Chapter 1- Intro

Question 1

Airspace

Answer 1

The right to the use of the airspace above the surface of the earth.
It is real property.
Courts exercise reasonable height but have restrictions
Ex. ‘Air highways’ for airplane transportation
Ex. Condominiums

Question 2

Base Lines

Answer 2

A horizontal line that runs east and west from any one of three starting points in California.
Each base line is marked in 6 mile increments.
Every 6 mile increment is called a range and each range is 6 miles in length.
It is possible to move east or west a designated number of ranges from any starting point.

Question 3

Acre

Answer 3

One acre is 43,560 square feet; 4,840 square yards

An acre is an area of land that contains 43,560 sq ft.

If land is bigger than 43,560 sq ft, there is more than an acre of land

Question 4

Bill of Sale

Answer 4

The receipt when buying personal property.

The bill of sale states that the goods have been paid for and that no outstanding loans exist on the personal property.

It is always considered good practice to obtain a bill of sale

Transfers Title of Personal Property

Question 5

Bundle of Rights

Answer 5

Beneficial interests or rights attached to the ownership of real property.
Ownership is a bundle of rights.

“Property” is defined as the ‘rights and interests that a person has in the thing owned’.

Bundle of Rights Theory – views property ownership rights as a large bundle of sticks, where each ‘stick’ is a property right. Individually, these rights represent various, specific forms of ownership; the more of these you hold, the more completely you own the property. So if you lease the property to someone, you give up one of your ‘sticks’ (the right of possession). The basic rights of ownership include the rights of:

1. Possession (the right to occupy, rent, or keep others out)
2. Enjoyment (the right to ‘peace and quiet’ without interference from past owners and others)
3. Control (the right to physically change or keep the property the way you like it)
4. Disposition (the right to transfer all or part of your property to others as you see fit)

Question 6

Chattel or Chattel Real

Answer 6

There are two types of property: real property and personal property, formerly called ‘chattel’ or ‘chattel real’.

Chattel Real: A personal property interest related to real estate, such as a lease on real property

Chattels: Goods or every species of property movable or immovable that are not real property

Question 7

Commission

Answer 7

An amount paid, usually as a percentage of the selling price, to a broker for services. The broker is responsible for paying his or her salespeople their part of any commissions.

The maximum commission that can be charged by a real estate broker in the sale of residential 1-4 property is negotiable between the principal and broker.

Question 8

Condominium

Answer 8

A system of individual fee ownership of units in a multi-family structure, combined with joint ownership of common areas of the structure and the land (sometimes referred to as a Vertical subdivision).

Inside a condominium, one only owns the airspace (area within the finished walls). The owner also owns a fractional share of the entire project (common area). Each owner may use the airspace within his or her unit in any manner he or she wishes, unless it violates the bylaws of the homeowner’s group.

Question 9

Emblements

Answer 9

Are planted growing crops that are cultivated annually by a tenant farmer on leased land.

Unlike landscaping, these crops belong to the tenant even after the expiration of the lease.

If previously contracted for sale, the ‘fruit’ of a commercial orchard may be personal property, but the trees upon which it grows are real property.

Question 10

Fixtures

Answer 10

Are items of personal property that are attached to, or incorporated into, the land in such a manner as to become real property.

The courts use these five tests to determine item as a fixture: 
1. Method of attachment
2. Adaptability
3. Relationship of the parties 
4. Intention
5. Agreement 
(M.A.R.I.A.) 

Cost, size, and time installed are NOT tests in determining of something is a fixture (real property)

Question 11

Meridian Lines

Answer 11

Vertical lines that run north and south from any one of the three starting points in California

Meridians are also marked off in increments of 6 miles each, but each 6 mile increment north or south on a meridian is called township or tier

Question 12

Metes and Bounds

Answer 12

Is the oldest and least reliable method of identifying (describing) property by its boundaries, distances, and angles from a given starting point.

Surveyor’s Maps
In the past, surveyors often used natural objects as a starting point in their descriptions
Measuring boundaries

Question 13

Personal Property

Answer 13

Any property that is movable and cannot be properly classified under the definition of real property.

Items such as clothes, furniture, and automobiles are tangible and easily movable.

Personal Property can also be documents that represent value, such as stocks, bonds, or leases.

Minerals, oil, and gas when extracted, are also considered personal property.

An instrument used to secure a loan on personal property is called a ‘security agreement’

Question 14

Potable Water

Answer 14

refers to water that is suitable for human consumption

Question 15

Range

Answer 15

A strip of land 6 miles wide determined by a government survey, running in a north-south direction.

Question 16

Real Property

Answer 16

The right or interest that a person has in the land or anything attached to the land.

1. Land
2. Anything permanently attached or affixed to the land
3. Anything incidental or appurtenant to the land
4. Immovable by law

Question 17

Riparian Rights

Answer 17

The right of a landowner to the reasonable use of moving, free flowing water on, under, and adjacent to his/her land (like a river or stream within the watershed), provided that its use does not infringe on the rights of any neighboring landowners.

Riparian rights can be severed by condemnation or prescription.

Riparian rights refer to moving water (rivers and streams)

Riparian rights include the right to a reasonably ‘appropriate’ water as needed

Question 18

Rod

Answer 18

One rod is 16.5 feet long (5.5 yards).

There are four rods, or 66 feet, to one chain, and 320 rods to a mile.

Question 19

Section

Answer 19

One square mile of land consisting of 640 acres. There are 36 sections in a township.

A section contains 640 acres
1/2 section = 320 acres
1/4 section = 160 acres

Question 20

Township

Answer 20

When a tier intersects with a range, the result is a 6 mile by 6 mile square of land known as a township. Each township contains 36 sq miles.

Township lines divide the land into a series of east-west strips, called tiers.

Townships are the main divisions of land in the rectangular survey system.

Each township is identified according to its distance from the principal meridian and base line.

The location of any township is determined by its distance from the nearest base line and meridian line.

Question 21

Trade Fixtures

Answer 21

Personal property used in the normal course of business, such as shelving or refrigeration units.

A tenant may remove any trade fixture he or she installed provided the real property is left in the same condition as he or she found it.

Trade fixtures are an exception to the rules of personal property

A ‘bill of sale’ transfers trade fixtures because they are personal property