Up to now we been discussing how a person may claim ownership of a piece of property after living on it and/or using it for three years (חזקת שלש שנים). The Mishnah on daf TB Baba Batra 42 gives us exceptions to the rule who may claim ownership after three years. “Craftsmen who are in possession of items that they are repairing, and partners, and sharecroppers, and stewards [veha’apotropin] do not have the ability to establish the presumption (חֲזָקָה) of ownership with regard to property in their possession, as their possession is not indicative of ownership.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Not granting
partners, sharecroppers, and stewards presumption of ownership makes absolute
sense because of the context. They are always on the property with permission
of the owner; consequently, the owner never feels any need to ever protest.
Context matters
As the
Sesame Street song goes “one of these things is not like the other,” one of the
four examples is not like the other. Craftsmen are not like the other three. Hazakah of three years (חזקת שלש שנים)
doesn’t apply to movable objects. It only applies to land. Rashbam explains why
the craftsman are included in this list. Under normal circumstances possession
is 9/10 of the law. We assume the holder of the object is the owner. At least
back then, a person didn’t require a bill of sale or witnesses to verify the
purchase of a movable object. We believe him when he says, “I bought it.” The
only exception are items that are usually borrowed or rented. In these cases,
we don’t believe him when he says, “I bought it.” (TB Shavu’ot 46b) Context
matters.
Even though
the craftsman deals with movable objects and they are not necessarily things
that are rented or borrowed, this context is like that of the partners,
sharecroppers, and stewards. Let’s take the example of a watch repair person.
Everybody knows that I gave him my Rolex to repair no matter how long it takes
him to do so. I never feel I have to protest him holding onto my broken watch because
that’s his job. The watch repair person can never claim that my Rolex is his
just by holding onto it for three years. Context matters
