Chapter 3: Encumbrances on Real Property

Question 1

A tax levied according to value, generally used to refer to real estate tax.

Answer 1

ad valorem taxes

Question 2

(1) The imposition of a tax, charge, or levy, usually according to established rates. (2) Official valuation of property for the purpose of establishing assessed value for tax purposes.

Answer 2

assessment

Question 3

Clause placed in a ded by the owner to control the future uses of the property. Restrictive covenant: Private agreements usually imposed by the owner when property is sold that limits the way the real estate ownership may be used; frequently used by owner/developer to maintain specific standards in a subdivision. The convenants are appurtenant. Also called protective covenants.

Answer 3

deed restrictions

Question 4

A property that includes in its ownership the appurtenant right to use an easement over another person’s adjacent property (calledthe servient tenement) for a specific purpose; ownership of the easement runs with the land.

Answer 4

dominant tenement

Question 5

A right to limited use and enjoyment of the land of another for a specific purpose without ownership; a nonpossessory interest in real estate. Two types of easements are easement appurtenant and easement in gross.

Answer 5

easement

Question 6

An easement that runs with the land; the easement is part of both the dominant and the servient tracts and conveys with the title to either tenement.

Answer 6

easement appurtenant

Question 7

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment of a parcel of real esate; i.e., to allow a landlocked owner a right of ingress and egress over a grantor’s land.

Answer 7

easement by necessity

Question 8

An easaement acquired through adverse use of another’s property for a period of 20 or more years in North Carolina.

Answer 8

easement by prescription

Question 9

An easement that is not created for the benefit of any land owned by the owner of the easement but that attached personally to the easement owner. There is no dominant tract; the easement attaches to the servient tract. Personal easement in gross is not assignable; a commercial easement in gross is assignable.

Answer 9

easement in gross

Question 10

An unauthorized intrusion of an improvement, or any part of an improvement, on the real property of another party; can make title to both parcels unmarketable. Best discovered by survey.

Answer 10

encroachment

Question 11

Any charge, claim, lien, or liability held by someone other than the owner of property that may diminish the value or use and enjoyment of a property. May not prevent the transfer of title.

Answer 11

encumbrance

Question 12

The right of a creditor to have all of a debtor’s current and future property for the next 10 years–both real and personal–sold to satisfy a debt; i.e. judgment lien.

Answer 12

general lien

Question 13

The formal decision of a court upon the respective rights and flaims of the parties to an action or a suit. After a judgment has been entered and recorded with the county recorder, it becomes a general involuntary lien on the current and future real and person property of the debtor in the county where recorded for the next 10 years.

Answer 13

judgment

Question 14

(1) A privilege or right granted to a person by a state to operate as a real estate broker. (2) The personal revocable nontransferable right to a temporary use of another’s land–apersonal right that cannot be sold.

Answer 14

license

Question 15

A right given by law to certain creditors to have their debts paid out of the property of a defaulting debtor, usually by means of a court sale. An encumbrance on real property that can be general or specific.

Answer 15

lien

Question 16

A title insurance entity that is designated under the North Carolina Mechanic’s Lien Law by a real proparty owner to receive notifications of possible mechanics’ liens from construction project vendors.

Answer 16

lien agent

Question 17

A recorded legal document giving constructive notice that an action potentially affecting title to a particular property has been filed in either a state or a federal court’ title is effectively unmarketable during the litigation.

Answer 17

lis pendens

Question 18

The North Carolina General Statutes that govern the ad valorem taxation of property.

Answer 18

Machinery Act

Question 19

A valuation technique sometimes used for tax assessment purposes that applies a standard percentage increase or decrease to all property in a given location; sometimes referred to as horizontal adjustments.

Answer 19

mass appraisal

Question 20

A specific, involuntary lien secured by interest in real property to give security to contractos, laborers, and materialmen who have performed work or furnished materials in the erection or repair of a building.

Answer 20

mechanic’s lien

Question 21

One-tenth of one cent. Some states use a mill rate to compute real estate taxes; for example, a rate of 52 mills would be $0.052 tax for each dollar of assessed valuation of a property.

Answer 21

mill

Question 22

In North Carolina, the statutory reappraisal of all real property in every county every eight years for tax purposes.

Answer 22

octennial reappraisal

Question 23

The order of position or time. The priority of liens is generally determined by the chronological order in which the lien documents are recorded. Property tax and assessment liens have priority even over previously recorded liens.

Answer 23

priority

Question 24

Land on which an easement exists in favor of an adjacent property (called the dominant tenement); aslo called a servient estate or tract. Easement runs with the land.

Answer 24

servient tenement

Question 25

A tax or levy customarily imposed against only those specific parcels of real estate that will benefit from a proposed public improvement like a street or sewer.

Answer 25

special assessments

Question 26

A lien affecting or attaching only to a specific parcel of land or piece of real property; i.e. mortgage lien.

Answer 26

specific lien

Question 27

A statutory lien against real property for nonpayment of taxes. Real and personal property tax liens and assessments take priority over all other liens. Real property tax and assessment liens are specific liens; personaly property tax liens are general liens.

Answer 27

tax lien

Question 28

At the request of a creditor, the court retains custody of the unsecured property during the lawsuit to ensure that the property remains available to satisfy a judgment ordered as resolution of the suit by the court. A recorded writ is an encumbrance on the property.

Answer 28

writ of attachment

Question 29

A court order directing the county sheriff to sell a defendant’s property as required by judgment or court decree.

Answer 29

writ of execution