# Lunar real estate

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-real-estate/193096>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 5, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-real-estate/193096 "2003-08-05T13:12:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JAPrufrock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@JAPrufrock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JAPrufrock)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-real-estate/193096/1 "2003-08-05T13:12:12Z")

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I saw some nut on the Conan Obrien show the other day (it was a repeat on Comedy Central, so I’m assuming it aired originally on Friday). He had some guy who is selling real estate on the moon, Mars, Jupiter, etc. Now, I know it sounds insane, and there’s no way I’d spend a dime on this crazy scheme, but the guy kept insisting that he had a slew of lawyers, and that he won court cases, etc. He said this had something to do with a UN law that excluded nations from owning any astral bodies, but that they failed to mention individuals. He also went on to say that a major hotel chain purchased a bunch of land on the moon.

I was only glancing at the show sporadically while surfing the web, so I’m not sure how much of the details I’m getting correct, but, as bizarre as the guy’s claims are, is it possible he really owns this property? What are the legalities here?

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**Author:** ![bustmeanoreo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bustmeanoreo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bustmeanoreo)\
**Post date:** [August 5, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lunar-real-estate/193096/2 "2003-08-05T16:06:50Z")

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yup, loads of companies sell lunar lots, see - [http://www.lunarembassy.com](http://www.lunarembassy.com)

in regards to legalities, look here - [http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/lunar\_real\_estate\_buyer\_beware.shtml](http://www.spacefuture.com/archive/lunar_real_estate_buyer_beware.shtml)

> [@](#):
>
> The whole extraterrestrial real estate affair is in fact a legal non-issue. As nemo dat quod non habet, the lunar wills and deeds have no legal effect - or at least not the legal effect of endowing people with extraterrestrial properties. They need not to be formally declared void; they are already so. Should a contract be made in fraud of third persons, it is void ab initio; “[n]o person’s rights can be affected by it, whether he be a party or a stranger43”. Local councils do not sue “Monopoly” players for “buying” and “owning” High Street - as long as the “gameboard owners” do not squat the real-world High Street. As shown above, Hope’s “lunar deeds” are to be seen as what they really are: jocandi causa “gameboard certificates”.