Chapter 1

Question 1

Fixtures

Answer 1

(ceiling Fans) are personal property attached to real property and legally treated as real property while attached. Fixtures, not explicitly excepted from an accepted offer to purchase, pass with the real estate. An example of a fixture would be a ceiling fan, as it is an item that was movable but now is attached to the property. Other examples could be a faucet or a clawfoot tub. In residential leasing, tenants’ fixtures are usually considered part of real estate (real estate). Therefore, they remain at the end of the lease.

Question 2

Trade fixtures

Answer 2

(display cabinets) - are personal property used in a business attached to the property but removable upon sale as part of the business and not the real estate. Trade fixtures differ from other fixtures in that they may be removed from the real estate (making it personal property, even if attached) at the end of the business’s tenancy.

Question 3

TRIPLE A”

Answer 3

a method courts to determine if something is a fixture:

Question 4

Annexation

Answer 4

Can it be removed without causing damage?

Question 5

Adaptation:

Answer 5

Is it customized for the property, or is it standard?

Question 6

Agreement

Answer 6

What was their intention?

Question 7

Emblements

Answer 7

(crops, corn, wheat) are annual crops grown by a tenant on another’s land considered the tenant’s personal property. If the land is sold or is foreclosed on, the tenant is still entitled to finish raising the crops and harvest them

Question 8

Attachment

Answer 8

(trees, shrubs) - are anything attached to the property, either added by the owner or others or are naturally part of the property.

Question 9

Severance

Answer 9

(the opposite of attachment - partition or separation.) - taking an item attached to the land and removing it as personal property. While the items may have been an attachment, when it is removed, it becomes personal property, meaning she can take it with her when she sells her property. A hot tub is a typical example. The current owner (seller) could leave the hot tub as an attachment but might choose to take it with them as personal property.

Question 10

Bill of sale

Answer 10

Document used to purchase personal property) is a legal document that shows that a person sold a possession to someone else and was paid for the item. A bill of sale is commonly used when a buyer of a home wants to buy the owner’s personal property

Question 11

Annexation

Answer 11

is the addition to property by attaching a smaller item to the larger property, as in attaching personal property to real property, thereby creating a fixture. The term is usually used to signify connecting a smaller or item to a larger one. For example, a smaller piece of land may be annexed to a larger one, like a city adding additional land to increase its size.

Question 12

Annexation

Answer 12

is used to describe how a chattel is joined to property. For example, a sink becomes a fixture when it is annexed to the plumbing and is therefore real property.

Question 13

Scarcity

Answer 13

(in short supply) where demand is great – (a lot in Manhattan is more valuable than a lot in upstate New York). Scarcity is usually based on geographic considerations.

Question 14

Modification

Answer 14

(improvements - swimming pool) - land use and value are greatly influenced by man’s improvements to land and surrounding parcels of land.

Question 15

Fixity

Answer 15

(attached to the land) - land and buildings and other improvements to land are considered fixed or permanent investments – they are not liquid assets.

Question 16

Situs

Answer 16

(location, location, location!) location preference, or location from an economic rather than a geographic standpoint.

Question 17

Immobility

Answer 17

(land can’t be moved) Since land cannot be moved, the land (property) location has an enormous influence on its value.

Question 18

Indestructibility

Answer 18

land is durable and indestructible) While the surface can be damaged; it can’t be destroyed.

Question 19

Nonhomogeneity

Answer 19

(all property is unique, like a snowflake) Just like a fingerprint, no two pieces of land are the same. Two pieces of property may look the same, but they are not. For one thing, their location is different.

Question 20

Legal Descriptions

Answer 20

is created and determined by a surveyor. It is a necessary part of a contract or conveyance (deed, listing, sales contract, etc.) for that document to be enforceable. It is such certainty and accuracy that one can go to the ground and identify the land. The following methods of land description are legal:

Question 21

Metes and Bounds

Answer 21

uses monuments - tree - rock) a method of surveying land that is centuries old. Metes and bounds legal descriptions begin by specifying some identifiable point of beginning on the ground referred to as a monument. This starting point may be a natural monument, like a tree, or an artificial monument, like a road or a stake placed by a surveyor. Metes and bounds were the principal way to measure land before the Land Act of 1785.

Question 22

Lot, block, and tract

Answer 22

(recorded map method) This is the most common description used in residential listing agreements.

Question 23

Rectangular Survey System

Answer 23

grid of lines) divides a district into 24-square mile quadrangles from the meridian (north-south line) and the baseline (east-west line). The Rectangular Survey System, or Government Survey System, uses baselines, meridians, townships, and sections.

Question 24

Townships and Sections

Answer 24

are located in Ranges

Question 25

section

Answer 25

contains 640 acres, which is 1 square mile

Question 26

One township

Answer 26

contains 36 sections (6 x 6 miles)

Question 27

Each acre

Answer 27

contains 43,560 square feet.

Question 28

Base and Meridian:

Answer 28

Imaginary lines used by surveyors to find and describe private or public lands’ location. In government surveys, a baseline runs due east and west, meridians run due north and south, and establish township boundaries.

Question 29

Government Survey

Answer 29

A method of specifying the location of parcels of land using prime meridians, baselines, standard parallels, guide meridians, townships, and sections.

Question 30

Lots and Blocks

Answer 30

A legal description of land used for plotted properties, stating the number, lot, and block in a particular subdivision.

Question 31

Metes and Bounds

Answer 31

A term used in describing the boundary lines of land, setting forth all the boundary lines together with their terminal points and angles. Metes (length or measurements) and Bounds (boundaries) description is often used when a great deal of accuracy is required.

Question 32

Section

Answer 32

Section of land is established by government survey, contains 640 acres and is one-mile square.

Question 33

Survey

Answer 33

The process by which a parcel of land is measured and its area is ascertained; also, the blueprint showing the measurements, boundaries, and area.

Question 34

Townships:

Answer 34

In the survey of public lands of the United States, a territorial subdivision six miles long, six miles wide, and containing 36 sections, each one-mile square, located between two range lines and two township lines.

Question 35

Public Controls – Governmental Powers

Answer 35

Police power, eminent domain, taxation, escheat

Question 36

PETE.

Answer 36

P for Police Power
E for Eminent Domain
T for Taxation
E for Escheat

Question 37

Police Power

Answer 37

is the power given to a municipality to regulate and control the character and use of property for the health, safety, and general welfare of the public. Police power provides the government with the right to establish building codes. Specific construction requirements are set by building codes (plumbing, electrical, etc.)

Question 38

Eminent Domain

Answer 38

is the government’s right to take private property for public use through the action of condemnation. This is the only time the government must compensate property owners. Eminent Domain refers to the inherent right of the government to take private property for public use

Question 39

Taxation

Answer 39

Taxation is a charge on real estate used to pay for the government’s services. Property taxes are the highest priority lien on real property. Unpaid taxes create an automatic lien on property. At foreclosure, property taxes are always paid first.

Question 40

Escheat -

Answer 40

Property reverts to the state when someone dies leaving no will and no heirs or kindred. Escheat can also be used if a property is abandoned. The purpose of escheat is to ensure that no land remains unowned.

Question 41

Condemnation

Answer 41

is the legal process and procedure used by public or private entities with the power of eminent domain to take a landowner’s land. When an individual forces the government to buy his or her property, this is called inverse condemnation. Condemnation occurs when a local, state or federal government seizes private property and compensates the owner. The government will take an easement by condemnation for itself, the utilities, or the railroads.

Question 42

Zoning

Answer 42

is the most common example of police power. Zoning regulations are local laws to control land use. For example: R-1 zoning means residential, single-family only. A change in zoning may result in a non-conforming use. This use was permissible under former rules, but new rules prohibit it. A non-conforming use is allowed to continue as it is considered grandfathered.

A conditional use or special use can be granted by a zoning committee or deed restrictions. This use would benefit the neighborhood, like a school within a residential neighborhood. Another conditional use is a PUD – a planned unit development. An extra tax may apply to property owners in a PUD.

Question 43

buffer zone

Answer 43

is an area of land separating one land use from another, such as residential from commercial. The buffer zone is located between incompatible uses. Example: single family, apartments, retail. The apartments are the buffer zone.

Question 44

, private land-use controls

Answer 44

regulating land use are put into place by nongovernmental entities, such as real estate developers.

Question 45

Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions,

Answer 45

CC&Rs that are contained in a dedicatory instrument whether mandatory, prohibitive, permissive, or administrative are known as restrictive covenants.

Question 46

Restrictive covenants

Answer 46

restrict how a buyer can use the property they are buying. A restrictive covenant could prevent a buyer from cutting down a tree or from making any major changes to a building’s facade, or dictate what kind of fencing is allowed on a property.
The most common way in which restrictive covenants control the way private land use can be regulated is through deed restrictions.

Question 47

Deed restrictions

Answer 47

are nongovernmental limitations that control the land’s use. Some restrictions exist to control and maintain the quality and character of a property or subdivision and may be created by private entities, including the property owners themselves.

Question 48

CC&R’s

Answer 48

are commonly referred to as Deed Restrictions or Deed Covenants

Question 49

HOA

Answer 49

(Home Owner Association) or POA (Property Owner Association) regulations are like deed restrictions but usually apply to condominium complexes and subdivisions.

Question 50

Deed Restrictions

Answer 50

are imposed to control land use, development and methods, and materials for construction. Style and appearance requirements can also be enforced (garages facing the front of the property, etc.). They are found in a recorded document called a Declaration of Restrictions and are imposed by the grantor (seller). Violation can result in a civil court action brought by other property owners who are bound by the same deed restrictions. They control the present and future owners and tenants.

Question 51

reservation

Answer 51

imposed by the grantor (seller), withholds title to a part of the land described in the deed (Example: an easement or mineral rights).

Question 52

encroachment

Answer 52

When a structure or improvement overlaps or trespasses onto another’s property,

Question 53

encroachment

Answer 53

When a structure or improvement overlaps or trespasses onto another’s property,
Encroachments must be disclosed. The determination of an encroachment requires a survey.

Question 54

Important:

Answer 54

A listing agent discloses an encroachment, a buyer’s agent recommends a survey. In the case of an encroachment, the injured party has the right to demand the removal of the encroachment

Question 55

easement

Answer 55

allows limited use or enjoyment of another’s land. It is a right in land and should be created in writing and recorded. It is the use of property, without possession. Easements can be created by express (written or verbal) or implied (by actions or evidence) grant, agreement, reservation, limitation or prescription, necessity, or condemnation. Easements can be terminated by a merger (acquiring the adjacent property), release, or abandonment.

Question 56

Abandonment

Answer 56

is the voluntary relinquishment of rights of ownership or another interest (such as an easement) by failure to use the property, coupled with an intent to abandon (give up the interest).
Dominant and Servient Estates

Question 57

EASMENT EXAMPLES

Answer 57

An easement is a means by which a landowner grants another person the right to use the landowner’s property for a specific purpose. The land on which the easement is granted is referred to as the “servient estate”, and the land the easement benefits is referred to as the “dominant estate”.

For example: if Owner A granted Owner B an easement to cross their land to reach their own property, Owner A’s land would be the servient estate and Owner B would be the dominant estate. The most common reason for this type of easement is entry and exit from the property. This easement is called an Easement Appurtenant. It goes with the land, and the landowner owns the easement.
AS

Question 58

dominant estate

Answer 58

land which benefits from an easement (receives “benefit” of easement)

Question 59

servient estate

Answer 59

= land burdened by easement (“serves” the dominant estate)

Question 60

Easement in Gross

Answer 60

A type of easement that benefits another person rather than a piece of property. Typical easements in gross are utility easements. For example, the electric company needs to lay an electrical line at the front of a homeowner’s property.

Question 61

Easement Appurtenant

Answer 61

An easement appurtenant is an easement for the benefit or another parcel of land, such as the right to cross parcel A to reach parcel B. The easement will pass with the transfer of property to a new owner.

by necessity, to landlocked owners
dominant tenement’s right to use or restrict adjacent servient tenement
attaches to the estate

Question 62

Easement by Prescription

Answer 62

An easement by prescription is the granting of an easement by a court, based on the presumption that a written easement was given (although none existed), after a period of open and continuous use of land.
obtainable through continuous, open, adverse use over a period of time which varies by state
property used without permission; can come to exist regardless of the owner’s consent

Question 63

Easement In Gross

Answer 63

An easement in gross is for the benefit of a person or company, rather than for the benefit of another parcel of land. Commonly, such easements as for public utilities.
does not attach to the estate
personal – not transferable, ends upon the death of easement holder
commercial – transferrable, granted to a business

Question 64

c. Licenses and Encroachments

Answer 64

A license is permission to do a particular act upon the land or property of another. A movie ticket is a license that grants the use of one seat for one performance. A license is similar to an easement, but for a much more limited duration.

Personal right to use a property
does not attach
ceases upon death of owner 
non-transferrable
can be revoked

Question 65

Encroachment

Answer 65

The unauthorized use of another person’s land and in turn violates the property rights of another landowner by building on or extending a structure to the neighbor’s land or property. Encroachment can be a problem along disputed property lines where a person intentionally chooses to violate his neighbor’s boundaries, or when a property owner is not aware of his property boundaries.

Remember: Encroachment occurs when a property owner trespasses onto his or her neighbor’s property by building or extending structures too far.
Structural encroachment occurs when a property owner builds or extends a structure onto public spaces.

Question 66

Adverse Possession (squatter’s rights)

Answer 66

Occurs when a property is acquired from the rightful owner through the Statute of Limitations. Occupancy, often 10 years in Texas, must be hostile, visible or open, actual or notorious, continuous, and distinct for the statutory period.

Question 67

Lis pendens

Answer 67

indicates that a civil action is pending that pertains to the title to real property, the establishment of an interest in real property, or enforcement of an encumbrance against real property.