Property Ownership Flashcards
Bundle of rights
Ownership rights: often referred to as “DEEPC”: deposition, Enjoyment, exclusion, possession, control.
MARIA
Five basic tests to determine if an item is real ar personal property: Method of annexation Adaptability for use Relationship of the parties: Intention in placing Agreement of the parties
emblements
Cultivated crops are called emblements and are considered personal property, even though they’re part of the soil.
Physical characteristics of land.
Immobility: The geographic location of land is fixed and can’t be changed.
Indestructibility: Improvements may deteriorate over time, but not land itself.
Uniqueness/nonhomogeneity: One piece of land is never exactly like another.
Economic characteristics of land.
Scarcity: You can’t make more land; what we have now is what we’ll always have.
Improvements: A land’s value can be positively or negatively affected by the improvements made on it.
Permanence of investment: Some improvements are long-term, stable investments with stable returns over time.
Situs/location/area preference: A property’s value depends in large part on its location.
Three primary types of legal descriptions
metes and bounds, lot and block (also known as recorded plat), and rectangular government survey system (RGSS).
Metes
Metes are the direction and distance of a line forming the property’s boundary; bounds are physical features that definethe boundaries of the property
Metes and Bounds
Metes-and-bounds descriptions are characterized by a point of beginning, which is where
the description both begins and ends. It also uses monuments to mark boundaries. The monuments are thought to have more credibility than the measurements.
rectangular government survey system
regulated by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, divides land into townships and further into sections and fractions called sections.
principal meridian
The principal meridian is the north-south line that runs through an initial point in the RGSS. These descriptions also use compass point directions (northwest; southeast; etc.).
Baseline
The base line is the east-west line from which measurements originate
township lines and range lines
East-west lines of a survey are called township lines; north-south lines are called range lines.
Number of principle meridians in the US
37
Parcel in rec survey system
In Rec Survey system: Each parcel is described by referencing the principal meridian and base line that is appropriate to the township in which the parcel is located
Size of township and section
Every township is six miles square or 36 square miles. Every section is one squaremile, which is also one mile squared.
Lot and block system
Lot-and-block systems begin with a reference to either metes and bounds or RGSS, then divide the land into lots with numerical descriptions of each parcel. A plat with the lot descriptions is recorded in the land records. Lot-and-block divisions include streets, access roads, and other important features.
How high must ceilings be for space to be counted in finished square footage
Ceiling height must be at least 7 feet (beamed ceilings must be at least 6 feet 4 inches under the beam, and slanted ceilings must have at least a 7 foot ceiling over 50% of the finished floor area) to be included as finished square footage.
Can garages and stairs be included in finished square footage
No for Garage, yes for stairs
How many square feet in an acre
43,560
Linear square feet in a mile
5,280 linear feet
One square mile = how many acres
640 acres
Number of acres in a hectar
2.47 acres
A datum is
a horizontal point of reference from which surveyors measure depth and height of various land
elevations.
A benchmark is
a point where the exact elevation is known and marked with a brass or aluminum plate.
Surveyors can use this as a starting point to measure other elevations
Mineral rights, aka subsurface rights, are
the rights to drill or dig for minerals on the property.
Riparian rights
address water that moves through a property, such a river or stream. Riparian rights are
classified into one of two categories based on the type of water: navigable or non-navigable.
Littoral rights
address static water, such as a pond, lake, or ocean. Owners with littoral rights have the
right to use and enjoy the static water but not divert or contain it.
Prior appropriation
Water right that says that the first party to physically take water from a source and put it to beneficial household, agricultural, or industrial use will continue to have a claim to the water.
Accretion:
Process by which water carries rock, sand, and soil and causes land build-up
Alluvion:
New deposits of land that are the result of accretion
Avulsion:
A sudden loss of land by a swift, large-scale change in water flow
Reliction:
When water gradually recedes and uncovers new land
General liens v specific liens
General liens affect real and personal property and include judgment liens, federal and state tax liens, and decedent’s debts.
Specific liens affect the specific real property/properties to which they’re attached by agreement or law and include
mortgage liens, real property tax liens, mechanic’s liens, special assessment liens, vendor and vendee liens, and HOA liens.
Attachment lien
An attachment lien is when the courts place an encumbrance on the property of a defendant in a lawsuit for monetary damages.
lis pendens
A lis pendens is an official notice to the public that a lawsuit involving a claim on a property has been filed.
HOA lien … in priority?
Many states give HOA liens a statutory super lien status, meaning that HOA liens take priority over all other types.
An easement
is a non-possessory right acquired by one party to use another party’s land for a special use. These are often
acquired through written agreement. Because an easement affects use of a property, they have the potential to diminish the
property’s value.
servient estate
The property on which the easement lies is the servient estate; it’s said that the servient estate suffers the easement
Dominent estate
The property or individual who uses the easement holds the dominant estate; it’s said that the dominant estate enjoys the
easement.
Easement appurtenant:
Attached to a specific parcel of land, transfers (“runs”) with the land, and gives the
“dominant tenement” rights to use adjoining property/servient tenement
Easement in gross:
Granted to a specific individual or business rather than attached to the property itself
How can easements be removed
Easements may be removed through express agreement, the dominant estate owner’s abandonment, merger of estates, or when there’s no longer a need for the easement.
In order to remove an easement through abandonment, the dominant estate owner must take some action that shows a clear intent to stop using the easement.
Easement termination by merger occurs when the owner of either the servient or dominant estate purchases the other property. A property owner can’t have an easement over his or her own land.
Easement by necessity:
This easement type can only be created for the purpose of ingress and egress.
Easement by prescription:
This easement isn’t legal, and is created through the continued, uninterrupted,
obvious, exclusive, and adverse use of someone’s property without permission.
Difference between an easement and a right of way
Easements are specific to the person or persons to whom the easement is granted. A right-of-way benefits anyone who needs to use it.
How to find out if a land has any easements
The property’s deed and title history should list known easements. Plat maps may also show easements.
License regarding land
A license is temporary permission for one person, at the discretion of the property owner, to do something on another’s land without actually possessing any interest or ownership in the land. A license is not assignable or inheritable.
Encroachment
Encroachments are structures or objects built on another’s land without permission.
Encroachments are always by definition illegal.
A survey establishes the boundary lines of a property and may help identify both encroachments and easements.
CC&Rs
Deed restrictions and covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) are encumbrances affecting land use.
Non disturbance clause
The financing instrument in many mortgaged leased properties includes a non-disturbance clause. If this provision is included, the mortgagee agrees not to evict tenants who are current on their rent if the mortgagee has to foreclose on the property.
A freehold estate
is an interest in real property where the owner’s possession of the property isn’t of fixed duration, as it
would be in a lease ( leasehold estate). Three types of freehold estates exist. 1) Fee simple estate; Fee simple defeasible; 2) fee simple determinable and 3) fee simple subject to condition subsequent.
