Interests in Real Estate

Question 1

If the interest holder is not private, such as a government entity, and does not have the right to possess, what type of interest is this called?

Answer 1

Public interest

Question 2

Which type of estate is the most desirable in residential real estate?

Answer 2

Fee simple absolute

Question 3

What is the highest form of ownership interest one can acquire in real estate?

Answer 3

Fee simple freehold estate

Question 4

If the terms of a defeasible fee estate are violated, what is the status of the property?

Answer 4

The estate automatically reverts to the grantor or heirs

Question 5

What are the two types of life estates?

Answer 5

• Conventional
• Legal

Question 6

What is the difference between a dower and a curtesy in regards to life estate interests?

Answer 6

A DOWER is a wife’s life estate interest and a CURTESY is a husband’s life estate interest

Question 7

Homestead is a form of what type of estate?

Answer 7

A legal life estate

Question 8

What are leasehold tenants entitled to?

Answer 8

to possess and use the leased premises during the lease term in the manner prescribed in the lease

Question 9

What is the purpose of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)?

Answer 9

To issue water rights

Question 10

What act states that the land between the high and low tide lines is considered a public beach and structures may not be built on the easement?

Answer 10

Texas Open Beaches Act

Question 11

What rights concern a property abutting moving water, such as streams and rivers?

Answer 11

Riparian rights

Question 12

If an owner is butted against a stream that is non-navigable, what does the owner own?

Answer 12

The owner owns the land under the water to the exact center of the stream

Question 13

What is the term given to underground geological formations that collect and attract water?

Answer 13

Aquifers

Question 14

What is an encumbrance?

Answer 14

A claim against real property that limits the legal owner’s freehold interest

Question 15

What is one requirement of terminating an easement?

Answer 15

A dominant property acquiring the servient property or vice versa

Question 16

What are the two main types of encumbrances?

Answer 16

• Easements
• Liens

Question 17

What is the definition of an easement in gross?

*Also known as a “personal easement”

Answer 17

the right of use to a single individual or entity rather than to the property itself

Question 18

‘Open and notorious use’ refers to what?

Answer 18

That the owner knows, or is presumed to have known, of the use.

Question 19

What is the term to describe when an unauthorized physical intrusion of one owner’s real property encroaches on that of another?

Answer 19

Encroachment

Question 20

The plat’s covenants and conditions are types of what?

Answer 20

Deed restrictions

Question 21

What definition best describes a specific lien?

Answer 21

A lien that attaches to a single item of real or personal property that does not affect other property owned by the debtor

Question 22

What is a lien?

Answer 22

A creditor’s claim against real property as a security for the debt the property owner owes

Question 23

What document detects or demonstrates the existence of an encroachment?

Answer 23

Survey

Question 24

What are the four junior tax liens?

Answer 24

• Federal income tax lien
• State intangible tax lien
• State corporate income tax lien
• State corporation franchise tax lien

Question 25

What is a vendor’s lien also known as?

Answer 25

A seller’s lien

Question 26

What is a municipal utility lien?

Answer 26

A lien placed against property for failure to pay utility bills

Question 27

What does a mechanic’s lien do?

Answer 27

It secures the costs of labor, materials, and supplies incurred in the repair or construction of real property improvements