Property Ownership Flashcards
Definition of Real Estate
land plus improvements
Definition of Real Property
interest, rights, and benefits included in ownership of real estate
Definition of Improvement
any artificial thing attached on or below ground (building, fence, water line, sewer pipe)
Definition of Personal Property
Items not attached to Real Estate or movable items.
Other term/s for Personal Property
Chattel/Personalty
At what point do Manufactured homes become Real Property?
Once they are permanently affixed to land
Plants that are considered Real Property
Fructus Naturales/Perrenials
Plants that are considered Personal Property
Fructus Industriales/Annuals
Other term for Fructus Industriales/Annuals
Emblements
Act of separating Real Property from land to become Personal Property
Sevarance
Act of adding Personal Property to land to become Real Property
Annexation
Definition of Fixture
Personal Property attached to land or building that becomes part of the Real Property
Legal Tests of Fixtures
(MARIA) METHOD of Annexation, ADAPTABILITY of item to land, RELATIONSHIP of parties, INTENTION in placing item on the land, AGREEMENT of the parties
Fixture used for business
Trade Fixture
Other term for Trade Fixture
Chattel Fixture
What type of property are trade fixtures considered to be?
Personal Property
Who is responsible for damage caused by removal of a Trade Fixture.
Owner of the Item
3 Physical Characteristics of Land
Immobility, Indestructibility, Uniqueness
4 Economic Characteristics of Land
Scarcity, Improvements, Permanence of Investment, Area Preference/Situs
Definition of Land in terms of Land Rights
Earth’s surface extending downward to center of the earth
Bundle of Legal Rights
(DEEPC) Disposition, Enjoyment, Exclusion, Possession, Control
Refers to “ownership” of the property
Title
Document used to transfer title
Deed
Right or privilege associated with property, although not necessarily a physical part of it.
Appurtenance
Ownership rights limited to surface of the earth
Surface Rights
Rights to natural resources/minerals below earth’s surface
Subsurface Rights
Rights to use space above earth
Air Rights
Surface, Subsurface, and Air Rights may be sold individually. True/False?
True
Rights granted to owners whose properties are adjacent to a river, stream, or similar flowing body of water
Riparian Rights
Rights granted to owners whose properties adjacent to navigable lakes, seas, and oceans.
Littoral Rights
How far do water rights extend in non-navigable waters?
Center of the waterway
How far do water rights extend in navigable waters?
Highest point of the waterline
Increase of land, usually caused by the water’s action
Accretion
Gradual wearing away of land by natural forces
Erosion
Sudden removal of soil by act of nature
Avulsion
In states where water is scarce, how are water rights determined?
By Doctrine of Prior Appropriation
Explain the process of Doctrine of Prior Appropriation
Owner receives permit to use a specified amount of water for beneficial use
What is a Freehold Estate
Estate that lasts for an indeterminable time (i.e. fee simple, life estate, legal life estate)
What are the 4 Basic Types of Freehold Estate
- Fee Simple/Fee Simple Absolute
- Fee Simple Defeasible
- Life Estate
- Legal Life Estate
The highest estate/interest in real estate
Fee Simple/Fee Simple Absolute
Estate subject to the occurrence or non-occurrence of a specified event.
Fee Simple Defeasible
Two categories of Fee Simple Defeasible
- Fee Simple Determinable
- Fee Simple Subject to a condition Subsequent
3 Characteristics of a Fee Simple Determinable
- bound by a specified limitation or condition
- if condition is broken, possibility of reversion or remainder exists
- title is automatically transferred to person named in reverter or remainder without going to court
- language used must be similar to “so long as”, “while”, or “during”
Characteristic of a Fee Simple Subject to a Subsequent Condition
- If condition is broken, owner or his successors has Right of Reentry but must take current tenant to court to assert this right
- language used must be similar to “on condition that”
Characteristics of a Life Estate
- estate limited duration of life of tenant
- subject to reversion/remainder upon termination
- a life tenant’s estate may be sold, mortgaged, or leased but will always be subject to the life of the tenant
Characteristics of Pur Autre Vie (Life of Another)
- estate limited to life of an identified person/s
- subject to reversion/remainder upon termination
Remainder Interest
-estate passed on to another person other than the owner upon death of Life Tenant
Reversion Interest
-estate returns to original owner of property upon death of Life Tenant
Characteristics of a Legal Life Estate
-not created by property owner but established by law
2 Different types of Legal Life Estate
- Dower(widow) and Curtesy(widower)
- Homestead
Characteristics of Dower and Curtesy
- non owning spouse has a lifetime right to 1/2 or 1/3 interest in real estate even when property has been willed by owner to another person
- signature of seller’s spouse must be in deed to release potential interest on property
Characteristics of Homestead Estate
- legal life estate on property occupied as the family home
- homestead exemption laws protect a portion of the value of the property from judgment of unsecured debts
What are considered encumbrance?
Easements, deed restrictions, liens, encroachments
Restriction used by subdivision developers to maintain specific standards in a subdivision
(CC&R’s) Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
Right to use the land of another for a particular purpose
Easement
Allows use of a neighbor’s land
Easement Appurtenant
Wall/Fence shared between two properties
Party Wall
Owner of Easement
Dominant Tenement
Owner encumbered by Easement
Servient Tenement
Individual or Company interest to use someone else’s land and generally terminates upon the death of the owner (i.e. right of way for utility company and railroads)
Easement in Gross
Easement made by a party wall
Cross Easement
How are easements created?
By a written agreement to be recorded at the city or county clerk where the easement is located
What are two other an easement may be created?
- Easement by necessity
- Easement by prescription
How is an easement by necessity created?
-Land locked properties that needs an ingress and egress
How is an easement by prescription created?
- Claimant must have been using portion of land/property by a set number of years as prescribed by state law
- tacking may be used as a basis for an easement by prescription
How are Easements terminated?
- when need no longer exists
- when owner of dominant and servient tenements become one
- release of right of easement
- abandonment of easement
Are easements terminated automatically?
No. Legal steps may be required (i.e. recordation)
Granted permission by owner to enter land for a specific purpose
License
How are licenses terminated?
- Death of either party
- Sale of Land
- cancellation by owner of property
Extension of an improvement past the owner’s land
Encroachment
