Ch 49 Real Property and Landlord-Tenant Relationships

Question 1

What does real property (or realty) consist of?

Answer 1

• Land

- Everything permanently attached to it (including structures and other fixtures)

Question 2

Give an example of real property.

Answer 2

• Airspace
• Subsurface rights
• Rights to plants and vegetation

Question 3

Any limitations in either airspace rights or subsurface rights are called what?

Answer 3

Encumbrances

Question 4

Encumbrances normally must be indicated on what?

Answer 4

The document that transfers title at the time of purchase

Question 5

A subsurface owner has a right go onto the surface of the land to find and remove minerals. What is this right called?

Answer 5

A profit

Question 6

True or false.

One can only possess rights in real property.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

One who possess the entire bundle of rights is said to hold the property in what?

Answer 7

Fee simple (most complete form of ownership)

Question 8

Traditionally, ownership interests in real property were referred to as estates in land, which include what?

Answer 8

1) Fee simple estates
2) Life estates
3) Leasehold estates

Question 9

True or false.

In a fee simple absolute, the owner has the greatest aggregation of rights, privileges, and power possible.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

A person who uses his or her property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with others’ right to use or enjoy their own property can be liable for what tort?

Answer 10

Tort of nuisance

Question 11

What is a life estate?

Answer 11

A life estate is an estate that lasts for the life of some specified individual.

Question 12

What creates a life estate?

Answer 12

A conveyance (a transfer of real property, “to A for his life”)

Question 13

May a life tenant use the land in a manner that would adversely affect its value?

Answer 13

No (has right to use land provided he commits no waste or injury to the land)

Question 14

Persons who share ownership rights simultaneously in particular property (including real property and personal property) are said to have what?

Answer 14

concurrent ownership

Question 15

What are the 2 principal types of concurrent ownership?

Answer 15

tenancy in common and joint tenancy

Question 16

True or false.

Concurrent ownership rights can also be held in a tenancy by the entirety or as community property

Answer 16

True

Question 17

What does the term tenancy in common refer to?

Answer 17

form of co-ownership in which each of two or more persons owns an undivided interest in the property

Question 18

On the death of a tenant in common, does that tenant’s interest in the property pass to the other tenants in common?

Answer 18

No; passes to her or his heirs

Question 19

What does the term joint tenancy refer to?

Answer 19

• form of co-ownership in which each of two or more persons owns an undivided interest in the property
• BUT a deceased joint tenant’s interest passes to surviving joint tenant or tenants

Question 20

What right distinguishes a joint tenancy from a tenancy in common?

Answer 20

Right of survivorship

Question 21

A less common form of shared ownership of real property by husband and wife is a tenancy by the what?

Answer 21

Tenancy by the entirety

Question 22

How does a tenancy by the entirety differ from a joint tenancy?

Answer 22

Neither spouse can separately transfer his/her interest during his/her lifetime unless other spouse consents

Question 23

When is a leasehold estate created?

Answer 23

When a real property owner or lessor (landlord) agrees to convey the right to possess and use the property to a lessee (tenant) for a certain period of time

Question 24

True or false.

In every leasehold estate, the tenant has a qualified right to exclusive, though permanent, possession.

Answer 24

False (“temporary”)

Question 25

With a periodic tenancy, does the lease specify how long it is to last?

Answer 25

No, but does specify that rent is to be paid at certain intervals

Question 26

Signing a one-year lease to occupy an apartment creates a what?

Answer 26

Tenancy for years (fixed-term tenancy)

Question 27

What type of tenancy can arise if a landlord rents property to a tenant “for as long as both agree”?

Answer 27

Tenancy at will

Question 28

What is the mere possession of land without right called?

Answer 28

Tenancy at sufferance

Question 29

Some interests in land do not include any rights to possess the property. What are these interests known as?

Answer 29

nonpossessory interests (basically interests in real property owned by others)

Question 30

Nonpossessory interests include what?

Answer 30

1) Easements
2) Profits
3) Licenses

Question 31

What is an easement?

Answer 31

right of a person to make limited use of another person’s real property without taking anything from the property

Question 32

What is a profit?

Answer 32

right to go onto land owned by another and take away some part of the land itself or some product of the land

Question 33

Give an example of an easement.

Answer 33

right to walk across another’s property

Question 34

True or false.

Easements and profits can be classified as either appurtenant or in gross.

Answer 34

True

Question 35

What is the land that is benefited by the easement called?

Answer 35

Dominant estate

Question 36

What is the land that is burdened by the easement called?

Answer 36

Servient estate

Question 37

What do you call it when the government simply takes private property from a landowner w/o paying any compensation, thereby forcing the landowner to sue the government for compensation?

Answer 37

Inverse condemnation

Question 38

Are zoning restrictions absolute?

Answer 38

NO

Question 39

What can a property owner request when he/she wants to use the land in a manner not permitted by zoning rules?

Answer 39

Variance (allows an exception to the rules)

Question 40

A property owner requesting a variance must demo what three things?

Answer 40

That the requested variance

1) Is necessary for reasonable development
2) Is the least intrusive solution to the problem
3) Will not alter the essential character of the neighborhood