Laws relating to the ownership and acquisition of property are some of the oldest and most specific laws in this country. Their roots trace back to early English law and its attempt to develop a legal system that would assure individuals security in their possessions, as well as the means to transfer ownership of these possessions to others, including at death.

These early laws were first enacted to deal with what the law labels as “personal” possessions. Personal possessions are basically everything that a person or organization might own other than land and the things attached to land. For example, the hospital district’s automobiles, computers, hospital beds, and other supplies are commonly referred to as “personal". The law also commonly refers to such property as “chattel”, with the story going that this term comes from the ancient effort to develop laws affecting the transfer and possession of cattle.

But, as society moved to a stronger and more permanent dependence on land in its economic order, the law needed to develop an even stricter set of requirements governing how such a valuable possession would be owned and transferred. The importance of legal form in real estate is demonstrated merely by the fact that real estate is transferred by delivery of a formal legal document called a deed, while personal property is frequently transferred without even benefit of a written contract. It is important to remember that “land” is defined as including everything that is attached to the earth, such as trees, buildings, minerals, and even air.

Most property laws affect hospital districts in the same way that such laws affect any organization or person. However, there are a series of special laws affecting the hospital district in its management of both real estate and personal property. These laws are discussed below using the traditional split between issues dealing with real estate and those relating to personal property.