Chapter XV Special Provisions on Acquirement of Ownership

Article 106 Where a person transfers to a transferee immovables or movables which he has no right to dispose of, the owner shall have the right to recover them; except where otherwise provided for by law, the transferee shall acquire ownership of the said immovables or movables under one of the following circumstances:

(1) The transferee is in good faith when the said immovables or movables are transferred to him;

(2) The transfer is made at a reasonable price; or

(3) The said immovables or movables have duely been registered as is required by law, or have been delivered to the transferee where no registration is required.

Where a transferee acquires the ownership of the immovables or movables in accordance with the provisions in the preceding paragraph, the original owner shall have the right to request the person who has no right of disposition to compensate for the losses.

Where a party acquires other property rights in good faith, the preceding two paragraphs shall be applied mutatis mutandis.

Article 107 An owner or any other obligee shall have the right to recover a lost-and-found thing. Where the thing comes to be possessed by another person through transfer, the obligee shall have the right to request the person who has no right of disposition to compensate for the losses or, within two years from the date he becomes, or ought to become, aware of the transferee, request the transferee to return the lost thing, however, if the lost thing is purchased by the transferee at auction or from a qualified seller, the obligee shall, when requesting the transferee to return the original thing, compensate the transferee for the expenses the latter has paid for the thing. After the obligee compensates the transferee for the expenses, he shall have the right to recover the payment he has made from the person who has no right of disposition.

Article 108 After a bona fide transferee acquires a piece of movables, the rights previously attached to the said piece shall extinguish, unless where the bona fide transferee is or ought to be aware of the attached rights at the time of transfer of the piece.

Article 109 A person who finds a lost thing shall return it to the obligee. The finder shall, in a timely manner, give a notice to the obligee asking him to take it back, or deliver it to the public security organ or relevant departments.

Article 110 Where the relevant department that receives a found thing knows who the obligee is, it shall, without delay, give a notice to the obligee to notify the obligee asking him to take the thing back; otherwise, it shall publish a notice of the finding of the lost thing without delay.

Article 111 Before a finder delivers a found thing to the relevant department and before the lost thing is taken back from the department, both the finder and the department shall safekeep the thing. If, the thing in his or its safekeeping is damaged, destroyed or lost intentionally or through gross negligence, he or it shall bear civil liability therefor.

Article 112 When an obligee goes to take back the thing he lost, he shall pay to the finder or the relevant department the necessary expenses entailed by safekeeping, etc.

Where an obligee offers a reward for the finding of the thing he lost, he shall fulfill his obligation as promised when taking the thing back.

Where a finder illegally takes into his own possession a lost thing, he shall have no right to request the expenses paid for the safekeeping of the thing, nor shall he have the right to request the obligee to fulfill the obligation as promised.

Article 113 A lost thing shall belong to the State if no one goes to claim it within six months from the date the notice of the finding of the thing is published.

Article 114 The provisions governing the finding of lost things shall be applied mutatis mutandis to the finding of drift-stuff or buried or hidden things. Where the laws such as the Law on Protection of Cultural Relics provide for otherwise, the provisions there shall prevail.

Article 115 Where the principal part of a thing is transferred, the ancillaries shall be transferred along with it, except where the parties concerned agree otherwise.

Article 116 The natural fruits of a thing shall go to the owner; if there are both owner and usufructuary, the fruits shall go to the usufructuary. Where the parties concerned agree otherwise, their agreement shall prevail.

The statutory fruits of a thing shall go to the party as agreed upon if there is an agreement between the parties concerned; if there is no such agreement or the agreement in this respect is indefinite, the fruits shall be acquired according to the customs of transaction.