Property Flashcards
3 Forms of Concurrent Ownership
- Joint Tenancy
- Tenancy in the Entirety
- Tenancy in Common
Joint Tenancy: Characteristics
- Right of survivorship
- Alienability (can transfer while alive)
- Not descendible or devisable
How to Create a Joint Tenancy
Four Unities (T-TIP): T: at the same time; T: by the same title; I: with identical, equal interests; and P: with rights to possess the whole
How to Sever of a Joint Tenancy
- Severance and Sale: joint tenant may sell or transfer her interest during her lifetime and the transferee takes as a tenant in common
- Severance and Partition: (1) by voluntary agreement, (2) by judicial action called partition in kind, or (3) by judicial action called a forced sale
Tenancy by the Entirety
A tenancy by the entirety is a marital estate akin to a joint tenancy. It can be created only between married partners, who take as a fictitious “one person” with the right of survivorship, severable only by death, divorce, mutual agreement, or execution by a joint creditor of both spouses.
Tenancy in Common
A concurrent estate with no right of survivorship where each co-tenant owns an individual part and has a right to possess the whole, and each interest is devisable, descendible, and alienable
3 Types of Waste a Co-Tenant Cannot Commit:
- Voluntary: willful destruction
- Permissive: neglect
- Ameliorative: unilateral change that increases value
4 Leaseholds or Nonfreehold Estates
- Tenancy for years
- Periodic tenancy
- Tenancy at will
- Tenancy at sufferance
Tenancy for Years
Tenancy ends automatically at its termination date
Periodic Tenancy
A lease which continues for successive intervals until either the landlord or the tenant gives proper notice of termination
Tenancy at Will
Tenancy of no fixed period of duration - it’s terminable at the will of either the landlord or the tenant
Tenancy at Sufferance
Tenancy created when a tenant wrongfully holds over, meaning they remain in possession past the expiration of lease (to permit the landlord to recover rent)
Tenant’s 2 Duties
- Duty to repair (routine repairs)
- Duty to pay rent
Landlord’s Options When Tenant Breaches and Is in Possession of Premises
- Evict through courts or continue relationship and sue for rent due
- Must not engage in self-help (change locks, forcibly remove tenant, etc.)
Landlord’s Options When Tenant Breaches but Is Out of Possession (Vacates With Time Left on Lease)
SIR:
- Surrender: landlord accepts tenant’s abandonment as surrender of lease
- Ignore: hold tenant responsible for unpaid rent until end of lease
- Re-let the premises on tenant’s behalf and hold tenant liable for any deficiency
Duty to Deliver Possession
Landlord is required to put the tenant in actual physical possession of the premises at the beginning of the leasehold term
Implied Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment
Tenant has a right to quiet use and enjoyment of the premises, without interference from the landlord or a paramount title holder
Actual Eviction
Landlord, a paramount title holder, or a hold-over tenant excludes the tenant from the entire leased premises, terminating the tenant’s obligation to pay rent
Partial Eviction
Tenant is physically excluded from only part of the leased premises, relieving the tenant of the obligation to pay rent for the entire premises, even though tenant continues in possession of the remainder
Constructive Eviction
Landlord’s breach of duty renders the premises unsuitable for occupancy
(SING: Substantial Interference, Notice, Goodbye)