 Houses..........................................................................................................................................3
Buying a House.............................................................................................................................4
Selling Your House....................................................................................................................12
Deeds...............................................................................................................................................17
2 Neighbors. ..............................................................................................................................21
Boundaries................................................................................................................................... 22
Fences............................................................................................................................................. 23
Trees................................................................................................................................................ 25
Views............................................................................................................................................... 26
Noise............................................................................................................................................... 28
3 Landlords and Tenants.............................................................................................33

Leases and Rental Agreements......................................................................................... 34
Tenant Selection....................................................................................................................... 36
Housing Discrimination........................................................................................................ 36
Rent and Security Deposits................................................................................................ 38
Tenants’ Privacy Rights......................................................................................................... 39
Cable Access and Satellite Dishes.................................................................................... 40
Repairs and Maintenance.....................................................................................................42
Landlord Liability for Criminal Acts and Activities.................................................45
Landlord Liability for Lead Poisoning.............................................................................47
Landlord’s Liability for Exposure to Asbestos, Mold, and Bedbugs.............. 48
Insurance...................................................................................................................................... 49
Foreclosure...................................................................................................................................51
Resolving Disputes....................................................................................................................51
4 Workplace Rights...........................................................................................................57
Fair Pay and Time Off............................................................................................................ 58
Workplace Health and Safety............................................................................................ 67
Workers’ Compensation....................................................................................................... 70
Discrimination............................................................................................................................76
Harassment................................................................................................................................. 87
Workplace Privacy....................................................................................................................91
Losing Your Job.......................................................................................................................... 94
5 Small Businesses.............................................................................................................. 99
Before You Start......................................................................................................................100
Legal Structures for Small Businesses..........................................................................106
Nonprofit Corporations..................................................................................................... 113
Small Business Taxes............................................................................................................. 116
Home-Based Businesses..................................................................................................... 121
Employers’ Rights & Responsibilities...........................................................................126
6 Patents.................................................................................................................................... 143
Qualifying for a Patent........................................................................................................144
Obtaining a Patent................................................................................................................149
Enforcing a Patent.................................................................................................................. 151
Putting a Patent to Work...................................................................................................153
How Patents Differ From Copyrights and Trademarks.....................................156
7 Copyrights........................................................................................................................... 159
Copyright Basics.....................................................................................................................160
Copyright Ownership..........................................................................................................162
Copyright Protection...........................................................................................................165
Copyright Registration and Enforcement.................................................................168
8 Trademarks........................................................................................................................ 171
Types of Trademarks............................................................................................................172
Trademark Protection......................................................................................................... 175
Using and Enforcing a Trademark.................................................................................178
Conducting a Trademark Search...................................................................................180
Registering a Trademark.....................................................................................................183
How Trademarks Differ From Patents and Copyrights.....................................186
9 Your Money.......................................................................................................................189
Purchasing Goods and Services......................................................................................190
Using Credit and Charge Cards......................................................................................195
Using an ATM or Debit Card...........................................................................................198
Strategies for Repaying Debts..........................................................................................200
Dealing With the IRS............................................................................................................206
Debt Collections.....................................................................................................................210
Bankruptcy................................................................................................................................ 212
Rebuilding Credit................................................................................................................... 215
10 Cars and Driving...........................................................................................................221

Buying a New Car...................................................................................................................222
Leasing a Car.............................................................................................................................227
Buying a Used Car..................................................................................................................229
Financing a Vehicle Purchase...........................................................................................232
Insuring Your Car...................................................................................................................233
Your Driver’s License............................................................................................................236
If You’re Stopped by the Police.......................................................................................239
Drunk Driving..........................................................................................................................240
Traffic Accidents..................................................................................................................... 242
11 Wills and Estate Planning.................................................................................... 247
Wills...............................................................................................................................................248
Probate........................................................................................................................................254
Executors....................................................................................................................................255
Avoiding Probate....................................................................................................................259
Living Trusts..............................................................................................................................259
Estate and Gift Taxes............................................................................................................263
Funeral Planning and Other Final Arrangements.................................................266
Body and Organ Donations..............................................................................................270
12 Health Care Directives and Powers of Attorney.........................273

Health Care Directives......................................................................................................... 274
Durable Powers of Attorney for Finances.................................................................280
Conservatorships....................................................................................................................284
13 Older Americans..........................................................................................................289
Retirement Plans....................................................................................................................290
Social Security..........................................................................................................................294
Medicare.....................................................................................................................................299
Finding a Caregiver or Residential Care Facility.....................................................305
14 Spouses and Partners.............................................................................................. 311

Living Together—Gay or Straight.................................................................................. 312
Domestic Partnership and Civil Unions..................................................................... 316
Premarital Agreements....................................................................................................... 317
Marriage......................................................................................................................................320
Divorce.........................................................................................................................................324
Domestic Violence................................................................................................................334
Changing Your Name...........................................................................................................337
15 Parents and Children...............................................................................................343
Adopting a Child....................................................................................................................344
Stepparent Adoptions.........................................................................................................355
Adoption Rights: Birth Parents, Grandparents, and Children.......................357
Child Custody and Visitation...........................................................................................360
Child Support...........................................................................................................................366
Guardianship of Children...................................................................................................372
16 Courts and Mediation............................................................................................377

Representing Yourself in Court.......................................................................................378
Small Claims Court................................................................................................................388
Mediation...................................................................................................................................395
Finding and Working With a Lawyer...........................................................................400
17 Criminal Law and Procedure........................................................................... 413

Criminal Law and Procedure: An Overview............................................................. 414
If You Are Questioned by the Police............................................................................420
Searches and Seizures..........................................................................................................421
Arrests and Interrogations................................................................................................425
Bail..................................................................................................................................................429
Getting a Lawyer.................................................................................................................... 431
G Glossary.................................................................................................................................437
A Appendix: Legal Research...................................................................................457

Learning About a Particular Area of the Law..........................................................458
Finding a Specific Law..........................................................................................................460
Finding Answers to Specific Legal Questions..........................................................465
Finding Legal Forms..............................................................................................................468
I Index..........................................................................................................................................471
About This Book
W
hether we like it or not, the law answered many common ones to get you
touches our personal lives in started. Throughout each chapter, you’ll
many ways each day. We may find resource boxes listing sources for more
not think much about the laws that affect information about a particular subject.
us as we carry out simple tasks such as In addition, for those of you who are
driving a car, making a telephone call, or computer savvy, each chapter contains a list
buying milk at the corner grocery store. But of online sites that will help you learn more
every now and again, we’re sure to need about a particular area of the law. Look
an answer to a common legal question that for the “Online Help” icon as you read.
arises in the course of daily life: And if you need more information about
finding the law, the appendix contains a
What can I do about my noisy neighbor?
section that shows you how to do basic
legal research—with a focus on using the
What are my rights if I’m fired from my job?
Internet.
Think of this book as a desk reference—
Do I really need to make a will?
a little encyclopedia that explains what the
law really means in a language you can
What should I do if I can’t pay the child
understand. But remember that the law
support I owe?
changes constantly, as legislatures pass new
And so on. statutes and courts hand down their rulings.
This book provides answers to frequently We will publish new, revised editions of
asked questions about more than 100 this book periodically, but it will never be
subjects you might encounter in your perfectly current. It’s always your responsi-
personal life—topics that range from buying bility to be sure a law is up to date before
a house to getting a divorce, from paying you rely on it. Check for legal updates on
your debts to starting and running a small our website at www.nolo.com for the most
business. Obviously, we can’t answer every current legal information affecting Nolo
question on a particular subject, but we’ve books and software.
●
C H A P t er
Houses 1
Buying a House..............................................................................................................................................4
Selling Your House.................................................................................................................................... 12
Deeds................................................................................................................................................................ 17
4  |  Nolo’s Encyclopedia of everyday law
after you stop paying rent. Then, when

Home is heaven for beginners. considering a particular house, total up
—Charles H. Parkhurst the estimated monthly loan payments
(including principal and interest) plus one-
twelfth of your yearly bill for property and
B
uying or selling a house is a both homeowners’ insurance and other house-
exciting and demanding. To do it related costs like utilities and maintenance.
successfully, you need to understand Now compare that to your monthly income.
how houses are priced, financed, and Lenders expect you to make all monthly
inspected; how to find and work with a real housing payments with 28% to 38% of your
estate agent; how to protect your interests gross monthly income (before taxes). The
when negotiating a contract; and how legal exact percentage depends on the amount
transfer of ownership takes place. This of your down payment, the interest rate on
chapter covers many of the basic topics the type of mortgage you want, your credit
that buyers, sellers, and owners need to score, the level of your long-term debts, and
understand. other factors.
It’s best to run the numbers yourself
before you talk to a bank or lender. Various
Buying a House online mortgage calculators, such as those
on the websites listed at the end of this
Before you fall in love with a house, it’s chapter, will help you get a realistic picture
essential to determine how much you can of your budget.
afford to pay and what your financing Once you’ve done the basic calculations,
options are. You’ll also need to choose a you can ask a lender or loan broker for
good real estate agent or broker, decide a prequalification letter saying that you
whether to buy an old house, new house, or are likely to be approved for a loan of a
condo, and finally, even if you think you’ve specified amount based on your income
found your dream home, understand house and credit history.
inspections and insure your new home However, unless you’re in a very slow
against unforeseen problems. market, with lots more sellers than buyers,
you’ll want to do more than prequalify—
I’m a first-time home buyer. How do I
you’ll want to be all but guaranteed
determine how much house I can afford?
for a specific loan amount. This means
Don’t rely on abstract formulas to determine that the lender actually evaluates your
how much you can pay. Instead, take a financial situation, runs a credit check,
close look at how much of your monthly and preapproves you for a loan (subject
income you can realistically set aside to you satisfying any last-minute questions
ChaPter 1 | Houses | 5
or conditions). Having lender preapproval How can I find the best home loan or
makes you more financially attractive to mortgage?
sellers than simple loan prequalification and Banks, credit unions, savings and loans,
is crucial in competitive markets or where insurance companies, mortgage bankers,
sellers are wary of accepting any offer that and others make home loans. Lenders and
might not close successfully. terms change frequently as new companies
appear, old ones merge, and market
How important is my credit history in
conditions fluctuate. To get the best deal,
getting loan approval?
compare loans and fees from at least a half-
Your credit history plays a vital role in dozen lenders. This information is widely
determining the type and amount of loan available on the Internet.
lenders offer you. When reviewing loan Mortgage rate websites come in two basic
applications, lenders typically request flavors: those sites that don’t offer loans
your credit score from the credit bureaus. (called “no-loan” sites) and those that do.
This score is a statistical summary of the No-loan sites are a great place to examine
information in your credit report, including: mortgage programs, learn mortgage lingo,
• your history of paying bills on time and crunch numbers with online mortgage
• the level of your outstanding debts calculators.
• how long you’ve had credit Many online mortgage sites also offer
• your credit limit direct access to loans from one or more
• the number of inquiries for your credit lenders. However, many customers report
report (too many of a certain kind can dissatisfaction with online mortgage services
lower your score), and and prefer to complete their transaction with
• the types of credit you have. a “live” lender or broker.
The higher your credit score, the easier See the end of this chapter for addresses
it will be to get a loan. If your score is of some mortgage websites.
low, a lender may either reject your loan To avoid all the legwork involved in
application altogether or insist on a very shopping for mortgages on your own, you
large down payment or high interest rate to can also work with a loan broker, someone
lower the lender’s risk. who specializes in matching house buyers
To avoid problems, always check your with an appropriate mortgage lender. Given
credit report and clean up your file if the increasing variety of loan types—as
necessary—before, not after, you apply discussed further on in this section—an
for a mortgage. For information on how to experienced broker can also help you decide
order and clean up your credit report, see which is best for you. (But check the broker’s
Chapter 9. qualifications carefully—not all brokers are
licensed.) Loan brokers usually collect their
fee from the lender, not from you.
What are my other options for home loans? out. To avoid constant and drastic changes,
You may also be eligible for a government- ARMs typically regulate (cap) how much
guaranteed loan, offered by: and how often the interest rate and/or
• the Federal Housing Administration payments can change in a year and over the
(FHA), an agency of the Department life of the loan.
of Housing and Urban Development
How do I decide between a fixed and an
(HUD) (see www.hud.gov)
adjustable rate mortgage?
• the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
(see www.homeloans.va.gov), or Because interest rates and mortgage options
• a state or local housing agency. change often, your choice of a fixed or an
Government loans usually have low down adjustable rate mortgage should depend
payment requirements and sometimes offer on the interest rates and mortgage options
better-than-market interest rates as well. available when you’re buying, how much
Also, ask banks and other private lenders you can afford in the short term, your view
about any “first-time buyer programs” that of the future (generally, high inflation will
offer low down-payment plans and flexible mean that ARM rates will go up and lower
qualifying guidelines to low- and moderate- inflation means that they will fall), and how
income buyers with good credit. willing you are to take a risk.
Finally, don’t forget private sources of Risk-averse people usually choose the
mortgage money—parents, other relatives, certainty of a fixed rate mortgage, even
friends, or even the seller of the house you when balanced against the possibility that
want to buy. Borrowing money privately is an ARM might be cheaper in the long run.
usually the most cost-efficient method of all. However, some people can’t afford the
relatively higher interest rates at which fixed
What’s the difference between a fixed and rate mortgages usually begin.
an adjustable rate mortgage? Keep in mind that if you take out a loan
With a fixed rate mortgage, the interest now, and several years from now interest
rate and the amount you pay each month rates have dropped but your home has
remain the same over the entire mortgage retained its value, refinancing may be an
term, traditionally 15 or 30 years. option. But if the only way you can afford
With an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), your home over the long term given your
your interest rate will fluctuate in step with expected income is to count on a refinance,
the interest rates in the economy. Initial don’t take the risk—many others have done
interest rates of ARMs are usually offered at so and lost.
a discounted (“teaser”) rate, which is lower To make sure you can refinance
than those for fixed rate mortgages. Over profitably in the future, avoid prepayment
time, however, initial discounts are filtered penalties on your first mortgage.
What’s the best way to find and work with a agent separately, there’s not payday until
real estate agent or broker? you buy a home, and the more you pay for
Get recommendations from people who a house, the bigger the agent’s cut.
have bought or sold a house in the past To offset this conflict, you need to
few years and whose judgment you trust. become knowledgeable about the house-
Don’t work with an agent you meet at an buying process, your ideal affordable house
open house or find in the Yellow Pages and neighborhood, your financing needs
or on the Internet unless and until you and options, your legal rights, and how to
call references and thoroughly check the evaluate comparable prices.
person out. (In fact, it’s best to line up an
What’s the best way to get information
agent before visiting open houses, because
on homes for sale and details about the
if you visit an open house unaccompanied
neighborhood?
and wish to make an offer, some listing
agents have been known to claim that they Most people begin their search on the
found you first, and so they’re owed the full Internet, scanning online listings to see
commission.) which homes are worth a visit, how much
The agent or broker you choose should they cost, and what amenities they offer.
be in the full-time business of selling real Virtual tours of new homes often include
estate and should have the following five floor plans and photographs.
traits: integrity, business sophistication, Once you identify a house you like,
experience with the type of services you you can email the address or identification
need, knowledge of the area where you number to your agent, the listing agent,
want to live, and sensitivity to your tastes or the owner (if it’s a listing by a FSBO—
and needs. for sale by owner) to obtain additional
All states regulate and license real estate information or to set up an appointment to
agents and brokers. You may have different see the home.
options as to the type of legal relationship The list of websites at the end of this
you have with an agent or broker; typically, chapter includes some of the major national
the seller pays the commission of his or real estate listing sites. Your state or regional
her listing agent, who splits it with of realty association or multiple listing service
the real estate salesperson who helps the (MLS) may also have a website listing
buyer locate the seller’s house. The total homes for sale. Major real estate companies,
commission is a percentage (usually 5–6%) including ERA, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker,
of the sales price of the house (so 2.5–3% Prudential, and others offer home listings
per agent). What this means is that your on their websites.
agent or broker has a built-in conflict of Virtually all online editions of newspapers
interest: Unless you’ve agreed to pay the offer a homes-for-sale classifieds section
that works much like an online listing site. Shop for an excellent builder—someone
On most newspaper sites, you can browse who builds quality houses, delivers on time,
all the listings or customize your search by has adequate cash reserves to finish the job
typing in your criteria, such as price range, (your home plus any promised amenities
location, and number of bedrooms and such as a clubhouse or pool), and stands
baths. Check the Newspaper Association of behind the work. To check out a particular
America (www.naa.org) for a link to your builder, talk to existing owners in the
newspaper. (Under “Quick Links,” click development you’re considering, or ask
“Newspaper Websites.”) an experienced contractor to look at other
Advice on relocation decisions and houses the developer is building. Keep
details about your new community and its tabs on the builder as the work is done, by
services are also readily available online. scheduling regular home inspections. (You’ll
For valuable information about cities, need to negotiate for these in your purchase
communities, and neighborhoods, including contract.)
schools, housing costs, demographics, crime Many developers of new housing will
rates, and jobs, see the websites listed at the help you arrange financing; some will also
end of this chapter. pay a portion of your monthly mortgage or
Keep in mind that the Internet is no subsidize your interest payments for a short
substitute for your own legwork. Ask period of time (called a “buydown” of the
your friends and colleagues, walk and mortgage). As with any loan, be sure you
drive around neighborhoods, talk to local comparison shop before arranging financing
residents, read local newspapers, visit the through a builder.
local library and planning department, and Also, be sure to negotiate the prices of
do whatever it takes to help you get a better any add-ons and upgrades, such as a spa
sense of a neighborhood or city. or higher-quality appliances. These can add
substantially to the cost of a new home.
I want to buy a newly built house. Is there
anything special I need to know? Is there anything I need to know before
The most important factor in buying a buying a home in a development run by a
newly built house is not what you buy (that homeowners’ association?
is, the particular model), but rather from When you buy a home in a new subdivision
whom you buy. New is not always better, or planned unit development, chances are
especially if the house is slapped together good that you also automatically become
in a hurry. And as the first person to live in a member of an exclusive club—the
the house, you could be in for unpleasant homeowners’ association, whose members
surprises, such as water pipes that aren’t are the people who own homes in the same
connected to the sewer or light switches development. The homeowners’ association
that don’t work. will probably exercise a lot of control over
how you use and alter your property. You’ll considerable information about the condition
not only have to pay regular dues (often of the house. (See “Selling Your House,”
several hundred dollars per month), but below.) Regardless of whether the seller
count on your fellow members to pay their provides disclosures, however, you should
dues in order to maintain the common have the property inspected for defects or
areas and deal with any issues that come malfunctions in the building’s structure.
up, such as major repairs or sudden damage Start by conducting your own inspection.
that’s not covered by your insurance. To help you learn what to look for, see
Deeds to houses in new developments Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First
almost always include restrictions—from Home, by Ilona Bray, Alayna Schroeder, and
the size of your dog to the colors you can Marcia Stewart. Ideally, you should take a
paint your house to the type of front yard close look at a house on your own before
landscaping you can do to where (and what you make a formal written offer to buy it
types of vehicles) you can park in your so that you can save yourself the trouble
driveway. Usually, these restrictions, called should you find serious problems. (Believe
covenants, conditions, and restrictions it or not, people have bought houses on the
(CC&Rs), put decision-making rights in the Internet sight unseen. Don’t do that!)
hands of a homeowners’ association. Before If a house passes your inspection,
buying, study the CC&Rs carefully to see hire a general contractor to check all
if they’re compatible with your lifestyle. If major house systems from top to bottom,
you don’t understand something, ask for including the roof, plumbing, electrical
more information and seek legal advice if and heating systems, and drainage. This
necessary. will take two or three hours and cost you
It’s not easy to get out from under overly anywhere from $200 to $500 depending
restrictive CC&Rs after you move in. You’ll on the location, size, age, and type of
likely have to submit an application (with home. Accompany the inspector during the
fee) for a variance, get your neighbors’ examination so that you can learn more
permission, and possibly go through a about the maintenance and preservation
formal hearing. And if you want to make a of the house and get answers to questions,
structural change, such as building a fence or including which problems are important
adding a room, you’ll probably need formal and which are relatively minor. Depending
permission from the association in addition on the property, you may want to arrange
to complying with city zoning rules. specialized inspections for pest damage
(your mortgage lender may require a
How can I make sure that the house I’m pest inspection), hazards from floods,
buying is in good shape? earthquakes, and other natural disasters
In some states, you may have the advantage and environmental health hazards such as
of a law that requires sellers to disclose asbestos, mold, and lead.
In most states, these professional When should I start looking for

inspections are done after you and the homeowners’ insurance?
seller have signed a purchase agreement. A house may be the biggest investment
(Your purchase should be contingent upon you make in your life, so you’ll want to
the house passing one or more inspections.) fully insure it against damage (by fire,
To avoid confusion and disputes, be sure wind, vandalism, earthquakes, floods,
you get a written report of each inspection. and mold, for example). A comprehensive
If the house is in good shape, you can homeowners’ insurance policy should cover
proceed, knowing that you’re getting what the replacement value of your house and
you paid for. If an inspector discovers other structures, and partial replacement
problems—such as an antiquated plumbing of valuable items of personal property like
system or a major termite infestation— art and computers. But beware: So-called
you can negotiate for the seller to pay for “replacement cost coverage” for your house
necessary repairs. Finally, you can back pays you only a preset amount, so you’ll
out of the deal if an inspection turns up want to make sure that’s enough to cover
problems, assuming your purchase contract your actual rebuilding costs. You’ll want
is properly written to allow you to do so. some liability coverage as well, in case
visitors to your property slip and fall or are
I’m making an offer to buy a house, but I
otherwise injured.
don’t want to lock myself into a deal that
Start shopping for homeowners’
might not work out. How can I protect
insurance soon after your purchase
myself?
agreement has been signed. Don’t make
Real estate contracts almost always contain the mistake of putting this off until escrow
contingencies—events that must happen is about to close—finding a good policy
within a certain amount of time (such as at a reasonable price is getting harder
30 days) in order to finalize the deal. For and harder, due to recent losses and
example, you may want to make your clampdowns in the insurance industry.
offer contingent on your ability to qualify The problem is particularly acute in
for financing, the house passing certain states such as California and Texas, where
physical inspections, or even your ability expensive mold claims have pushed the
to sell your existing house first. Be aware, industry into a state of panic. Homebuyers
however, that the more contingencies you who have filed past claims for water
want, the less likely the seller is to accept damage (a precursor to mold) or who are
your offer or sign the purchase agreement. buying a house with a history of mold
See “Selling Your House,” below, for more problems may find themselves unable to
on real estate offers. get any insurance at all. Homebuyers with a
history of making frequent claims on their Strategies for Buying an

insurance policies have similar problems. Affordable House
Some homebuyers now add a contingency
to their purchase contract stating that the To find a good house at a comparatively
deal can be cancelled if they can’t find reasonable price, you must learn about the
adequate insurance. housing market and what you can afford,
Shop carefully—and if you’re in a state make some sensible compromises as to size
with a troubled insurance industry, buy and amenities, and above all, be patient.
a policy with a high deductible. This will Here are some proven strategies to meet
lower your premium cost and prevent you these goals:
from racking up a history of claims that 1. Buy a fixer-upper cheap (preferably one
could endanger your ability to renew your that needs mostly cosmetic fixes).
policy or get future insurance. 2. Buy a small house (with remodeling
potential) and add on later.
3. Buy a house at an estate or probate
Resource sale.
For more information about buying 4. Buy a house subject to foreclosure
a home: (when a homeowner defaults on the
• Nolo’s Essential Guide to Buying Your First mortgage).
Home, by Ilona Bray, Alayna Schroeder, 5. Buy a shared-equity house, pooling
and Marcia Stewart, provides all the resources with someone other than a
information you need to select the best spouse or partner.
house, mortgage, agent, inspections, and 6. Rent out a room or two in the house.
much more. 7. Buy a duplex, triplex, or house with an
• How to Buy a House in California, by in‑law unit to get rental income.
Ralph Warner, Ira Serkes, and George 8. Lease a house you can’t afford to buy
Devine (Nolo), explains the details of the now with an option to buy later.
California house-buying process. 9. Buy a limited-equity house built by a
• Inspecting a House, by Rex Cauldwell nonprofit organization.
(Taunton Press), shows professional 10. Buy a house at a short sale (where the
inspectors how to inspect a house in order seller’s mortgage is higher than the
to discover major problems, such as a bad value of the loan, and the lender agrees
foundation, leaky roof, or malfunctioning to accept a lower amount from a willing
fireplace, and it’s written in language a buyer).
layperson can understand. 11. Buy a house at an auction.
Selling Your House Preparing Your House for Sale

If you’re selling a home, you need to time
Making your house and garden look as
the sale properly, price the home accurately,
attractive as possible may put several
and understand the laws (such as disclosure
thousand dollars in your pocket. At a
requirements) that cover house transactions.
minimum, sweep the sidewalk; mow
These questions and answers will get you
and fertilize the lawn; put some pots of
started.
blooming flowers by the front door; clean
the windows; and fix chipped or flaking
I don’t need to sell in a hurry. When are the
paint. Clean and tidy up all rooms and
best and worst times to put a house on the
remove clutter, personal items (including
market?
photos), and some furniture, to make
Ideally, you should put your house on them look bigger. Be sure the house smells
the market when there’s a large pool of good—hide the kitty litter box and bake
buyers—causing prices to go up. This may some cookies. Check for loose steps, slick
occur in the following situations: areas, or unsafe fixtures, and deal with
• Your area is considered especially everything that might cause injury to a
attractive—for example, because prospective buyer. Take care of minor
of the schools, low crime rate, maintenance issues that might make buyers
employment opportunities, weather, think you’ve taken poor care of the house,
or proximity to a major city. such as a cracked window, overgrown front
• Mortgage interest rates are low. yard, leaking faucet, or loose doorknob.
• The economic climate of your region You can improve the look of your house
is healthy, and people feel confident without spending much money—a new
about the future. shower curtain and towels might really
• There’s a jump in house-buying spruce up your bathroom, and freshly cut
activity, as often occurs in spring or flowers or bowls of fruit will improve every
due to a time-sensitive tax credit. room. Or you can spend several thousand
Of course, if you have to sell dollars to have a professional “stage”
immediately—because of financial reasons, your house with rented furniture and
a divorce, a job move, or an imperative accessories, a technique some real estate
health concern—and you don’t have any of agents swear by.
the advantages listed above, you may have
to settle for a lower price, or help the buyer
with financing, in order to make a quick
sale.
I want to save on the real estate Is there some middle ground where I can
commission. Can I sell my house myself use a broker on a more limited (and less
without a real estate broker or agent? expensive) basis?
Usually, yes. This is called a FSBO Yes. You might consider doing most of
(pronounced “fizzbo”)—for sale by owner. the work yourself—such as showing the
You must be aware, however, of the legal house—and hiring a real estate broker for
rules that govern real estate transfers such crucial tasks as:
in your state, such as who must sign • setting the price of your house
the papers, who can conduct the actual • advertising your home in the local
transaction, and what to do if and when any multiple listing service (MLS) of
disputes or other problems arise. You also homes for sale in the area, an online
need to be aware of any state-mandated database managed by local boards of
disclosures as to the physical condition of realtors, and
your house. (See the discussion below.) • handling some of the more complicat-
If you want to go it alone, be sure you ed paperwork when the sale closes.
have the time, energy, and ability to handle If you work with a broker in a limited
all the details—from setting a realistic price way, you may be able to negotiate a reduc-
to negotiating offers to closing the deal. tion of the typical 5–6% commission, or you
Also, be aware that FSBOs are usually more may be able to find a real estate agent who
feasible in hot or sellers’ markets, where charges by the hour for specified services.
there’s more competition for homes, or
when you’re not in a hurry to sell. And you How much should I ask for my house?
may not be able to save the whole 5% –6%. No matter how much you love your house,
For example, a buyer who is represented or how much work you’ve put into it, you
by an agent may approach you and agree must objectively determine how much
to complete the transaction only if you your property will fetch on the market—
pay the commission for the buyer’s agent. called “appraising” a house’s value. The
(Traditionally, that’s one-half of the total most important appraisal factors are recent
5–6%.) sales prices of similar properties in the
For more advice on FSBOs, including neighborhood (called “comps”).
the involvement of attorneys and other Real estate agents have access to sales
professionals in the house transaction, data for the area and can give you a good
contact your state department of real estate. estimate of what your house should sell
Also, check online at www.owners.com. for. Many real estate agents will offer this
If you’re in California, check out For service free, hoping that you will list your
Sale by Owner, by George Devine (Nolo). house with them. You can also hire a
This book provides step-by-step advice on professional real estate appraiser to give
handling your own sale in California. you a documented opinion as to your
house’s value. A number of companies computer algorithm is no substitute for

also offer detailed comparable sales prices having a live human not only check the
online though the information isn’t always accuracy of the basic data, but adjust for
as recent as you might need. See the list of all the factors the computer can’t see. But
recommended websites at the end of this there’s a good reason to check your online
chapter. Public record offices, such as the estimates: Buyers will be looking at them!
county clerk or recorder’s office, may also If the estimates are far lower than your
have information on recent house sales. list price, the buyers may underbid. If the
The asking prices of houses still on the estimates are far higher, that’s better—but
market can also provide guidance (adjusting cases have been reported of buyers who
for the fact that asking prices can vary shied away from such houses, worried that
greatly from the ultimate selling price. For the seller knew of some deep dark reason
example, the asking price might be 10% or that the place wasn’t worth what the online
more above the usual sales price in slow estimates said it was worth. Be proactive
markets, in order to allow buyers room to about your online estimates, particularly if
negotiate downward, or up to 25% below they’re low. You can go onto the sites and
the selling price in hot markets, to generate enter data about your own house, which
interest and encourage multiple offers). To will both give the public a better sense
find out asking prices, go to open houses of the place and might actually raise your
and check newspaper real estate classified estimates.
ads and online listings of homes for sale.
Do I need to take the first offer that
I checked my home’s supposed value on comes in?
an online site, and it looks to be way low. You’re under no obligation to accept the
Who’s right, me or them? first or any other offer (except in a few
Online sites such as Zillow and cyber states where you must accept a full price
homes will give you an estimate of your offer that has no contingencies). In fact,
home’s value based on information offers, even very attractive ones, are rarely
drawn from public records about the accepted as written. More typically, you will
house and past sales of (theoretically) negotiate to accept some, maybe even most,
comparable properties. Don’t be surprised of the offer terms, while also proposing
if your estimate (or in Zillow-talk, your certain changes, for example:
“Zestimate”) looks to be way off the mark, • price—you want more money
or even if estimates from different sites • financing—you want a larger down
are tens of thousands of dollars different payment
from each other. As many experts have • occupancy—you need more time to
commented, generating a number via a move out
• buyer’s sale of current house—you Sellers Must Disclose Lead‑Based

don’t want to wait for this to occur Paint and Hazards
• inspections—you want the buyer to
schedule them more quickly. If you are selling a house built before
A contract is formed when either you 1978, you must comply with the federal
or the buyer accept all of the terms of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard
other’s offer or counteroffer in writing Reduction Act of 1992 (42 U.S.Code
within the time allowed. § 4852d), also known as Title X (Ten). You
must:
What are my obligations to disclose • disclose all known lead-based paint
problems about my house, such as a and hazards in the house
basement that floods in heavy rains? • give buyers a pamphlet prepared by
In most states, it is illegal to fraudulently the U.S. Environmental Protection
conceal major physical defects in your prop- Agency (EPA) called Protect Your
erty, such as your troublesome basement. Family From Lead in Your Home
And states are increasingly requiring sellers • include certain warning language
to take a proactive role by making written in the contract, as well as signed
disclosures on the condition of the property. statements from all parties verifying
California, for example, has stringent that all disclosures (including giving
disclosure requirements. California sellers the pamphlet) were made
must give buyers a disclosure form • keep signed acknowledgments for
listing such defects as a leaky roof, faulty three years as proof of compliance,
plumbing, deaths that occurred within and
the last three years on the property, even • give buyers a ten-day opportunity to
the presence of neighborhood nuisances, test the house for lead.
such as a dog that barks every night. In If you fail to comply with Title X, the
addition, California sellers must disclose buyer can sue you for triple the amount
potential hazards from floods, earthquakes, of damages suffered—for example, three
fires, environmental hazards (such as mold, times the cost of repainting a house
asbestos, and lead) and other problems. previously painted with lead-based paint.
The form for this is called a Natural Hazard For more information, contact the
Disclosure Statement. California sellers must National Lead Information Center, 800-424-
also tell buyers about a database maintained LEAD (phone) or www.epa.gov/lead.
by law enforcement authorities on the
location of registered sex offenders.
Generally, you are responsible for
disclosing only information within your
personal knowledge. However, many sellers modest service fee)—and the new buyer
hire a general contractor to inspect the saves money. Many sellers find that adding
property. The inspection report will help a home warranty to the deal makes their
you determine which items need repair or house more attractive and easier to sell.
replacement and will assist you in preparing Before buying a home warranty, be sure
any required disclosures. The report is also you don’t duplicate coverage. You don’t
useful in pricing your house and negotiating need a warranty for the heating system, for
with prospective buyers. example, if your furnace is just six months
Full disclosure of any property defects will old and still covered by the manufacturer’s
also help protect you from legal problems three-year warranty.
from a buyer who seeks to rescind the sale Your real estate agent or broker can pro
or sues you for damages suffered because vide more information on home warranties.
you carelessly or intentionally withheld
important information about your property. What is the “house closing”?
Check with your real estate broker or The house closing is the final transfer of
attorney, or your state department of real ownership from the seller to the buyer. It
estate, for disclosures required in your occurs after both you and the buyer have
state and any special forms you must use. met all the terms of the contract and the
Also, be aware that real estate brokers are deed is recorded. (See “Deeds,” below).
increasingly insisting that sellers complete Closing also refers to the time when the
disclosure forms, regardless of whether it’s transfer will occur, such as “The closing
legally required. on my house will happen on January 27 at
10:00 a.m.”
What are home warranties, and should I
buy one? Do I need an attorney for the house closing?
Home warranties are service contracts This varies depending on state law and
that cover major housing appliances local custom. In some states, attorneys are
and systems—electrical wiring, built- not typically involved in residential property
in refrigerators or dishwashers, heating, sales, and an escrow or title company
plumbing, and the like—for one year from handles the entire closing process. In many
the date the house is sold. (But note they other states, particularly in the eastern part
don’t cover basic structural components of the country, attorneys have a more active
like the roof, windows, or foundation.) role in all parts of the house transaction;
Most warranties cost $300 to $500 and are they handle all the details of offer contracts
renewable. If something goes wrong with and house closings. Check with your state
any of the covered systems after the sale department of real estate or your real estate
closes, the repairs are paid for (minus a broker for advice.
I’m selling my house and buying another. Deeds

What are some of the most important tax
considerations?
If you sell your home, you may exclude Castles in the air are the only property
up to $250,000 of your profit (capital gain) you can own without the intervention of
from tax. For married couples filing jointly, lawyers. Unfortunately, there are no title
the exclusion is $500,000. (Unmarried co- deeds to them.
owners may also divide the profit and each —J. Feidor Rees
take a $250,000 exclusion.)
To claim the whole exclusion, you must
have owned and lived in your residence an Remember playing Monopoly as a kid,
aggregate of at least two of five years before where amassing deeds to property—those
the sale. You can claim the exclusion once little color-coded cards—was all-important?
every two years. Real-life deeds aren’t nearly so colorful,
Even if you haven’t lived in your home but they’re still very, very important. Here
a total of two years out of the last five, are some questions commonly asked about
you are still eligible for a partial exclusion deeds.
of capital gains if you sold because of a
change in employment or health, or due
What is a deed?
to unforeseen circumstances. You get a A deed is the document that transfers
portion of the exclusion, based on how ownership of real estate. It contains the
long you lived in the house. To calculate it, names of the old and new owners and
take the number of months you lived there a legal description of the property, and
before the sale and divide it by 24. is signed by the person transferring the
For example, if you’re an unmarried property.
taxpayer who’s lived in your home for 12
months, and you sell it for health reasons Do I need a deed to transfer property?
at a $100,000 profit, the entire amount Almost always. You can’t transfer real estate
would be excluded from capital gains. without having something in writing.
Because you lived in the house for half of
the two-year period, you could claim half I’m confused by all the different kinds
the exclusion, or up to $125,000. (12/24 × of deeds—quitclaim deed, grant deed,
$250,000 = $125,000.) warranty deed. Does it matter which kind
For more information on current tax of deed I use?
laws involving real estate transactions, Probably not. Usually, what’s most
see Publication 523, Selling Your Home, important is the substance of the deed:
available from the IRS at 800-829-1040 or at the description of the property being
their website, www.irs.gov. transferred and the names of the old and
new owners. Here’s a brief rundown of the After a deed is signed and notarized, do I
most common types of deeds: have to put it on file anywhere?
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever Yes. You (or your escrow or title agent)
ownership interest you have in the will need to “record” (file) the deed in the
property. It makes no guarantees about the land records office in the county where
extent of your interest. Quitclaim deeds the property is located. This office goes
are commonly used by divorcing couples; by different names in different states; it’s
one spouse signs over all rights in the usually called the county recorder’s office,
couple’s real estate to the other. This can land registry office, or register of deeds.
be especially useful if it isn’t clear how In most counties, you’ll find it in the
much of an interest, if any, one spouse has courthouse.
in property that’s held in another spouse’s Recording a deed is simple. Just take the
name. signed, original deed to the land records
A grant deed transfers your ownership office. The clerk will take the deed, stamp
and implies certain promises—that the title it with the date and some numbers, make
hasn’t already been transferred to someone a copy, and give the original back to you.
else or been encumbered, except as set out The numbers are usually book and page
in the deed. This is the most commonly numbers, which show where the deed
used kind of deed, in most states. will be found in the county’s filing system.
A warranty deed transfers your ownership There will be a small fee, probably about
and explicitly promises the buyer that you $5 a page, for recording. If you’re buying or
have good title to the property. It may make selling a house, the escrow company will
other promises as well, to address particular normally take care of this for you.
problems with the transaction.
What’s a trust deed?
Does a deed have to be notarized?
A trust deed (also called a deed of trust)
Yes. The person who signs the deed (the isn’t like the other types of deeds; it’s not
person who is transferring the property) used to transfer property. It’s really just a
should take the deed to a notary public, version of a mortgage, commonly used in
who will sign and stamp it. The notarization some states.
means that a notary public has verified that A trust deed transfers title to land to a
the signature on the deed is genuine. The “trustee,” usually a trust or title company,
signature must be notarized before the deed which holds the land as security for a loan.
will be accepted for recording. And in some When the loan is paid off, title is transferred
states, deeds must be witnessed, just like to the borrower. The trustee has no powers
wills. unless the borrower defaults on the loan;
then the trustee can sell the property and
pay the lender back from the proceeds, • www.ashi.org  The American Society of
without first going to court. Home Inspectors offers information on
buying a home in good shape, including
referrals to local home inspectors.
Resource • www.inman.com  A team of real estate
More information about buying a columnists provide the latest real estate
home. Deeds for California Real Estate, by Mary news.
Randolph (Nolo), contains tear-out deed forms • www.deadlinenews.com Real estate news
and instructions for transferring California real and commentary by real estate writer
estate. Broderick Perkins.
For information about deeds in other states, • www.fanniemae.com  Fannie Mae,
check your local law library. the nation’s largest source of home
mortgage loans, offers several useful home
affordability mortgage calculators. See the
Online help “Homebuyers” section. It also provides a
The following sites are excellent wide range of consumer information.
resources for buying a home: • www.hsh.com  HSH Associates publishes
• www.nolo.com Nolo offers information detailed information on mortgage loans
on a wide variety of legal topics, including available from lenders across the United
real estate matters. The website also has States.
several real estate calculators, at www. • www.realtor.com  The official website of
nolo.com/calculators. the National Association of Realtors lists
• www.homefair.com  Homefair offers over one and a half million homes for sale
lots of information and calculators that throughout the United States and provides
will help you move and make relocation links to real estate broker websites and a
decisions. It’s especially useful if you’re host of related realty services.
deciding where to live based on home • www.move.com  This website lists new
prices, schools, crime, salaries, and other homes and developments in major
factors. metropolitan areas.
• www.bestplaces.net  Run by Bert Sperling, • www.owners.com  This site lists homes
the guru of “Best of” lists, this site will tell sold without a broker, also known as
you everything from the best towns for FSBOs (for sale by owner). It also provides
affordable housing to the worst for getting useful information for anyone considering
a good night’s sleep. selling their home without a real estate
• http://realestate.msn.com  This site agent.
helps with all aspects of buying or selling • www.escrowhelp.com  Sandy Gadow,
a home—from listings and financing to author of The Complete Guide to Your
home improvements. Real Estate Closing (McGraw-Hill), offers
FAQs and articles on this key part of the • www.domania.com  This site’s free Home
purchase process. Price Check service allows you to enter an
• www.homegain.com  HomeGain is geared address and see what other houses in the
toward home sellers. It provides an agent- neighborhood have sold for.
evaluator service to help you find a real • www.zillow.com A site containing not
estate agent, a home-valuation tool to only home and mortgage listings, but also
help price your home, calculators for a articles and advice, plus unique features
wide variety of tasks, and other resources. like home “zestimates."
l
C H A P t er
Neighbors 2
Boundaries.....................................................................................................................................................22
Fences...............................................................................................................................................................23
Trees..................................................................................................................................................................25
Views.................................................................................................................................................................26
Noise..................................................................................................................................................................28
the maps are unreliable and conflicting, be

People have discovered that they can prepared to spend $1,000 or more.
fool the devil, but they can’t fool the
neighbors. My neighbor and I don’t want to pay a
—Edgar Watson Howe surveyor. Can’t we just make an agreement
about where we want the boundary to be?
Y
You and the neighbor can decide where
ears ago, problems between neigh you want the line to be, and then sign
bors were resolved informally, deeds that describe the boundary. If you
perhaps with the help of a third have a mortgage on the property, consult
person respected by both sides. These days, an attorney for help in drawing up the
neighbors—who may not know each other deeds. You may need to get the permission
well, if at all—are quicker to call the police of the mortgage holder before you give your
or head for court. Usually, of course, lawsuits neighbor even a tiny piece of the land.
only cost everyone money and exacerbate Once you have signed a deed, you
bad feelings, which makes it even harder for should record (file) it at the county land
neighbors to coexist peacefully. But knowing records office, usually called the county
the legal ground rules is important; it can recorder’s office, land registry office, or
help you figure out who’s right, who’s wrong, something similar. Deeds are discussed in
and what your options are—without having more detail in Chapter 1.
to call in a judge.
What can I do if a neighbor starts using my
property?
Boundaries If a neighbor starts to build or otherwise
Most of us don’t know, or care, exactly encroach on what you think is your
where our property boundaries are located. property, do something immediately. If the
But if you or your neighbor want to fence encroachment is minor—for instance, a
the property, build a structure, or cut down small fence in the wrong place—you may
a tree close to the line, you need to know think you shouldn’t worry. But you’re wrong.
where the boundary actually runs. When you try to sell your house, a title
company might refuse to issue insurance
How can I find the exact boundaries of my because the neighbor is on your land.
property? Also, if you don’t act promptly, you could
You can hire a licensed land surveyor lose part of your property. A person who
to survey the property and place official uses another’s land for a long enough time
markers on the boundary lines. A simple can gain a legal right to continue to do so
survey usually costs about $500; if no and, in some circumstances, gain ownership
survey has been done for a long time, or if of the property.
ChaPter 2 | Neighbors | 23
Talk to your neighbor right away. Most Fences

likely, a mistake has been made because of
a conflicting description in the neighbor’s Local fence ordinances are usually strict
deed or just an erroneous assumption about and detailed. Most regulate height and
the boundary line. Try to get your neighbor location, and some control the material
to agree to share the cost of a survey. If used and even the fence’s appearance.
your neighbor is hostile and insists on Residents of planned unit developments
proceeding without the survey, state that and subdivisions are often subject to even
you will sue if necessary. Then send a pickier rules. On top of all this, many cities
firm letter—or have a lawyer send one. If require you to obtain a building permit
the building doesn’t stop, waste no time before you begin construction.
in having a lawyer get a judge’s order to Fence regulations apply to any structure
temporarily stop the neighbor until you can used as an enclosure or a partition. Usually,
bring a civil lawsuit for trespass before the they include hedges and trees.
judge. (Usually, mediation is a good way to
resolve neighbor issues, but time is of the How high can I build a fence on my
essence in this situation so you need to call property?
a lawyer right away if you can’t agree.) In residential areas, local rules commonly
restrict artificial (constructed) backyard
fences to a height of six feet. In front yards,
A Little Common Sense
the limit is often four feet.
Height restrictions may also apply
If you are having no trouble with your
to natural fences—fences of bushes
property and your neighbors, yet you feel
or trees—if they meet the ordinance’s
inclined to rush out and determine your
general definition of fences. Trees that
exact boundaries just to know where they
are planted in a row and grow together
are, please ask yourself a question. Have you
to form a barrier are usually considered a
been satisfied with the amount of space
fence. When natural fences are specifically
that you occupy? If the answer is yes, then
mentioned in the laws, the height
consider the time, money, and hostility that
restrictions commonly range from five to
might be involved if you pursue the subject.
eight feet.
If a problem exists on your border, keep
If, however, you have a good reason (for
the lines of communication open with the
example, you need to screen your house
neighbor, if possible. Learn the law and
from a noisy or unsightly neighboring use,
try to work out an agreement. Boundary
such as a gas station), you can ask the city
lines simply don’t matter that much to us
for a one-time exception to the fence law,
most of the time; relationships with our
called a variance. Talk to the neighbors
neighbors matter a great deal.
before you make your request, to explain by another law, such as a blighted property
your problem and get them on your side. ordinance. And if the fence was erected just
for meanness—it’s high, ugly, and has no
My neighbor is building a fence that reasonable use to the owner—it may be a
violates the local fence law, but nothing’s “spite fence,” which means you can sue the
happening. How can I get the law enforced? neighbor to get it torn down.
Cities are not in the business of sending
around fence-inspection teams, and as long The fence on the line between my land and
as no one complains, a nonconforming my neighbor’s is in bad shape. Can I fix it or
fence may stand forever. tear it down?
Tell the neighbor about the law as soon Unless the property owners agree
as possible. If the fence is still being built, otherwise, fences on a boundary line
your neighbor may be able to modify it at a belong to both owners as long as both
low cost. If the neighbor suggests that you are using the fence. Both owners are
mind your own business, alert the city. All it responsible for keeping the fence in good
takes in most circumstances is a phone call repair, and neither may remove it without
to the planning or zoning department or the the other’s permission.
city attorney’s office. If the neighbor refuses A few states impose harsh penalties
to conform, the city can impose a fine and on neighbors who refuse to chip in for
even sue. maintenance after a reasonable request from
the other owner. Connecticut, for example,
My neighbor’s fence is hideous. Can I do allows one neighbor to go ahead and repair
anything about it? the fence, then sue the other owner for
As long as a fence doesn’t pose a threat double the cost.
of harm to neighbors or those passing Of course, it’s rare that a landowner
by, it probably doesn’t violate any law needs to resort to a lawsuit. Your first step
just because it’s ugly. Occasionally, should be to talk to the neighbor about how
however, a town or subdivision allows to tackle the problem. Your neighbor will
only certain types of new fences—such probably be delighted that you’re taking
as board fences—in an attempt to create the initiative to fix the fence. When you
a harmonious architectural look. Some and your neighbor agree on how to deal
towns also prohibit certain materials—for with the fence and how much you’ll each
example, electrically charged or barbed contribute to the labor and material costs,
wire fences. put your agreement in writing. You don’t
Even without such a specific law, if a have to make a complicated contract. Just
fence is so poorly constructed that it is an note the specifics of your agreement and
eyesore or a danger, it may be prohibited sign your names.
Trees My neighbor dug up his yard, and in the

process killed a tree that’s just on my
side of the property line. Am I entitled to
Woodman, spare that tree! compensation for the tree?
Touch not a single bough!
Yes. The basic rule is that someone who
In youth it sheltered me,
cuts down, removes, or hurts a tree without
And I’ll protect it now.
permission owes the tree’s owner money
—George Pope Morris
to compensate for the harm done. You can
sue to enforce that right—but you probably
We human beings exhibit some complicated, won’t have to, once you tell your neighbor
often conflicting, emotions about trees. This what the law is.
is especially true when it comes to the trees
in our own yards. We take ownership of our
trees and their protection very seriously in Deliberately Harming a Tree
this country, and this is reflected in the law.
In almost every state, a person who
intentionally injures someone else’s tree is
Can I trim the branches of the neighbor’s
liable to the owner for two or three times
tree that hang over my yard?
the amount of actual monetary loss. These
You have the legal right to trim tree penalties protect tree owners by providing
branches up to the property line. But you harsh deterrents to would-be loggers.
may not go onto the neighbor’s property or
destroy the tree itself.
Most of a big oak tree hangs over my yard, My neighbor’s tree looks like it’s going to
but the trunk is on the neighbor’s property. fall on my house any day now. What should
Who owns the tree? I do?
Your neighbor. It is accepted law in all
You can trim back branches to your property
states that a tree whose trunk stands wholly
line, but that may not solve the problem if
on the land of one person belongs to that
you’re worried about the whole tree coming
person.
down.
If the trunk stands partly on the land of
City governments often step in to take
two or more people, it is called a boundary
care of dangerous trees or make the
tree, and in most cases it belongs to all
owner do so. Some cities have ordinances
the property owners. All the owners are
that prohibit maintaining any dangerous
responsible for caring for the tree, and
condition—including a hazardous tree—
one co-owner may not remove a healthy
on private property. To enforce such an
boundary tree without the other owners’
ordinance, the city can demand that the
permission.
owner remove the tree or pay a fine. Some deliberately and maliciously block another’s
cities will even remove such a tree for the view with a structure that has no reasonable
owner. To check on your city’s laws and use to the owner.
policies, call the city attorney’s office. This rule encourages building and
You might also get help from a utility expansion, but the consequences can be
company, if the tree threatens its equipment. harsh. If a view becomes blocked, the law
For example, a phone company will trim a will help only if:
tree that hangs menacingly over its lines. • a local law protects views
If you don’t get help from these sources, • the obstruction violates private
and the neighbor refuses to take action, subdivision rules, or
you can sue. The legal theory is that the • the obstruction violates some other
dangerous tree is a “nuisance” because it specific law.
is unreasonable for the owner to keep it
in its current state, and it interferes with How can a view ordinance help?
your use and enjoyment of your property. A few cities that overlook the ocean or
You can ask the court to order the owner other desirable vistas have adopted view
to prune or remove the tree. You’ll have to ordinances. These laws protect property
sue in regular court (not small claims court) owners from having their view (usually,
and prove that the tree really does pose a the view that they had when they bought
danger to you. the property) obstructed by growing trees.
The laws don’t cover buildings or other
structures that block views.
Views The ordinances allow someone who has
lost a view to sue the tree owner for a court
The privilege of sitting in one’s home and
order requiring the tree owner to restore the
gazing at the scenery is a highly prized
view. A neighbor who wants to sue must
commodity. And it can be a very expensive
first approach the tree owner and request
one. Some potential buyers commit their
that the tree be cut back. The complaining
life savings to properties, assuming that a
person usually bears the cost of trimming
stunning view is permanent. However, that
or topping, unless the tree was planted
isn’t always the case.
after the law became effective or the owner
If a neighbor’s addition or growing tree refuses to cooperate.
blocks my view, what rights do I have? Some view ordinances contain extensive
limitations that take away much of their
Unfortunately, you have no right to light, air,
power. Some examples:
or view unless it has been granted in writing
• Certain species of trees may be
by a law or subdivision rule. The exception
exempt, especially if they grew
to this general rule is that someone may not
naturally.
• A neighbor may be allowed to com

How to Approach a View Problem
plain only if the tree is within a certain
distance from the neighbor’s property. Before you approach the owner of a tree
• Trees on city property may be exempt. that has grown to block your view, answer
these questions:
• Does the tree affect the view of
Cities Without View Ordinances
other neighbors? If it does, get them
If your city (like most) doesn’t have a view to approach the tree owner with
ordinance, you might find help from other you. You could all pitch in to cover
local laws. Here are some laws that may trimming costs.
help restore your view: • Which part of the tree is causing
Fence height limits. If a fence is view problems for you—one limb,
blocking your view, it may violate a local the top, or one side?
law. Commonly, local laws limit artificial • What is the least destructive action
(constructed) fences in back yards to six that could be taken to restore your
feet high and in front yards to three or four view? Maybe the owner will agree to
feet. Height restrictions may also apply to a limited and careful pruning.
natural fences, such as hedges. • How much will the trimming cost?
Tree laws. Certain species of trees may Be ready to pay for it. Remember that
be prohibited—for example, trees that every day you wait and grumble is
cause allergies or tend to harm other plants. a day for the trees to grow and for
Laws may also forbid trees that are too the job to become more expensive.
close to a street (especially an intersection), The loss of your personal enjoyment
to power lines, or even to an airport. is probably worth more than the
Zoning laws. Local zoning regulations trimming cost, not to mention the
control the size, location, and uses of devaluation of your property (which
buildings. In a single-family area, buildings can be thousands of dollars).
are usually limited to heights of 30 or 35
feet. Zoning laws also usually require a
certain setback (the distance between a
structure and the boundary lines). They also I live in a subdivision with a homeowners’
limit how much of a lot can be occupied by association. Will that help me in a view
a structure. For instance, many suburban dispute?
cities limit a dwelling to 40% to 60% of the Often, residents of subdivisions and
property. planned unit developments are subject to
a detailed set of rules called covenants,
conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs). They
regulate most matters that could concern a will probably understand your concern. If
neighbor, including views. For example, a someone is unfriendly and uncooperative,
rule may state that trees can’t obstruct the you stand warned.
view from another lot, or may simply limit
tree height to 15 feet.
If someone violates the restrictions, Noise
the homeowners’ association may apply
pressure (for example, by taking away Nothing so needs reforming as other
swimming pool or clubhouse privileges) people’s habits.
or even sue. A lawsuit is costly and time-
—Mark Twain
consuming, however, and the association
may not want to sue unless there have been
serious violations of the rules. If you are a reasonable person and your
If the association won’t help, you can neighbor is driving you wiggy with noise,
take the neighbor to court yourself, but be the neighbor is probably violating a noise
prepared for a lengthy and expensive ordeal. law.
I want to buy a house with a great view. Do I have any legal recourse against a noisy
Is there anything I can do to make sure I neighbor?
won’t ever lose the view—and much of my
You bet. The most effective weapon you
investment?
have to maintain your peace and quiet
First, ask the property owner or the city is your local noise ordinance. Almost
planning and zoning office whether the every community prohibits excessive,
property is protected by a view ordinance. unnecessary, and unreasonable noise, and
Then check with the real estate agent to see police enforce these laws.
whether neighbors are subject to restrictions Most laws designate certain “quiet
that would protect your view. Also, if the hours”—for example, from 10 p.m. to
property is in a planned unit development, 7 a.m. on weekdays, and until 8 or 9 a.m.
find out whether a homeowners’ association on weekends. So running a power mower
actively enforces the restrictions. may be perfectly acceptable at 10 a.m. on
Check local zoning laws for any property Saturday, but not at 7 a.m. Many towns also
that might affect you. Could the neighbor have decibel level noise limits. When a
down the hill add a second-story addition? neighbor complains, they measure the noise
Finally, look very closely from the with electronic equipment. To find out what
property to see which trees might later your town’s noise ordinance says, ask at the
obstruct your view. Then go introduce public library or the city attorney’s office.
yourself to their owners and explain your Once you’ve figured out that your neigh
concerns. A neighbor who also has a view bor is in fact violating a noise ordinance, try
approaching the neighbor in a friendly way lease agreements contain a clause entitled
and letting the neighbor know the noise is “Quiet Enjoyment.” This clause gives tenants
disturbing you. It’s always possible that you’ll the right to occupy their apartments in
get an apology and the noise will stop. The peace, and also imposes upon them the
next step would be to ask the neighbor to responsibility not to disturb their neighbors.
attend a mediation session and try to work it It’s the landlord’s job to enforce both sides
out. (To learn about mediation, see Chapter of this bargain.
16.) If all else fails and your neighbor keeps If the neighbor’s stereo is keeping you
disturbing you, you can also sue and ask the up every night, the tenants are probably
court to award you money damages or to violating the rental agreement, and could
order the neighbor to stop the noise (“abate be evicted. Especially if several neighbors
the nuisance,” in legal terms). For money complain, the landlord will probably order
damages alone, you can use small claims the tenant to comply with the lease or face
court. For a court order telling somebody to eviction. For more information about your
stop doing something, you’ll have to sue in rights as a tenant, see Chapter 3.
regular court.
Of course, what you really want is for
Tips for Handling a Noise Problem
the nuisance to stop. But getting a small
claims court to order your neighbor to pay
• Know the law and stay within it.
you money can be amazingly effective.
• Be reasonably tolerant of your neighbors.
And suing in small claims court is easy and
• Communicate with your neighbors—
inexpensive, partly because you don’t need
both the one causing the problem and
a lawyer.
the others affected by it.
Noise that is excessive and deliberate
• Try mediation before taking more aggres-
may also violate state criminal laws
sive steps.
against disturbing the peace or disorderly
• Assert your rights.
conduct. This means that, in very extreme
• Ask the police for help when it is
circumstances, the police can arrest your
appropriate.
neighbor. Usually, these offenses are
• Use the courts when necessary.
punishable by fines or short jail sentences.
The neighbor in the apartment next to mine

is very noisy. Isn’t the landlord supposed to
keep tenants quiet? My neighbor’s dog barks all the time, and
it’s driving me crazy. What can I do?
In addition to the other remedies all
neighbors have, you have another arrow in Usually, problems with barking dogs can
your quiver: You can lean on the landlord be resolved without resorting to police
to quiet the neighbor. Standard rental and or courts. If you do eventually wind up
in court, however, a judge will be more • radio or television stations that offer
sympathetic if you made at least some effort help with consumer problems, or
to work things out first. Here are the steps • a state or local bar association.
to take when you’re losing patience (or For more information on mediation,
sleep) over a neighbor’s noisy dog: see Chapter 16.
1. Ask your neighbor to keep the dog quiet. 3. Look up the law. In some places, barking
Sometimes owners are blissfully unaware dogs are covered by a specific state or
that there’s a problem. If the dog barks local ordinance. If there’s no law aimed
for hours every day—but only when it’s specifically at dogs, a general nuisance
left alone—the owner may not know that or noise ordinance makes the owner
you’re being driven crazy. responsible. Local law may forbid loud
If you can establish some rapport with noise after 10 p.m., for example, or
the neighbor, try to agree on specific prohibit any “unreasonable” noise. And
actions to alleviate the problem: for someone who allows a dog to bark after
example, that your neighbor will take numerous warnings from police may be
the dog to obedience school, get the dog arrested for disturbing the peace.
a citronella collar to prevent barking, or To find out what the law is where
consult with an animal behavior specialist, you live, go to a law library and check
or that the dog will be kept inside after 10 the state statutes and city or county
p.m. After you agree on a plan, set a date ordinances yourself. Look in the index
to talk again in a couple of weeks. under “noise,” “dogs,” “animals,” or
2. Try mediation. Mediators, both profes “nuisance.” For more information on
sionals and volunteers, are trained to how to do this, see the appendix. Or call
listen to both sides, identify problems, the local animal control agency or city
keep everyone focused on the real attorney.
issues, and suggest compromises. A 4. Ask animal control authorities to enforce
mediator won’t make a decision for you local noise laws. Be persistent. Some cities
but will help you and your neighbor have special programs to handle dog
agree on a resolution. complaints.
Many cities have community mediation 5. Call the police if you think a criminal law
groups that train volunteers to mediate is being violated. Generally, police aren’t
disputes in their own neighborhoods. Or too interested in barking dog problems.
ask for a referral from: And summoning a police cruiser to a
• the small claims court clerk’s office neighbor’s house obviously will not
• the police improve your already-strained relations.
• the local district attorney’s office— But if nothing else works, and the
the consumer complaint division, if relationship with your neighbor is shot
there is one anyway, give the police a try.
My neighbor just started giving piano solve the problem through neighborhood
lessons at her home—very loud lessons, mediation. (For information about
starting at 7 a.m. on the weekends. What mediation, see Chapter 16.) If all efforts at
can I do about this? compromise fail, you can either complain
The first thing you should do is figure to local authorities (such as the zoning
out whether your neighbor is breaking board, if your neighbor is violating the
any laws. Check your local zoning law to zoning laws, or the police if your neighbor
find out whether your neighborhood is is breaking a noise ordinance) or take your
zoned for residential use only—if so, your neighbor to court.
neighbor is in violation. Next, find out
whether your neighborhood imposes “quiet
Resource
hours,” during which neighbors can’t make
excessive noise. Typically, quiet is enforced For more information about dealing
until at least 8 a.m. on weekends. with neighbors, see:
Once you know your rights, talk to the • Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries &
other folks on your block (and perhaps Noise, by Cora Jordan and Emily Doskow
those who live behind your noisy neighbor). (Nolo), explains laws that affect neighbors
Are others also bothered by the noise? If and shows how to resolve common
so, approach the piano teacher as a group. disputes without lawsuits.
Explain the problem and present some • Every Dog’s Legal Guide, by Mary Randolph
possible solutions. For example, perhaps (Nolo), is a guide to the laws that affect
your neighbor can soundproof her practice dog owners and their neighbors.
room and agree to hold her first lesson of
the day at 9 a.m.
Online help
If your neighbor is breaking the law,
make that clear—but also emphasize that The following sites are good
you have not yet spoken to the police or resources for dealing with neighbors:
any other local authority, and that you’d • www.nolo.com Nolo offers information
like to work the problem out informally. about a wide variety of legal topics,
Don’t let yourself get pushed around, including neighbor law.
however—if your neighbor refuses to be • www.statelocalgov.net Piper Resources
reasonable, explain that you know your maintains State and Local Government
legal rights and are prepared to enforce on the Net, a comprehensive index of
them. And remember, even if your neighbor websites for states, counties, cities, and
isn’t violating a particular zoning or noise towns. Check here first for the local laws
regulation, she may be creating a nuisance. that are so important in neighbor disputes.
If your neighbor agrees to your proposed ●
solution, great. If not, you might try to
C H A P t er
Landlords and Tenants 3

Leases and Rental Agreements.........................................................................................................34
Tenant Selection........................................................................................................................................36
Housing Discrimination........................................................................................................................36
Rent and Security Deposits.................................................................................................................38
Tenants’ Privacy Rights..........................................................................................................................39
Cable Access and Satellite Dishes...................................................................................................40
Repairs and Maintenance..................................................................................................................... 42
Landlord Liability for Criminal Acts and Activities............................................................. 45
Landlord Liability for Lead Poisoning........................................................................................... 47
Landlord’s Liability for Exposure to Asbestos, Mold, and Bedbugs...........................48
Insurance........................................................................................................................................................49
Foreclosure.................................................................................................................................................... 51
Resolving Disputes.................................................................................................................................... 51
or rental agreement will cover important

Property has its duties as well as its issues such as:
rights. • the length of the tenancy
—Thomas Drummond • the amount of rent and deposits the
tenant must pay
F
• the number of people who can live on
orty years ago, custom, not law, the rental property
controlled how most landlords and • who pays for utilities
tenants interacted with each other. • whether the tenant may have pets
This is no longer true. Today, whether you • whether the tenant may sublet the
focus on leases and rental agreements; property
habitability; discrimination; the amount, use • the landlord’s access to the rental
and return of security deposits; how and property, and
when a landlord may enter a rental unit; • who pays attorneys’ fees if there
or a dozen other issues, both landlord and is a lawsuit over the meaning or
tenant must understand their legal rights implementation of the agreement.
and responsibilities. Leases and rental agreements should
Because landlord-tenant laws vary always be in writing, even though oral
significantly depending on where you live, agreements are enforceable for up to one
remember to check your state and local year in most states. Though oral agreements
laws for specifics. A list of state landlord- can be easy and informal, they often lead
tenant statutes is included later in this to disputes. If a tenant and landlord later
chapter. You can find and read the state disagree about key issues, such as whether
statutes online. (See “Finding Statutes and the tenant can sublet, the result is all too
Regulations Online” in the appendix.) likely to be a court argument over who said
what to whom, when, and in what context.
Leases and Rental Agreements What’s the difference between a rental

agreement and a lease?
It’s important to carefully read—and fully
understand—the terms of your lease or The biggest difference is the length of
rental agreement. This piece of paper is occupancy. A rental agreement provides
the contract that describes many important for a tenancy of a short period (often 30
aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. days). The tenancy automatically renews at
the end of this period unless the tenant or
Why is it important to sign a lease or rental landlord ends it by giving written notice,
agreement? typically 30 days. For these month-to-
The lease or rental agreement is the key month rentals, the landlord can change the
document of the tenancy. A thorough lease terms of the agreement with proper written
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
wisdom of Solon[382] had rejected such a proceeding. Communistic
schemes had little attraction for the average Greek, so far as his own
labour or interests might be involved: even the dream of Plato was
far from a thoroughgoing communism.
Of the farmer in his character of citizen[383] Aristotle had a
favourable impression formed from the experience of the past. The
restless activity of Assemblies frequently meeting, and with fees for
attendance, was both a cause and an effect of the degeneration of
democracies in his day. It meant that political issues were now at the
mercy of the ignorant and fickle city-dwellers, a rabble swayed by
the flattery of self-seeking demagogues. Athens was the notable
instance. Yet tradition alleged (and it can hardly be doubted) that in
earlier times, when a larger part of the civic body lived and worked
in the country, a soberer and steadier policy[384] prevailed. The
farmers, never free from responsibilities and cares, were opposed to
frequent Assemblies, to attend which involved no small sacrifice of
valuable time. For this sacrifice a small fee would have been no
adequate compensation, and in fact they had none at all. Naturally
enough Aristotle, admitting[385] that in the states of his day
democratic governments were mostly inevitable, insists on the
merits of the farmer-democracies of the good old times, and would
welcome their revival. But the day for this was gone by, never to
return. Another important point arises in connexion with the capacity
of the state for war, a point seldom overlooked in Greek political
speculation. In discussing the several classes out of which the state
is made up, Aristotle observes[386] that individuals may and will
unite in their own persons the qualifications of more than one class.
So the same individuals may perform various functions: but this does
not affect his argument, for the same persons may be, and often
are, both hoplites and cultivators, who yet are functionally distinct
parts of the state. Just below, speaking of the necessity of ‘virtue’
(ἀρετὴ) for the discharge of certain public duties (deliberative and
judicial), he adds ‘The other faculties may exist combined in many
separate individuals; for instance, the same man may be a soldier a
cultivator and a craftsman, or even a counsellor of state or a judge;
but all men claim to possess virtue, and think they are qualified to
hold most offices. But the same men cannot be at once rich and
poor. The common view therefore is that Rich and Poor are the true
parts of a state.’ That is to say, practical analysis can go no further.
In another passage[387], discussing the formation of the best kind of
democracy, he says ‘for the best Demos is that of farmers (ὁ
γεωργικός): so it is possible to form (a corresponding?) democracy
where the mass of the citizens gets its living from tillage or
pasturage (ἀπὸ γεωργίας ἢ νομῆς).’ After considering the political
merits of the cultivators, busy and moderate men, he goes[388] on
‘And after the Demos of cultivators the next best is that where the
citizens are graziers (νομεῖς) and get their living from flocks and
herds (βοσκημάτων): for the life in many respects resembles that of
the tillers of the soil, and for the purposes of military campaigning
these men are peculiarly hardened[389] by training, fit for active
service, and able to rough it in the open.’ The adaptability of the
rustic worker is further admitted[390] in a remark let fall in a part of
his treatise where he is engaged in designing a model state. It is to
the effect that, so long as the state has a plentiful supply of farm-
labourers, it must also have plenty of seamen (ναυτῶν). Having just
admitted that a certain amount of maritime commerce will be
necessary, and also a certain naval power, he is touching on the
manning of the fleet. The marine soldiers will be freemen, but the
seamen (oarsmen) can be taken from unfree classes working on the
land. Their social status does not at this stage concern us: that such
labourers could readily be made into effective oarsmen is an
admission to be noted. To the philosopher himself it is a comfort to
believe that he has found out a way of doing without the turbulent
‘seafaring rabble’ (ναυτικὸς ὄχλος) that usually throngs seaport
towns and embarrasses orderly governments. In other words, it is a
relief to find that in a model state touching the sea it will not be
necessary to reproduce the Peiraeus.
In considering the proposals of earlier theorists for the remedy of
political defects it is hardly possible and nowise needful to exhaust
all the indications of dissatisfaction with existing systems. Of
Euripides and Socrates, the two great questioners, enough has been
said above. The reactionary Isocrates was for many years a
contemporary of Aristotle. What we can no longer reproduce is the
talk of active-minded critics in the social circles of Athens. It
happens that Xenophon has left us a sketch of the ordinary
conversations of Socrates. No doubt these were the most important
examples of their kind, and his method a powerful, if sometimes
irritating, stimulus to thought. But we are not to assume a lack of
other questioners, acute and even sincere, more especially among
men of oligarchic leanings. That Aristotle came into touch with such
persons is probable from his connexion with Plato. Certain passages
in the Constitution of Athens, in which he is reasonably
suspected[391] of giving a partisan view of historical events, point to
the same conclusion. We shall never know all the criticisms and
suggestions of others that this watchful collector heard and noted.
But it is both possible and desirable to recall those to which his own
record proves him to have paid attention.
Both Hippodamus and Plato based their schemes on a class-
system, in which the farmer-class form a distinct body: but the
former made them citizens with voting rights. Being unarmed, and
so at the mercy of the military class, Aristotle held that their political
rights were nugatory. In the Republic, Plato gave them no voice in
state-affairs, but in the Laws he admitted them to the franchise.
While these two reformers made provision for a military force,
Phaleas, ignoring relations with other states, made none. To Phaleas,
equality in landed estate seemed the best means of promoting
harmony and wellbeing in the community; and he would effect this
equality by legal restrictions. This proposition Aristotle rejected as
neither adequate nor suited to its purpose. Moral[392] influences,
hard work, discretion, even intellectual activity, can alone produce
the temper of moderation that promotes concord and happiness. In
short, if you are to effect any real improvement, you must start from
the doctrine of the Mean[393] and not trust to material equalizing.
The several tenure of land-lots was generally recognized, with
variations in detail; Plato in the Laws abandoned the impracticable
land-system of the Republic, and not only assigned a κλῆρος to each
citizen household, but arranged it in two[394] sections, for reasons
given above. The attempt to ensure the permanence of the number
of land-lots and households by strict legal regulation, as some
legislators had tried to do, is also a general feature of these
speculations. Plato in the Laws even went further, and would place
rigid restrictions on acquisition of property of all kinds. All agree in
the usual Greek contempt for those engaged in manual or sedentary
trades. Such ‘mechanical’ (βάναυσοι) workers were held to be
debased in both body and mind below the standard of ‘virtue’
required of the good soldier or citizen. Phaleas made these ‘artisans’
public slaves de iure: Hippodamus placed them, with the farmers, in
nominal citizenship but de facto bondage. Plato tolerates them
because he cannot do without them. In the matter of hard bodily
labour, free or slave, the position of Plato is clear. He would devolve
it upon slaves; in agriculture, with a coexisting alternative system of
serf-tenants. But both classes are to be Barbarians. It seems that
Hippodamus meant the public, if not the private, land of his model
state to be worked by slaves. Most striking is the fact that Plato in
his later years combined the aim of self-sufficiency with dependence
on servile labour. Commerce is, for the moral health of the state, to
be strictly limited. The supply of necessary food-stuffs is to be a
domestic industry, carried on by alien serfs or slaves for the most
part. Such communism as exists among the Guardians in the
Republic is a communism of consumers who take no part in material
production: and it is abandoned in the Laws.
The above outlines must suffice as a sketch of the situation both
in practice and in theory when Aristotle took the matter in hand. The
working defects of Greek constitutions were obvious to many, and
the incapacity of the ignorant masses in democracies was especially
evident to thoughtful but irresponsible critics. Yet the selfishness of
the rich in oligarchies was not ignored, and the instability of
governments supported by only a minority of the citizens was an
indisputable fact. The mass of citizens (that is, full members of the
state according to the qualification-rules in force) had to come in
somewhere, to give numerical strength to a government. How was
governing capacity to be placed in power under such conditions?
Experience suggested that things had been better for Athens when a
larger part of her citizens lived on the land. Use could no doubt be
made of this experience in case an opening for increasing the
number of peasant farmers[395] should occur. But it was precisely in
states where such a policy was most needed that an opening was
least likely to occur. It would seem then that the only chance of
improving government lay in persuading the average citizen to
entrust wider powers to a specially selected body of competent men,
in short to carry into politics the specializing principle[396] already
developed by the advance of civilization in other departments. Now
the average citizen was certain to test the plans of reformers by
considering how their operation would affect cases like his own. It
was therefore necessary to offer him a reassuring picture of projects
of this kind, if they were to receive any hearing at all. To own a plot
of land, inalienable and hereditary, was a security against indigence.
To have the labour of cultivating it performed as a matter of course
by others was a welcome corollary. To be relieved of mechanical
drudgery by aliens and slaves was a proposal sure to conciliate
Greek pride. And the resulting leisure for the enlightened discharge
of the peculiarly civic functions of war and government was an
appeal to self-esteem and ambition. But that the creation of a ruling
class of Guardians with absolute power, such as those of Plato’s
Republic, would commend itself to democratic Greeks, was more
than any practical man could believe. Nor would the communism of
those Guardians appear attractive to the favourers of oligarchy.
Therefore Plato himself had to recast his scheme, and try to bring it
out of dreamland by concessions to facts of Greek life. Not much
was gained thereby, and the great difficulty, how to make a start,
still remained. That much could be done by direct legislative action
was a tradition in Greek thought fostered by tales of the
achievements of early lawgivers. But to remodel the whole fabric of
a state so thoroughly that an entire change should be effected in the
political atmosphere in which the citizens must live and act, while
the citizens themselves would be the same persons, reared in old
conditions and ideas, was a project far beyond the scope of ordinary
legislation. To Aristotle it seemed that the problem must be
approached differently.
This is not the place to discuss the two distinct lines taken by him;
first, that the character of the state depends on that of its members,
and secondly, that the individual only finds his true self as member
of a state. The subject has been fully[397] treated, better than I
could treat it; and in constructing a model there remains the
inevitable difficulty, where to begin. The highest development of the
individual is only attainable under the training provided by the model
state, and this state is only possible as an association of model
citizens. If we may conjecture Aristotle’s answer from a rule[398] laid
down in the Ethics, he would say ‘first learn by doing, and then you
can do what you have learnt to do.’ That is, effort (at first imperfect)
will improve faculty, and by creating habit will develope full capacity.
But even so it would remain uncertain whether the individual,
starting on a career of self-improvement, is to work up to the
making of a model state, or the imperfect state to start training its
present citizens to perfection. The practical difficulty is there still.
Nor is it removed by putting the first beginnings of training so
early[399] that they even precede the infant citizen’s birth, in the
form of rules for eugenic breeding. Aristotle’s procedure is to
postulate favourable equipment, geographical and climatic, a
population of high qualities (that is, Greek,) and then to consider
how he would organize the state and train its members—if the
postulated conditions were realized and he had a free hand. In this
new Utopia it is most significant to observe what he adopts from
historical experience and the proposals of earlier theorists, and in
what respects he departs from them. It is in particular his attitude
towards ownership and tillage of land, and labour in general, that is
our present concern.
As it follows from his doctrine of the Mean that the virtue of the
state and its several members must be based on the avoidance of
extremes, so it follows[400] from the moral aim of the state that its
component elements are not all ‘parts’ of the state in the same strict
sense. Economically, those who provide food clothing etc are parts,
necessary to the existence of the community. Politically (for politics
have a moral end) they are below the standard of excellence
required for a share in the government of a perfect state. They
cannot have the leisure or the training to fit them for so responsible
a charge. Therefore they cannot be citizens. To maintain secure
independence and internal order the citizens, and the citizens only,
must bear arms. And, since the land must belong to the possessors
of arms, none but citizens can own land. This does not imply
communism. There will have to be public[401] land, from the
produce of which provision will be made for the service of religion
and for the common tables at which citizens will mess. To maintain
these last by individual contributions would be burdensome to the
poor and tend to exclude them. For rich and poor there will be. But
the evil of extreme poverty will be avoided. There will be private
land, out of which each citizen (that is evidently each citizen-
household) will have an allotment of land. This κλῆρος will be in
two[402] parcels, one near the city and the other near the state-
frontier, so that issues of peace and war may not be affected by the
bias of local interests. The cultivation of these allotments will be the
work of subjects, either inhabitants of the district (περίοικοι) or
slaves; in any case aliens, not Greeks; and in the case of slaves care
must be taken not to employ too many of the same race together or
such as are high-spirited. He is concerned to secure the greatest
efficiency and to leave the least possible facilities for rebellion. The
labourers will belong to the state or to individual citizens according
to the proprietorship of the land on which they are severally
employed. By these arrangements he has provided for the
sustenance of those who in the true political sense are ‘parts’ of the
state (πόλις), and for their enjoyment of sufficient leisure[403] to
enable them to conduct its government in the paths of virtue and
promote the good life (τὸ εὖ ζῆν) which is the final cause of state
existence.
The citizens then have the arms and the land and all political
power. Among themselves they are on an equal footing, only divided
functionally according to age: deliberative and judicial duties
belonging to the elder men, military activities to the younger. It is
impossible to overlook the influence of the Spartan system on the
speculations of Aristotle as well as those of Plato. The equality of
Spartan citizens was regarded as evidence[404] of a democratic
element in their constitution, and we find this same theoretical
equality among the full citizens at any given moment in the
developing constitution of Rome. It is significant that Aristotle felt
the necessity of such an equality. He remarks[405] that the
permanence of a constitution depends on the will of the possessors
of arms. We may observe that he seldom refers to the mercenaries
so commonly employed in his day, save as his bodyguard of
usurping tyrants. But in one passage[406] he speaks of oligarchies
being driven to employ them at a pinch for their own security
against the Demos, and of their own overthrow in consequence.
Therefore he did not ignore the risk run by relying on hirelings:
naturally he would prefer to keep the military service of his model
state in the hands of his model citizens. But he had no belief[407] in
the blind devotion of Sparta to mere preparation for warfare. Peace
is the end of war, not war of peace. If you do not learn to make a
proper use of peace, in the long run you will fail in war also: hence
the attainment of empire was the ruin of Sparta: she had not
developed the moral qualities needed for ruling in time of peace. But
in his model state he seems not to make adequate provision for the
numbers required in war. His agricultural labourers are not to be
employed in warfare, as the Laconian Helots regularly were. He only
admits them to the service of the oar, controlled by the presence of
marine soldiers, who are free citizens like the poorer class of
Athenians who generally served in that capacity. The servile
character of rustic labour on his plan is thus reasserted, and with it
the superior standing of land forces as compared with maritime. The
days were past when Athenians readily served at the oar in their
own triremes, cruising among the subject states and certain of an
obsequious reception in every port. Hired rowers had always been
employed to some extent, even by Athens: in this later period the
motive power of war-gallies of naval states was more and more
obtained from slaves. There was an economic analogy between
farm-labour and oar-labour. The slave was forced to toil for
practically no more[408] than his food: the profits of the farm and
the profits of war-booty fell to be shared in either case by few.
Aristotle, who was well aware of the merits of the working farmer,
the peasant citizen, and recognized that such men had been a sound
and stable element in the Athens of former days, would surely not
have treated agriculture as a work reserved for servile hands, had he
not been convinced that the old rural economy was gone and could
never be revived. For, if suggestions from Sparta influenced him
when designing Utopian institutions, it is no less clear that the
Utopian setting—territory, city, port-town,—are merely modifications
of Attica, Athens, Peiraeus. In Greece there was no state so favoured
geographically, so well equipped by nature for independence
prosperity and power. If a Greek community was ever to realize an
artistic ideal, and live in peaceful and secure moderation a model life
of dignity and virtue, it could hardly have a better chance of success
than in some such advantageous position as that enjoyed by Athens.
Her defects lay in her institutions, such as he viewed them at their
present stage of development. These could not be approved as they
stood: they needed both political and economic reform. Into the
former we need not enter here: the later democracy could not but
disgust one who judged merit from the standpoint of his doctrine of
the Mean. Economically, we may infer from his own model project
that two great changes would be required. Citizens must all have an
interest in the land, though farmed by slave labour. The port-town
must no longer be a centre of promiscuous commerce, thronged
with a cosmopolitan population of merchants seamen dock-labourers
etc and the various purveyors who catered for their various
appetites. In truth the Peiraeus was a stumbling-block to him as to
Plato, and probably to most men[409] who did not themselves draw
income from its trade or its iniquities, or who did not derive political
power from the support of its democratic citizens. To have a state
‘self-sufficing’ so far as to get its necessary food from its own
territory, and to limit commerce to a moderate traffic sufficient to
procure by exchange such things as the citizens wanted but could
not produce (for instance[410] timber), was a philosopher’s
aspiration.
While proposing to restrict commercial activity as being injurious
in its effect, when carried to excess, on the higher life of the state,
Aristotle like Plato admits[411] that not only slaves but free aliens,
permanently or temporarily resident, must form a good part of the
population. He does not even[412] like Plato propose to fix a limit to
the permissible term of metic residence. Apparently he would let the
resident alien make his fortune in Utopia and go on living there as a
non-citizen of means. But he would not allow him to hold real
property within the state, as Xenophon or some other[413] writer had
suggested. That the services of aliens other than slaves were
required for the wellbeing of the state, is an important admission.
For it surely implies that there were departments of trade and
industry in which slave-labour alone was felt to be untrustworthy,
while the model citizens of a model state could not properly be so
employed. The power of personal interest[414] in promoting
efficiency and avoiding waste is an elementary fact not forgotten by
Aristotle. Now the slave, having no personal interest involved beyond
escaping punishment, is apt to be a shirker and a waster. The
science of the master (δεσποτική)[415], we are told, is the science of
using slaves; that is, of getting out of them what can be got. It is a
science of no great scope or dignity. Hence busy masters employ
overseers. He suggests that some stimulus to exertion may be found
in the prospect of manumission[416] for good service. This occurs
again in the Economics, but the question of what is to become of the
worn-out rustic slave is not answered by him[417] any more than it is
by Plato. My belief is that, so far as farm staffs are concerned, he
has chiefly if not wholly in view cases[418] of stewards overseers etc.
These would be in positions of some trust, perhaps occasionally
filled by freemen, and to create in them some feeling of personal
interest would be well worth the masters while. Domestic slavery
was on a very different footing, but it too was often a worry[419] to
masters. Here manumission played an obvious and important part,
and perhaps still more in the clerical staffs of establishments for
banking and other businesses. These phenomena of Athenian life
were interesting and suggestive. Yet Aristotle is even more
reticent[420] than Plato (and with less reason) on the subject of
manumission: which is matter for regret.
The model state then will contain plenty of free aliens, serving the
state with their talents and labour, an urban non-landholding
element. They set the model citizens free for the duties of politics
and war. Whether they will be bound to service in the army or the
fleet, like the Athenian metics, we are not told. Nor is it easy to
guess how Aristotle would have answered the question. Their main
function is to carry on the various meaner or ‘mechanical’ trades and
occupations, no doubt employing or not employing the help of slaves
according to circumstances. All such trades were held to have a
degrading effect[421] on both body and mind, disabling those
practising them from attaining the highest excellence, that is the
standard of model citizens in war and peace. Aristotle finds the
essence of this taint in transgression of the doctrine of the Mean.
Specialization carried to extremes produces professionalism which,
for the sake of perfecting technical skill, sacrifices the adaptability,
the bodily suppleness and strength and the mental all-round
alertness and serene balance,—qualities which every intelligent
Greek admired, and which Aristotle postulated in the citizens of his
model community. So strong is his feeling on the point that it
comes[422] out in connexion with music. The young citizens are most
certainly to have musical training, but they are not to become
professional performers; for this sort of technical excellence is
nothing but a form of βαναυσία.
If neither the farmer nor the artisan are to be citizens, and the
disqualification of the latter rests on his narrow professionalism, we
are tempted to inquire whether the claim of the farmer may not also
have been regarded as tainted by the same disability. That
agriculture afforded scope for a high degree of technical skill is a fact
not missed by Aristotle. He is at pains to point out[423] that this
most fundamental of industries is a source of profit if scientifically
pursued, as well as a means of bare subsistence. For the
exchange[424] of products (such as corn and wine) by barter soon
arises, and offers great opportunities, which are only increased to an
injurious extent by the invention of a metallic currency. Now the
founder of the Peripatetic school was not the man to ignore the
principles of scientific farming, and the labour of collecting details
had for him no terrors. Accordingly he refers to the knowledge[425]
required in several departments of pastoral and agricultural life. He
sketches briefly the development of the industry, from the mere
gathering of nature’s bounty, through the stage of nomad pasturage,
to settled occupation and the raising of food-crops by tillage of the
soil. But in the Politics he does not follow out this topic. His
preoccupation is the development of man in political life: so he
dismisses further detail with the remark[426] (referring to the natural
branch of χρηματιστική, the art of profit-making, which operates
with crops and beasts) that in matters of this kind speculation is
liberal (= worthy of a free man) but practice is not. This seems to
imply that to be engrossed in the detailed study of various soils or
breeds of beasts, with a view to their appropriate and profitable
management, is an illiberal and cramping pursuit. He does not apply
to it the term βαναυσία, and the reason probably is that the bodily
defects of the sedentary artisan are not found in the working farmer.
But the concentration upon mean details of no moral or political
significance is common to both. That all unskilled[427] wage-earners
fall under the same ban is a matter of course, hardly worth
mentioning. In short, all those who depend on the custom of others
for a living are subject to a sort of slavery in a greater or less
degree, and unfit to be citizens.
The value attached to ‘self-sufficiency’ as evidence of freedom and
of not living ‘in relation to another’ (that is, in dependence[428] on
another,) is in striking contrast to views that have enjoyed a great
vogue in modern economic theory. Neither the man nor the state
can be completely[429] self-sufficing: that Aristotle, and Plato before
him, saw. Man, feeling his way upward through the household to the
state, needs help. He first finds[430] a helper (I am omitting the sex-
union) in the ox, the forerunner of the slave, and still in primitive
rustic life the helper of the poor. Growing needs bring division of
labour and exchange by barter, and so on. As a political animal he
can never be quite independent as an individual, but it is the law of
his being that the expanding needs which draw him into association
with his fellows result in making him more of a man. Here lies a
pitfall. If through progress in civilization his daily life becomes so
entangled with those of other men that his freedom of action is
hampered thereby, surely he has lost something. His progress has
not been clear gain, and the balance may not be easy to strike. It is
therefore a problem, how to find a position in which man may profit
by the advantages of civilization without risking the loss of more
than he has gained. Aristotle does not state it in terms so brutally
frank. But the problem is there, and he does in effect attempt a
solution. The presence in sufficient numbers of slaves legally unfree,
and workers legally free but virtually under a defined or special
kind[431] of servitude (ἀφωρισμένην τινὰ δουλείαν), is the only
means by which a privileged class can get all the good that is to be
got out of human progress. His model citizens are an aristocracy of
merited privilege, so trained to virtue that to be governed by them
will doubtless enable their subjects to enjoy as much happiness as
their inferior natures can receive. This solution necessitates the
maintenance of slavery[432] as existing by nature, and the adoption
of economic views that have been rightly called reactionary. The
student of human nature and experience unwisely departed from the
safer ground of his own principles and offered a solution that was no
solution at all.
As the individual man cannot live in complete isolation, supplying
his own needs and having no relations with other men,—for his
manhood would thus remain potential and never become actual—so
it will be with the state also. It must not merely allow aliens to reside
in it and serve its purposes internally: it will have to stand in some
sort of relations to other states. This is sufficiently asserted by the
provision made for the contingency of war. But in considering how
far a naval force would be required[433] in his model state he
remarks ‘The scale of this force must be determined by the part (τὸν
βίον) played by our state: if it is to lead a life of leadership and have
dealings with other states (ἡγεμονικὸν καὶ πολιτικὸν βίον), it will
need to have at hand this force also on a scale proportioned to its
activities.’ Then, jealous ever of the Mean, he goes on to deny the
necessity of a great ‘nautical rabble,’ in fact the nuisance of the
Peiraeus referred to above. On the protection of such maritime
commerce as he would admit he does not directly insist; but,
knowing Athens so well, no doubt he had it in mind. Another
illustration of the virtuous Mean may be found in the rules of
education. The relations of the quarrelsome Greek states had been
too often hostile. The Spartan training had been too much admired.
But it was too one-sided, too much a glorification of brute force, and
its inadequacy had been exposed since Leuctra. Its success had
been due to the fact that no other state had specialized in
preparation for war as Sparta had done. Once others took up this
war-policy in earnest, Sparta’s vantage was gone. This vantage was
her all. Beaten in war, she had no reserve of non-military qualities to
assuage defeat and aid a revival. The citizens of Utopia must not be
thus brutalized. Theirs must be the true man’s courage (ἀνδρία)[434],
as far removed from the reckless ferocity of the robber or the savage
as from cowardice. It is surely not too much to infer[435] that
military citizens of this character were meant to pursue a public
policy neither abject nor aggressive.
It is in connexion with bodily training that we come upon views
that throw much light on the position of agricultural labour. There is,
he remarks, a general agreement[436] that gymnastic exercises do
promote manly courage, or as he puts it below ‘health and prowess.’
But at the present time there is, in states where the training of the
young is made a special object, a tendency[437] to overdo it: they
bring up the boys as regular athletes, producing a habit of body that
hinders the shapely development and growth of the frame. The
Thebans in particular are thought to be meant. His own system does
not thus run to excess. Gentle exercises gradually extended will
develop fine bodies to match fine souls. Now his labouring classes
receive no bodily training of the kind. The frame of the artisan is left
to become cramped and warped by the monotonous movements of
his trade. So too the farm-labourer is left to become hard and stiff-
jointed. Neither will have the supple agility needed for fighting as an
art. We have seen that this line had already been taken by Plato in
the Republic; indeed it was one that a Greek could hardly avoid. Yet
the shock-tactics of heavy columns were already revolutionizing
Greek warfare as much as the light troops organized by Iphicrates.
Were Aristotle’s military principles not quite up to date? Philip made
the Macedonian rustic into a first-rate soldier. But the northern
tribesman was a free man. The rustic of the model state was to be a
slave or serf: therefore he could not be a soldier. To keep him in due
subjection he must not be allowed to have arms or trained to use
them skilfully. This policy is nothing more or less than the
precautionary device[438] resorted to in Crete; the device that he
twits Plato with omitting in the Republic, though without it his
Guardians would not be able to control the landholding
Husbandmen. And yet the weakness of the Cretan system is duly
noted[439] in its place. The truth is, Aristotle was no more exempt
from the worship of certain ill-defined political terms than were men
of far less intellectual power. The democrat worshipped ‘freedom’ in
the sense[440] of ‘do as you please,’ the mark of a freeborn citizen.
The philosopher would not accept so crude a doctrine, but he is
none the less determined to mark off the ‘free’ from the unfree,
socially as well as politically. Adapting an institution known in
Thessalian[441] cities, he would have two open ‘places’ (ἀγοραί) in
his model state; one for marketing and ordinary daily business, the
other reserved for the free citizens. Into the latter no tradesman
(βάναυσον) or husbandman (γεωργόν), or other person of like status
(τοιοῦτον), is to intrude—unless the magistrates summon him to
attend.
It is a pity that Aristotle has left us no estimate of the relative
numerical strength of the various classes of population in Utopia. He
neglects this important detail more completely even than Plato. Yet I
fancy that an attempt to frame such an estimate would very soon
have exposed the visionary and unpractical nature of the whole
fabric constructed on his lines. It would, I believe, have been
ultimately wrecked on the doctrine of the Mean. Restriction of
commerce had to be reconciled with financial strength, for he saw
that wealth was needed[442] for both peace and war. This εὐπορία
could only arise from savings, the accumulated surplus of industry.
The labouring classes would therefore have to provide not only their
own sustenance etc and that of their rulers, but a considerable
surplus as well. This would probably necessitate so numerous a
labouring population that the citizens would have enough to do in
controlling them and keeping them to their work. To increase the
number of citizens would add to the unproductive[443] mouths, and
so on. Foreign war would throw everything out of gear, and no hiring
of mercenaries is suggested. It is the carrying to excess of the
principle of specialization that demands excess of ‘leisure,’ nothing
less than the exemption of all citizens (all persons that count, in
short,) from manual toil. Yet it was one who well knew the political
merits of peasant farmers that was the author of this extravagant
scheme for basing upon a servile agriculture the entertainment of a
hothouse virtue.
The general effect produced by reviewing the evidence of Aristotle
on agriculture and the labour-question is that he was a witness of
the decay of the working-farmer class, and either could not or would
not propose any plan for reviving it. The rarity of the words
αὐτουργὸς and cognates is not to be wondered at in his works. They
do not occur in the Politics. The Rhetoric furnishes two[444]
passages. One refers to the kinds of men especially liable to unfair
treatment (ἀδικία) because it is not worth their while to waste time
on legal proceedings, citing as instances aliens and αὐτουργοί.
Rustics may be included, but are not expressly mentioned. The
other[445] refers to qualities that men generally like and respect, as
justice. ‘Popular opinion finds this character in those who do not
make their living out of others; that is, who live of their own labour,
for instance those who live by farming (ἀπὸ γεωργίας), and, in other
pursuits, those most of all who work with their own hands.’ Here we
have the working farmer expressly cited as a type worthy of respect.
But to single him out thus certainly does not suggest that the type
was a common one. The great Aristotelian index of Bonitz supplies
three[446] more passages, all from the little treatise de mundo. They
occur in a special context. God, as the cause that holds together the
universe, is not to be conceived as a power enduring the toil of a
self-working laborious animal (αὐτουργοῦ καὶ ἐπιπόνου ζῴου). Nor
must we suppose that God, seated aloft in heaven and influencing
all things more or less directly in proportion as they are near or far,
pervades and flits through the universe regardless of his dignity and
propriety to carry on the things of earth with his own hands
(αὐτουργεῖ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς). The third passage is in a comparison,
illustrating the divine power by the Persian system, in which the
Great King sitting on his throne pervades and directs his vast empire
through his ministering agents. Such a fortiori is the government of
God.
XVIII. THE LATER ATTIC ORATORS.

It has already been remarked that no clear chronological line can
be drawn to divide this famous group into two sections, but that
there is nevertheless a real distinction between the period of hostility
to Persia and that in which fear of Macedon was the dominant
theme. The jealousies and disunion of the Greek states are the
background of both. Isocrates[447] had appealed in vain for Greek
union as a means of realizing Greek ambitions and satisfying Greek
needs. Demosthenes, so far as he did succeed in combining Greek
forces to resist the encroachments of Philip, succeeded too late. In
the fifth century bc we see the Greek states grouped under two
great leading powers. The conflict of these powers leaves one of
them the unquestioned head of the Greek world. The next half
century witnessed the fall of Sparta, earned by gross
misgovernment, and the rise and relapse of Thebes. In the same
period Athens made another bid for maritime empire, but this
second Alliance had failed. Isolation of Greek states was now the
rule, and the hopelessness of any common policy consummated the
weakness of exhaustion. At Athens the old fervent patriotism was
cooling down, as we learn from the growing reluctance to make
sacrifices in the country’s cause. Demos was no longer imperial, and
he was evidently adapting himself to a humbler role. His political
leaders had to secure his food-supply and provide for his festivals,
and this out of a sadly shrunken income. To provide efficient fighting
forces on land and sea was only possible by appropriating the
Festival fund (θεωρικόν), and the mob of Athens was unwilling either
to fight in person or to surrender its amusements in order to hire
mercenaries. Too often the result was that mercenaries, hired but
not paid, were left to pillage friend and foe alike for their own
support. The truth is, individualism was superseding old-fashioned
patriotism. The old simple views of life and duty had been weakened
by the questionings of many thinkers, and no new moral footing had
yet been found to compete with immediate personal interest. Athens
was the chief centre of this decline, for the intellectual and moral
influences promoting it were strongest there: but it was surely not
confined to Athens. The failure of Thebes after the death of
Epaminondas was one of many symptoms of decay. She had
overthrown Sparta, but she could not herself lead Greece: her
utmost achievement was a fatal equilibrium of weak states, of which
the Macedonian was soon to take full advantage. And everywhere,
particularly in rural districts, the flower of the male population was
being drained away, enlisting in mercenary armies, lured by the hope
of gain and willing to escape the prospect of hard and dreary lives at
home. In short, each was for his own hand.
Such an age was not one to encourage the peaceful and patient
toil of agriculture. The great cities, above all Athens, needed cheap
corn. Their own farmers could not supply this, and so
importation[448] was by law favoured, and as far as possible
inforced. Thus times of actual dearth seldom occurred, and home-
grown corn was seldom a paying crop. Thrown back all the more on
cultivation of the olive and vine the products of which were available
for export, the farmer needed time for the development of his
planted (πεφυτευμένη) land, and the waiting for returns
necessitated a larger capital. He was then exposed to risk of greater
damage in time of war. For his capital was irretrievably sunk in his
vineyard or oliveyard, and its destruction would take years to repair
—that is, more waiting and more capital. This was no novel
situation. But its effect in reducing the number of small peasant
farmers was probably now greater than ever. Not only were
mercenary armies relentless destroyers and robbers (having no fear
of reprisals and no conventional scruples to restrain them), but their
example corrupted the practice of citizen forces. Even if no fighting
took place in this or that neighbourhood, the local farmers[449] must
expect to be ruined by the mere presence of their own defenders.
When we bear in mind the risks of drought in some parts or floods in
others, the occasional losses of live stock, and other ordinary
misfortunes, it is fair to imagine that the farmer of land needed to be
a man of substance, not liable to be ruined by a single blow. And the
sidelights thrown on the subject by the indirect references in the
orators are quite consistent with this view.
The loss of the Thracian Chersonese in the disasters of 405 bc had
not only dispossessed the Athenian settlers there, but made that
region a source of continual anxiety to Athens. She was no longer in
secure control of the strait through which the corn-ships passed
from the Pontus. A considerable revival of her naval power enabled
her in 365 to occupy the island of Samos and to regain a footing in
the Chersonese. To both of these cleruchs were sent. But the tenure
of the Chersonese was disputed by Thracian princes, and it was
necessary to send frequent expeditions thither. The success or
failure of these enterprises is recorded in histories of Greece. The
importance of the position justified great efforts to retain it. Greek
cities on the Propontis and Bosporus, not Thracian chiefs only, gave
trouble. If short of supplies, as in 362, they were tempted to lay
hands[450] on the corn-ships, and consume what was meant for
Athens. But the result of much confused warfare was that in 358 the
Chersonese became once more a part of the Athenian empire. Even
after the dissolution of that empire in the war with the Allies 358-6,
part of the peninsula still remained Athenian. But it was now
exposed to the menace of the growing power of Macedon under
Philip. To induce the Demos, who needed the corn, to provide
prompt and adequate protection for the gate of Pontic trade, was
one of the many difficult tasks of Demosthenes.
Demosthenes is by far the most important witness to the
circumstances of his age; though much allowance must be made for
bias and partisan necessities, this does not greatly affect references
to agricultural matters. Unfortunately his supreme reputation caused
the works of other authors to be attributed to him in later times.
Thus the total number of speeches passing under his name is a good
deal larger than that of the undoubtedly genuine ones. But, if we set
aside a few mere forgeries of later rhetoricians, the speeches
composed by contemporary authors are no less authorities for stray
details of rural life than those of Demosthenes himself. It is therefore
not necessary to discuss questions of authorship, on which even the
ablest specialists are often not agreed. But it is of interest to bear in
mind that we are gleaning little items, from a strictly Athenian point
of view, bearing on the condition of the same Athens and Attica as
came under the cool observation of the outsider Aristotle. The lives
of Aristotle and Demosthenes, from 384-3 to 322 bc, are exactly
contemporary. And, as in matters of politics the speeches of the
orators often illustrate the philosopher’s criticisms of democracy, so it
is probable that the matters of food-supply and rural economy,
referred to by speakers for purposes of the moment, were among
the particulars noted by Aristotle when forming his conclusions on
those subjects.
The right of owning real estate in Attica being reserved for
Athenian citizens, aliens were debarred from what was sometimes a
convenient form[451] of investment. If the possible return on capital
so placed was lower than in more speculative ventures, the risk of
total loss was certainly much less, of partial loss comparatively small.
Moreover it gave the owner a certain importance[452] as a citizen of
known substance. It enabled a rich man to vary[453] his investments,
as references to mixed estates shew. And he had a choice of policies
in dealing with it: he could reside on his own property and
superintend the management himself, or entrust the charge to a
steward, or let it to a tenant. And, if at any time he wanted ready
money for some purpose, he could raise it by a mortgage on
favourable terms. If the land lay in a pleasant spot not too far from
the city, he was tempted to make himself a ‘place in the country’ for
his own occasional retirement and the entertainment of friends. That
landowning presented itself to Athenians of the Demosthenic period
in the aspects just sketched is manifest from the speeches belonging
to the years from 369 to 322 bc. Of the small working farmer there is
very little trace. But that some demand for farms existed seems
indicated by the cleruchs sent to the Chersonese and Samos. No
doubt these were meant to serve as resident garrisons at important
points, and it is not to be supposed that they were dependent solely
on their own labour for tillage of their lots. Another kind of land-
hunger speaks for itself. The wars and wastings of this period placed
large areas of land at the disposal of conquerors. Olynthian, Phocian,
Boeotian territory was at one time or another confiscated and
granted out as reward for this or that service. No reproaches of
Demosthenes are more bitter than the references to these cruel and
cynical measures of Philip’s corrupting policy. Individuals shared[454]
these and other spoils: the estates of Aeschines and Philocrates in
Phocis, and later of Aeschines in Boeotia, are held up as the
shameful wages of treachery. These estates can only have been
worked by slave-labour under stewards, for politicians in Athens
could not reside abroad. They are specimens of the large-scale
agriculture to which the circumstances of the age were favourable.
A dispute arising out of a case of challenge to exchange
properties[455] (ἀντίδοσις), in order to decide which party was liable
for performance of burdensome state-services, gives us a glimpse of
a large holding in Attica. It belongs to 330 bc or later. The farm is an
ἐσχατιά, that is a holding near[456] the frontier. It is stated to have
been more than 40 stadia (about 5 miles) in circuit. The farmstead
included granaries (οἰκήματα) for storing the barley and wheat which
were evidently the chief crops on this particular farm. It included
also a considerable vineyard producing a good quantity of wine.
Among the by-products was brushwood (ὕλη, not timber ξύλα)[457].
The faggots were carried to market (Athens, I presume) on the
backs of asses. The ass-drivers are specially mentioned. The returns
from the faggot-wood are stated at over 12 drachms a day. The
challenging speaker declares that this estate was wholly
unencumbered: not a mortgage-post (ὅρος) was to be seen. He
contrasts his own position, a man who has lost most of his property
in a mining venture, though he has even toiled with his own[458]
hands, with that of the landlord (I presume not an αὐτουργός)
enriched by the late rise of the prices of corn and wine. He may be
grossly exaggerating the profits of this border-farm: his opponent
would probably be able to cite very different facts from years when
the yield had been poor or prices low. Still, to impress an Athenian
jury, the picture drawn in this speech must at least have seemed a
possible one. The labour on the farm would be mainly that of slaves:
but to this I shall return below. In another speech[459] we hear of a
farmer in the far north, on the SE Crimean coast. The sea-carriage
of 80 jars of sour wine is accounted for by his wanting it for his
farm-hands (ἐργάται). Slaves are probably meant, but we cannot be
sure of it in that slave-exporting part of the world. At any rate he
was clearly farming on a large scale. If he was, as I suppose, a
Greek settler, the case is an interesting one. For it would seem to
confirm the view of Isocrates, that Greek expansion was a feasible
solution of a felt need, provided suitable territory for the purpose
could be acquired; and that of Xenophon, when he proposed to
plant necessitous Greeks in Asiatic lands taken from Persia.
The type of farmer known to us from Aristophanes, who works a
holding of moderate size, a man not wealthy but comfortable, a well-
to-do peasant proprietor who lives among the slaves whose labour
he directs, is hardly referred to directly in the speeches of this
period. Demosthenes[460] in 355 bc makes the general remark ‘You
cannot deny that farmers who live thrifty lives, and by reason of
rearing children and domestic expenses and other public services
have fallen into arrear with their property-tax, do the state less
wrong than the rogues who embezzle public funds.’ But he does not
say that there were many such worthy citizen-farmers, nor does he
(I think) imply it. In a similar passage[461] three years later he
classes them with merchants, mining speculators, and other men in
businesses, as better citizens than the corrupt politicians. Such
references are far too indefinite, and too dependent on the rhetorical
needs of the moment, to tell us much. In one of the earlier private
speeches[462] Demosthenes deals with a dispute of a kind probably
common. It is a neighbours’ quarrel over a wall, a watercourse, and
right of way. To all appearance the farms interested in the rights and
wrongs were not large holdings. They were evidently in a hilly
district. The one to protect which from floods the offending wall had
been built had at one time belonged to a ‘town-bred[463] man’ who
disliked the place, neglected it, and sold it to the father of
Demosthenes’ client. There is nothing to shew that this farm was the
whole of the present owner’s estate: so that it is hardly possible to
classify him economically with any exactitude. We do by chance
learn that he had a staff of slaves, and that vines and fig-trees grew
on the land.
The author of one of the earlier speeches[464] (between 368 and
365 bc) furnishes much more detail in connexion with estates of
what was apparently a more ordinary type. Neighbours are
quarrelling as usual, and we have of course only ex parte
statements. The farms, worked by slave-labour, produce vines and
olives and probably some corn also. The enclosure and tending of
valuable plants is represented as kept up to a high standard.
Incidentally we learn that the staff used to contract[465] for the
gathering of fruit (ὀπώραν) or the reaping and carrying of other
crops (θέρος ἐκθερίσαι), clearly on other estates. The contract was
always made by a person named, who is thereby proved to have
been the real owner of these slaves,—a point in the case. According
to his own account, the speaker had for some time been settled
(κατῴκουν) on the estate. That is, he had a house there and would
sometimes be in residence. The amenities of the place are indicated
by the mention of his young rose-garden, which was ravaged by
trespassers, as were his olives and vines. The house from which they
carried off ‘all the furniture, worth more than 20 minas,’ seems to
have been in Athens, and the mention of the lodging-house
(συνοικία) that he mortgaged for 16 minas shews that his estate was
a mixed one. Country houses were no exceptional thing. A mining
speculator speaks of an opponent[466] as coming to his house in the
country and intruding into the apartments of his wife and daughters.
A party protesting against being struck off the deme-register
says[467] that his enemies made a raid on his cottage in the country
(οἰκίδιον ἐν ἀγρῷ). He is probably depreciating the house, in order
not to have the dangerous appearance of a rich man.
We hear also of farms near Athens, the suburban position of
which no doubt enhanced their value. In the large mixed estate
inherited and wasted by Timarchus, Aeschines[468] mentions (344
bc) a farm only about a mile and a half from the city wall. The
spendthrift’s mother entreated him to keep this property at least: her
wish was to be buried there. But even this he sold, for 2000 drachms
(less than £80). In the speech against Euergus and Mnesibulus the
plaintiff tells[469] how his opponents raided his farm and carried off
50 soft-wooled sheep at graze, and with them the shepherd and all
the belongings of the flock, also a domestic slave, etc. This was not
enough: they pushed on into the farm and tried to capture the
slaves, who fled and escaped. Then they turned to the house, broke
down the door that leads to the garden (κῆπον), burst in upon his
wife and children, and went off with all the furniture that remained
in the house. The speaker particularly points out[470] that he had
lived on the place from childhood, and that it was near the race-
course (πρὸς τῷ ἱπποδρόμῳ). It must then have been near Athens.
The details given suggest that it was a fancy-farm, devoted to the
production of stock valued for high quality and so commanding high
prices. The garden seems to be a feature of an establishment more
elegant than that of a mere peasant farmer. It corresponds to the
rose-bed in a case referred to above: Hyperides[471] too mentions
a man who had a κῆπος near the Academy, doubtless a pleasant
spot. The farm in the plain (ὀ ἐν πεδίῳ ἀγρός)[472] belonging to
Timotheus, and mortgaged by him to meet his debts, is only
mentioned in passing (362 bc) with no details: we can only suppose
it to have been an average holding in the rich lowland.
A few passages require separate consideration in connexion with
the labour-question. In the speech on the Crown (330 bc)
Demosthenes quotes[473] Aeschines as protesting against being
reproached with the friendship (ξενίαν) of Alexander. He retorts ‘I
am not so crazy as to call you Philip’s ξένος or Alexander’s φίλος,
unless one is to speak of reapers or other wage-earners as the
friends of those who hire them ... but on a former occasion I called
you the hireling (μισθωτὸν) of Philip, and I now call you the hireling
of Alexander.’ Here the reaper (θεριστής) is contemptuously referred
to as a mere hireling. Such was the common attitude towards poor
freemen who lived by wage-earning labour,—θῆτες in short. But is it
clear that the μισθωτὸς is necessarily a freeman? The passage cited
above from an earlier speech makes it doubtful. If a gang of slaves
could contract to cut and carry a crop (θέρος μισθοῖντο ἐκθερίσαι),
their owner acting for them, surely they were strictly μισθωτοὶ from
the point of view of the farmer who hired them. They were
ἀνδράποδα μισθοφοροῦντα, to use the exact Greek phrase. In the
speech against Timotheus an even more notable passage[474] (362
bc) occurs. Speaking of some copper said to have been taken in
pledge for a debt, the speaker asks ‘Who were the persons that
brought the copper to my father’s house? Were they hired men
(μισθωτοί), or slaves (οἰκέται)?’ Here, at first sight, we seem to have
the hireling clearly marked off as free. For the argument[475]
proceeds ‘or which of my slave-household (τῶν οἰκετῶν τῶν ἐμῶν)
took delivery of the copper? If slaves brought it, then the defendant
ought to have handed them over (for torture): if hired men, he
should have demanded our slave who received and weighed it.’
Strictly speaking, slaves, in status δοῦλοι, are οἰκέται[476] in relation
to their owner, of whose οἰκία they form a part. But if A in a
transaction with B employed some slaves whom he hired for the
purpose from C (C being in no way personally involved in the case),
would not these[477] be μισθωτοί, in the sense that they were not
his own οἰκέται, but procured by μισθὸς for the job? It is perhaps
safer to assume that in the case before us the hirelings meant by the
speaker are freemen, but I do not think it can be considered certain.
Does not their exemption from liability to torture prove it? I think
not, unless we are to assume that the slaves hired from a third
person, not a party in the case, could be legally put to question.
That this was so, I can find no evidence, nor is it probable. The
regular practice was this: either a party offered his slaves for
examination under torture, or he did not. If he did not, a challenge
(πρόκλησις) was addressed to him by his opponent, demanding their
surrender for the purpose. But to demand the slaves of any owner,
not a party in the case, was a very different thing, and I cannot
discover the existence of any such right. I am not speaking of state
trials, in which the claims of the public safety might override private
interests, but of private cases, in which the issue lay between clearly
defined adversaries. In default of direct and unquestionable
authority, I cannot suppose that an Athenian slaveowner could be
called upon to surrender his property (even with compensation for
any damage thereto) for the purposes of a case in which he was not
directly concerned.
Stray references to matters of land-tenure, such as the letting of
sacred lands[478] (τεμένη) belonging to a deme, are too little
connected with our subject to need further mention here. And a
curious story[479] of some hill-lands (ὄρη) in the district of Oropus,
divided by lot among the ten Tribes, apparently as tribal property, is
very obscure. Such allotments would probably be let to tenants.
What is more interesting in connexion with agriculture is the
references to farming as a means of getting a livelihood, few and
slight though they are. Demosthenes[480] in 349 bc tells the
Assembly that their right policy is to attack Philip on his own ground,
not to mobilize and then await him in Attica: such mobilization would
be ruinous to ‘those of you who are engaged in farming.’ The speech
against Phaenippus[481] shews us an establishment producing corn
and wine and firewood and alleged to be doing very well owing to
the prices then ruling in the market. We have also indications of the
presence of dealers who bought up crops, no doubt to resell at a
profit. From the expressions[482] ὀπώραν πρίασθαι and ὀπωρώνης it
might seem that fruit-crops in particular were disposed of in this
way. Naturally a crop of this sort had to be gathered quickly, and a
field gang would be employed—slaves or freemen, according to
circumstances. For that in these days poverty was driving many a
free citizen[483] to mean and servile occupations for a livelihood, is
not only a matter of certain inference but directly affirmed by
Demosthenes in 345 bc. Aeschines[484] in 344 also denies that the
practice of any trade to earn a bare living was any political
disqualification to a humble citizen of good repute. From such poor
freemen were no doubt drawn casual hands at critical moments of
farm life, analogues of the British hop-pickers[485]. But, with every
allowance for possible occasions of employing free labour,
particularly in special processes where servile apathy was plainly
injurious, the farm-picture in general as depicted in these speeches
is one of slave-labour. And this suggests to me a question in
reference to the disposal of Greek slaves. For the vast majority of
slaves[486] in Greece, whether urban or rustic, were certainly
Barbarians of several types for several purposes. The sale of the
people of captured cities had become quite an ordinary thing. Sparta
had sinned thus in her day of power, and the example was followed
from time to time by others. The cases of Olynthus in 348 bc and
Thebes in 335 fall in the present period. Aeschines mentions[487]
some captives working chained in Philip’s vineyard; but these can
only have been few. The mass were sold, and a large sum of money
realized thereby. At Thebes the captives sold are said to have
numbered 30,000. What markets absorbed these unhappy victims? I
can only guess that many found their way to Carthage and Etruria.
XIX. THE MACEDONIAN PERIOD 322-146 bc.

The deficiency of contemporary evidence illustrating the
agricultural conditions of this troubled age in the Greek world makes
it necessary to combine the various scraps of information in a
general sketch. Hellas had now seen its best days. The break-up of
the great empire of Alexander did not restore to the little Greek
states the freedom of action which had been their pride and which
had been a main influence in keeping up their vitality. The outward
and visible sign of their failure was the impossibility of an
independent foreign policy. The kingdoms of Alexander’s Successors
might rise and fall, but Greek states could do little to affect the
results. A new world was opened to Greek enterprise in the East,
and Greek mercenaries and Greek secretaries traders and officials
were carrying the Greek language and civilization into wide lands
ruled by Macedonian kings. But these were individuals, attracted by
the prospect of a gainful military or civil career. Either they settled
abroad, and drained Greece of some of her ablest sons; or they
returned home enriched, and formed an element of the population
contrasting painfully with those who had stayed behind. In either
case it seems certain that the movement tended to lower the
standard of efficiency and patriotism in their native states. Citizen
armies became more and more difficult to maintain. The influx of
money no longer locked up in Oriental treasuries only served to
accentuate the old social distinction[488] of Rich and Poor. Men who
came back with fortunes meant to enjoy themselves, and they did:
the doings of the returned soldier of fortune were proverbial, and a
fruitful theme for comic poets. But the spectacle of wanton luxury
was more likely to lure enterprising individuals into ventures abroad
than to encourage patient industry at home. And there is little doubt
that such was the general result. The less vigorous of the poor
citizens remained, a servile mob, ever ready by grovelling
compliments to earn the bounties of kings.
Political decay and changes of social circumstance were
accompanied by new movements in the sphere of thought. It is
generally observed that in this period philosophy more and more
appeals to the individual man, regardless of whether he be a citizen
or not. How far this movement arose out of changed conditions may
be open to difference of opinion: but, as usual in human affairs,
what began as an effect continued to operate as a cause. The rapid
spread of the Greek tongue and Greek civilization eastwards, known
as Hellenizing, was a powerful influence promoting cosmopolitan
views. Alien blood could no longer form an unsurmountable barrier:
the Barbarian who spoke Greek and followed Greek ways had won a
claim to recognition, as had already been foreseen by the mild
sincerity[489] of Isocrates. But these half-Greeks, some of them even
of mixed blood, were now very numerous. They competed with
genuine Hellenes at a time when the pride of the genuine Hellene
was ebbing: even in intellectual pursuits, in which the Hellene still
claimed preeminence, they were serious and eventually successful
rivals. It is no wonder that earlier questionings took new life, and
that consciousness of common humanity tended to modify old-
established sentiment, even on such subjects as the relation of
master and slave. It was not merely that the philosophic schools
from different points of view, Cynic Cyrenaic Stoic Epicurean,
persistently regarded man as a mental and moral unit, whatever his
political or social condition might be. The fragments and echoes of
the later Comedy suffice to shew how frankly the slave could be
presented on the public stage as the equal, or more than equal, of
his master.
The foundation of new cities by the Successor-kings was another
influence acting in the same direction. These were either royal
capitals or commercial centres, or both, like Alexandria. Others were
important from their situation as strategic posts, such as Lysimacheia
by the Hellespont or Demetrias commanding the Pagasaean gulf.
Competing powers could not afford to wait for gradual growth; so
great efforts were made to provide populations for the new cities
without delay. Sometimes multitudes were transplanted wholesale
from older communities. In any case no strict inquiry into the past
condition of transplanted persons can have taken place. In Sicily we
know that Syracuse had become the one great centre of what
remained of Greek power in that island. But, what with incorporation
of foreign mercenaries and enfranchisement of slaves, what with
massacres of Greek citizens, the population of Syracuse was a
mongrel mob. Such, if in a less degree, were the populations of the
new cities of the kings. There was nothing national about them. In
some, for instance Alexandria, a rabble wavering between apathy
and ferocity was a subject of concern to the government. Others
were more noted as centres of industry: such were some of those in
Asia Minor. But common to them all was the condition, a momentous
change from a Greek point of view, of dependence. They were not
states, with a policy of their own, but parts of this or that kingdom.
However little their overlord might interfere with their internal
affairs, still it was he, not they, that stood in relation to the world
outside. They were not independent: but as a rule they were
prosperous. In the new world of great state-units they filled a
necessary place, and beside them the remaining state-cities of the
older Greek world were for the most part decaying. These for their
own protection had to conform their policy to that of some greater

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About This Book................................................................................................................1

3 Landlords and Tenants.............................................................................................33

10 Cars and Driving...........................................................................................................221

12 Health Care Directives and Powers of Attorney.........................273

14 Spouses and Partners.............................................................................................. 311

16 Courts and Mediation............................................................................................377

17 Criminal Law and Procedure........................................................................... 413

A Appendix: Legal Research...................................................................................457

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Landlords and Tenants 3

or rental agreement will cover important

Leases and Rental Agreements What’s the difference between a rental

XVIII. THE LATER ATTIC ORATORS.

XIX. THE MACEDONIAN PERIOD 322-146 bc.

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