Chapter 8 - Property Rights: Estates, Tenancies, and Multiple Ownership Interests Flashcards
In medieval times, kings and landlords owned the land, and the common people worked the land under the ___________________ of ownership.
Feudal system
In the United States today the ____________________ which grew out of the English feudal system, allocates full property ownership rights to private individuals.
Allodial system
What does land refer to?
The surface of the earth and everything attached to it by nature (trees and lakes)
Products of nature beneath the surface (oil and limestone)
What does real estate refer to?
The land and all improvements permanently attached to the land (human-made such as homes, factories, fences, streets, sewers, etc)
What does real property refer to?
All real estate plus the legal bundle of rights inherent in the ownership of real estate (legal interests, rights, and privileges associated with the ownership of real estate)
What are the physical components of land?
Surface rights
Subsurface rights
Air rights
What are surface rights?
Include land and water
What are the two types of water rights?
Riparian rights (land abutting the banks of a river, stream, or other watercourse) Littoral rights (land abutting tidal bodies of water such as an ocean, sea, or lake)
What are subsurface rights?
Owner’s rights to underground minerals, petroleum, natural gas, etc.
What are air rights?
Involve that space above a tract, extending up to a height established by law (e.g. building rights, easements, aerial navigation)
What are the two basic types of assets?
Real property
Personal property
What is personal property?
Anything that is not real property (a savings account, a car, jewelry, etc)
What are fixtures?
Objects that were personal property but have been permanently attached to or made part of real property and thus are now real property (ex. bathtub)
What is a trade fixture?
An article that is attached by a commercial tenant as a necessary part of the tenant’s trade or business and is personal property
What do the real property ownership rights (bundle of rights) include?
Right of disposition
Right of use (control)
Right of possession
Right of exclusion (quiet enjoyment)
What is the right of disposition?
Permits the owner to sell, mortgage, dedicate, give away, or otherwise dispose of all or any portion of the property
What is the right of use?
Entitles the owner to uninterrupted use and control of his land in any manner consistent with local laws
What is the right of possession?
Allows an owner to occupy the premises in privacy with maximum legal control over entry and use of that property
What is the right of exclusion?
Form recognition that “a man’s home is his castle”; an owner has the right to control entry onto his land without interference and to collect damages for certain forms of trespass
What is a freehold estate?
Ownership interest for an indefinite period
What is a fee simple estate?
The most comprehensive collection of real property freehold rights; absolute and complete ownership, subject only to governmental restrictions (taxation and police powers)
What is life estate?
Another type of freehold estate, but the owner has fewer rights; he owns the property for only the period of the lifetime of an individual; when the life estate ends, the property reverts to the original grantor or goes to a third party (remainderman)
What is a leasehold estate?
Interest in real property that is measured in calendar time; not freehold estates because they do not exist for an indefinite period of time
What is an estate for years?
A tenancy with a specific starting and ending date
What is a tenancy at will?
A lease agreement that has a beginning date but not fixed termination date
What is tenancy at sufferance?
Occurs when a tenant stays in possession of the property beyond the ending date of a legal tenancy without the consent of the landlord
What is sole ownership?
When title to property is held by one person (estate in severalty)
What is concurrent ownership?
Ownership by two or more persons at the same time
What are the three types of concurrent owners?
Tenancy in common
Joint tenancy
Tenancy by the entireties
What is tenancy in common?
When two or more persons wish to share the ownership of a single property
What is an undivided interest?
Interest in the entire property, rather than ownership of a particular part of the property
What is joint tenancy?
Characterized by the right of survivorship
What is right of survivorship?
When one co-owner dies, his share goes to the surviving co-owner and not to the deceased tenant’s heirs
What is tenancy by the entireties?
A joint tenancy between husband and wife
Four unities of a joint tenancy with right of survivorship must exist, and the two co-owners must be married to each other at the time they take the title
What are the four unities of a joint tenancy?
Possession (same rights of undivided possession)
Interest (have equal ownership interest)
Title (acquire title on same instrument [deed])
Time (acquire interests in the property at same time)
What is a homestead?
A homeowner’s primary residence that they own
What is separate property in terms of the distribution of assets resulting from divorce?
Nonmarital assets that include any property the husband or wife owned separately prior to the marriage and property acquired during the marriage by inheritance or gift