Lunar Real Estate is a Booming Business

The current real estate market is experiencing a down turn, and buyers everywhere are eagerly snapping up homes and lands for bargain prices. But what if you still can't afford the price of that piece of land you've been eyeing? D you have $19.99? If you do, then you can afford a prime acre on an undeveloped landscape-the Moon. Since 1980, Dennis Hope and The Lunar Embassy have been exploiting a loophole in international law by selling acres of moon property to individuals. Over 4 million people have bought their own piece of earth's only satellite, including such luminaries as Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George Lucas.

The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty prohibits any nation from staking a claim on the moon, but according to Hall, the law does not address the property rights or restrictions of individuals. The Moon Treaty, which would have outlawed private or corporate ownership of outer space properties, was never ratified by any of the nations in the space race. The U.S. specifically refused to sign the treaty claiming that to do so would inhibit commercial exploration of the Moon and its resources. Hall claims that this loophole allows him to sell space on the moon. "It was unowned land," Hall told Discover Magazine. "For private property claims, 197 countries at one time or another had a basis by which private citizens could make a claim on land and not make payments. There are no standardized rules."

It comes as no surprise that less entrepreneurial types don't share Hall's views on Moon ownership. Air and Space Law professor Ram Jakhu doubts that Hall's claims would stand up to international legal scrutiny. "The moon is a common property of the international community, so individuals and states cannot own it."

Hope believes his claim, which he has sent to he UN, is valid, and plans to continue is extraterrestrial real estate business. He claims to currently own 955 planetary bodies and 7 trillion acres. He has recently expanded from outer space real estate to open a World Headquarters branch in the virtual world of Second Life. Hope was also named to the Republican Congressional Business Advisory Council and received the Republican Gold Medal.

If you are interested in your own lunar acre, $19.99 will get you one square acre, a deed, a map of your property and a list of property codes. Owners of lunar acreage are bound by the Galactic Declaration of Independence and extraterrestrial law.