Ch. 2 - Rights in Real Estate

Question 1

What are 4 components of a simple definition of real estate?

Hint: land…

Answer 1

1) Air
2) Water
3) Land
4) Everything affixed to the land

Question 2

Does the legal concept of land include everything beneath the land extending to the center of the earth?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Does the legal concept of land include all natural things permanently attached to the earth?

Answer 3

Yes

Question 4

Under the legal concept of land, what is the max air above the earth that is included?

Answer 4

Infinity

Question 5

What do you call a portion of land delineated by boundaries? (2)

Answer 5

Parcel

Tract

Question 6

What two things does the concept of real estate (not land) encompass?

Answer 6

1) land
2) all man-made structures “permanently” attached to the land (such as fences, streets, buildings, sewers, sidewalks, piers)

Question 7

What does the phrase “permanently attached” refer to primarily?

Answer 7

Ones intention in attaching the item.

Question 8

What is the name for fences, streets, buildings, wells, sewers, sidewalks, piers, etc. on land?

Answer 8

Improvements

Question 9

Property is something that is _____ by someone

If something is abandoned, is it property?

Answer 9

Owned

No

Question 10

Property is not only the item that is owned, but also a set of _____ enjoyed by the owner, often called what?

Answer 10

Rights

Bundle of rights

Question 11

What are the 5 rights in a bundle of rights that one may have in owning property?

Answer 11

1) possess
2) use
3) transfer
4) encumber
5) exclude

Question 12

What are items of personal property called? (2)

Answer 12

Chattels

Personalty

Question 13

In the US, all real estate is owned by some person, private organization, or gov’t entity and thus all real estate in the US is _____.

Answer 13

Property

Question 14

Intangible property is abstract, having no real physical existence in itself, other than as evidence of one’s _____ _____.

Is real estate tangible or intangible property?

Answer 14

Ownership interest (ex: stock certificate, contract, patent)

Tangible (other examples of tangible property are boats, cars, jewelry)

Question 15

The right to use property is limited. One’s right to use may not infringe on the rights of others to ____ and ____ their property.

Answer 15

Use
Enjoy

(ex: can’t build a pond that causes flooding hazard to neighbor)

Question 16

Can you transfer property without transferring total ownership?

Can you transfer ownership while retaining individual interests?

Answer 16

Yes

Yes

Question 17

The right to encumber property essentially means the right to _____ the property as collateral for debt.

Answer 17

Mortgage

Question 18

Surface rights include what 4 types?

hint: the ground…

Answer 18

1) the ground
2) all natural things affixed to the ground
3) all imorovements
4) water rights

Question 19

What type of rights are the right to extract gas and minerals and water beneath the ground from the water table?

Answer 19

Subsurface rights

Question 20

What is the Doctrine of Prior Appropriation?

Hint: it’s about water rights

Answer 20

Some states, especially where water is scarce, take the legal position that the state owns and controls all bodies of water. Property owners must obtain permits for use of water.

Question 21

What are Littoral Rights?

Hint: it’s about water rights

Answer 21

They concern properties a butting bodies of water that are not moving, such as lakes and seas. The abutting owner owns the literal right to use, but not own, the water and land beneath the water. Ownership extends to the high watermark of the water. A common law doctrine.

Question 22

Littoral Rights:

Who owns the water if it’s a navigable lake or sea?

Who owns the water entirely contained within the boundaries of an owner’s property (and thus is not navigable)?

Answer 22

The state

The owner of the property (in such a case the owner owns the water as well as unrestricted rights of usage).

Question 23

Do Littoral Rights attach to the property and sell with it or not?

Answer 23

Yes

Question 24

What are Riparian Rights?

Hint: it’s about water rights

Answer 24

They concern properties abutting moving water such as streams and rivers. These rights also attach to the property and sell with it.

Question 25

How are Riparian Rights determined?

Answer 25

By whether the water is navigable or not navigable. If the property abuts a non-navigable stream, the owner enjoys unrestricted use of the water and owns the land beneath the water to the stream’s midpoint. If the water is navigable, the water is considered to be a public easement, the owner’s property extends to the water’s edge,and the state owns the land beneath the water.

Question 26

Ones Riparian Rights are subject to what 3 conditions?

hint: the usage is ____ and does not infringe on the Riparian rights of other owners downstream

Answer 26

1) the usage is reasonable and does not infringe on the rights of other owners downstream
2) the usage does not pollute the water
3) the usage does not impede or alter the course of the water flow

Question 27

What is the primary criterion for distinguishing between real and personal property?

Answer 27

Whether the item is permanently attached to the land or to structures attached to the land.

(ex: a tree growing in one’s yard is real property. If it’s cut down, it becomes personal property.
Ex: a swimming pool pump on a garage shelf is personal property. When installed in the pool it becomes real property)

Question 28

Are fixtures real or personal property?

Answer 28

Real. It is an item of personal property that has been converted to real property by attachment to real estate.

(ex: chandeliers, toilets, water pumps, septic tanks, window shutters)

Question 29

When selling real property, does the buyer acquire the rights to all fixtures?

Answer 29

Yes. Fixtures not included in the sale must be itemized and excluded in the sale contract.

Question 30

What 5 things does a court look at if the attachment criterion is insufficient to determine whether an article of property is real or personal?

Answer 30

1) intention (one’s original intention can override the test if movability)
2) adaptation (if an item is uniquely adapted to the property, or the property is custom-designed to accommodate the item, it may be deemed real property whether easily removable or not - ex: house keys, a garbage compactor, a removable door screen)
3) functionality (if an item is vital to the operation of the building, it may be deemed a fixture - ex: possible window-unit air conditioners, removable solar panels)
4) relationship of parties (if a tenant installs a fixture in order to conduct business the fixture may be considered a trade fixture, which is personal property)
5) sale or lease contract provisions (in a sale or lease, the listing of an item as personal property or a fixture overrides all other considerations)

Question 31

What are trade fixtures or chattel fixtures?

Answer 31

Items of a tenant’s personal property that the tenant has temporarily affixed to a landlord’s real property in order to conduct business.

Question 32

What if a tenant fails to remove a trade or chattel fixture upon surrendering the leased premises?

Answer 32

It becomes the property of the landlord through accession. Thereafter, it is considered real property.

Question 33

Are plants and crops that grow naturally without requiring anyone’s labor or machinery real or personal property?

Answer 33

Real

Question 34

Are plants and crops requiring human intervention and labor real or personal property?

What are they called?

Answer 34

Personal

Emblements (ex: if an Emblement is owned by a tenant farmer, the tenant has the right to the harvested crop whether the tenant’s least is active or expired)

Question 35

Are factory-built housing constructed off-site and transported to and assemced on a building site (aka mobile homes or manufactured housing) real or personal property?

Answer 35

It depends on whether they are affixed to the ground and on state law.

Question 36

What is it called when real property becomes personal property or vice versa?

What is the more specific word for real property becoming personal property?

What is the more specific word for personal property becoming real property?

Answer 36

Conversion

Severance (ex: cutting down a tree, detaching a door, removing an antenna)

Affixing (ex: assembling a pile of bricks into a BBQ pit, constructing a boat dock from wood planks)

Question 37

Does the federal gov’t levy real estate taxes?

Answer 37

No (state may, but usually is local)