2 Property Ownership And Interests Flashcards
Bundle of legal rights
- Disposition
- Exclusion
- Enjoyment
- Possession
- Control
Water rights
- Riparian - Rivers
- Littoral - Lakes/Oceans
- Doctrine of Prior Appropriation
Riparian Rights
An owner‘s rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river, or lake. These rights include access to an use of the water. If the waterway is non-navigable the owner owns the land under the water to the exact center of the waterway.
Littoral Rights
Landowners claim to use water in large navigable lakes and oceans adjacent to the property. The ownership rights to land bordering these bodies of water up to the average high-water mark
Accretion
Gradual increase in land resulting from the deposit of soil by water.
Erosion
Gradual wearing away of land caused by flowing water or other natural forces.
Reliction
Land that shows up in a new place after water recedes. 
Avulsion
When a sudden act of nature such as a flood or avalanche removes soil.
True or False
Water rights cannot be retained when the property is transferred.
True
Doctrine of appropriation
Water rights are determined by priority of beneficial use. The first person to use water or divert water for a beneficial use our purpose can acquire individual rights to the water.
Fructus Naturales
Trees, perennial bushes, and grasses that do not require annual cultivation.
Fructus Industriales
Annual crops such as wheat, corn, vegetables, and fruit. Also known as emblements.
Fixtures Total circumstance test
IRMA
- Intent of annexor
- Relationship to annexor
- Method of annexation
- Adaptation to real estate
Chattel Fixture
Trade Fixture. Article owned by a tenant and attached to a rented space or building for use in conducting a business.
Accession
When trade fixtures are not removed at the end of a lease and become the owner‘s property.
Severance
Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching it from the land. Cutting down a tree.
Annexation
The process of converting personal property into real property. Bushes that were bought by the owner then planted in the ground.
Freehold Estate
Ownership interest of at least a lifetime.
Fee Simple Absolute Estate
Highest and best form of ownership. Entitled to all rights in the property.
Fee Simple Defeasible Estate
Estate that may be lost on the occurrence or non-occurrence of a special event.
2 types of Fee Simple Defeasible Estates
- Fee Simple Subject To The Condition Of
2. Fee Simple Determinable
Fee simple subject to a condition of
An estate that dictates some action or activity that the new owner must not perform. Not automatically returned to owner if violated. 
Fee simple determinable
An estate that requires a specified activity or land use continue. I.e. church or school.
True or False
Fee Simple determinable estates are not automatically returned to the owner if the special condition ceases to exist.
False. They are easily taken back if violated.
Which stick of the Bundle of Rights pertains to fee simple determinable estates?
Control
Estate pur autre vie
For the life of another. The life tenant owns the property for the duration of the lifetime of a third-party.
Life Estate
A freehold estate that is limited in duration to the life of the new owner or to the life or lives of some other designated person or persons
Conventional life estate
Created by grant from the current owner of the fee simple estate. Current owner retains revisionary interest in the property or names of remainderman.
Marital life estate
Created by law when a spouse dies without a will.
Ownership in severalty
When title to real estate is owned by one person or a single entity.
Concurrent ownership
When title to real estate is vested in or owned by two or more persons or entities. 
Forms of Concurrent Ownership 
- Tenancy in common
- Joint tenancy
- Tenancy by the entirety
Tenancy in common
Co-owners that have unity of possession but may have an equal shares. When a co-owner dies their interest is passed to their heirs.
Joint tenancy
Co-owners have equal shares and the right of survivorship EXCEPT in NC. Must have been acquired all at the same time.
Tenancy by entirety
Limited to ownership of legally married couples. Must be married at the time of ownership.
Condo ownership
Ownership of unit or air space and common areas/elements.
Townhouse ownership
Owns unit, exterior surfaces, and the specific portion of land on which its built.
Who owns townhouse common areas?
The HOA
1986 NC Condo Act
- Application
- Public Offering Statement
- Purchaser’s right to cancel
- Escrow of deposit
- Resale certificates
NC Time Share Act
- 5 day right to rescission
- 10 day escrow requirement
- Public offering statement
- Must be registered with the state
- Must renew registration certificate every June
True or False
A timeshare sales person must provide a public offering statement to a perspective buyer prior to showing or sharing project info.
False
It is provided prior to contract
What is a Trust?
A fiduciary arrangement that allows a third-party (trustee) to hold assets on behalf of a beneficiary
