Property Ownership / Land Use Controls Flashcards
All property other than real estate is known as…
personal property (chattel)
Real estate consists of three things:
land, improvements, and rights
Rights include:
surface, subsurface, air, ownership - Possession; Use; Encumber (collateral); Dispose; Exclude
If a seller is taking a fixture…
it must be excluded from the purchase agreement
Land cannot be sold quickly -
it is not considered a liquid asset (30-45+ days)
When articles of personal property are permanently attached to the improvements…
they become fixtures.
Tests for a fixture:
Method of attachment; Adaptability (pool cover); Relationship to the parties; Intent; Agreement between parties
Before a new building can be inhabited, what is needed?
A Certificate of Occupancy - Building inspector will issue a certificate of occupancy allowing new owners to move in.
Permission to vary from strict compliance with zoning requirements may be obtained in the form of a…
Variance
When a previously established use does not comply with the requirements of a new zoning ordinance, it may be allowed to continue as a…
nonconforming use. Property owner grandfathered under nonconforming use may not enlarge improvements and cannot rebuild if improvements are destroyed.
Townships, sections, and meridians are used in the…
rectangular (government) survey form of legal description. (Used by the US government to locate parcels of land within a grid system).
A legal description that uses compass degrees is…
metes and bounds. Used for irregular lots.
The type of legal description used in most urban areas is…
lot, block, and subdivision. Plat map - showing location & boundary of individual lots in a land subdivision is used in this system.
A buffer zone may be used to separate…
two incompatible zoning uses. I.e., commercial - residential.
Real estate and fixtures are transferred with…
a deed.
Personal property is transferred with…
a bill of sale.
If the buyer is keeping the seller’s personal property,
it must be included in the purchase agreement.
A section is…
640 acres.
A survey would:
establish boundaries; create legal descriptions; find encroachments (intrusions).
Real estate is bought and sold based on…
property descriptions (legal descriptions).
The definition of real estate includes:
land, improvements, rights.
All the following are true about fixtures:
typically start as personal property; if the seller is going to keep it, it must be excluded in the purchase agreement; the intention, attachment, adaptation, and agreement.
A developer bought a 100-acre parcel to subdivide into one-acre home sites. What legal description would BEST achieve the developer’s objective?
Lot and block - subdivided (recorded) plat.
Land-use classifications established by municipal zoning:
Residential; Commercial; Industrial/Manufacturing; Agriculture; Mixed use (likely to have buffer zone).
The method of legal description using a grid of ranges and tiers is called:
government survey. Established sections, townships and ranges.
After completing the plat map, the developer’s next step is to…
record the plat map. The lots can then be sold and building permits pulled.
Nonconforming use is a term used in reference to property that…
doesn’t comply with current zoning requirements but may have been grandfathered in.
A light industrial plant has been operating in compliance with its zoning classification. After a zoning change to single-family residential use, the owners of the industrial plant are permitted to…
continue the present use as long as that use is not enlarged or expanded.
At which level are zoning restrictions set?
Local
Municipalities require submission of blueprints and construction plans before issuing a building permit in order to:
provide evidence of compliance with building codes and other local regulations.
A municipality has authorized the improvement of a particular property in a manner NOT authorized by the zoning ordinance. This is an example of a…
variance.
What method of legal description uses plat maps?
Lot and block.
A tenant installed shelving as a part of her business. At the conclusion of the lease, the tenant…
may remove the shelving and is not required to reimburse the landlord, unless there are damages.
An area of land that separates two drastically different land use zones is a…
buffer zone.
The distance that a zoning ordinance requires between a property’s boundaries and its improvements is a…
set back.
A method of property description using monuments, distances, and compass directions is the…
metes-and-bounds method.
The legal description of land that uses townships and sections is:
rectangular survey.
The principle of the doctrine of prior appropriation determines:
which user’s water rights have priority.
Which of the following concepts would allow an owner to deviate from zoning regulations and run a day care center in her home in a neighborhood that is zoned residential?
Special use.
The document confirming that a new building has met all the minimum building standards and is the final regulatory step in the process of offering new construction for sale is called a:
certificate of occupancy.
A buyer wants to use a residential property for a small business. Before closing, the buyer should:
check the zoning to determine if the intended use is allowed.
A plat is defined as:
A document used to record a subdivision of land. Shows the location and boundaries in subdivision.
Mineral rights are…
often held by a third party. The seller could retain the mineral rights and sell them separately from the surface rights.
Fixtures are…
personal property that are attached to improvements.
Real property is:
the land, anything affixed to the land, rights and interests in the land. It is conveyed by a deed - transfer of property ownership.
Personal property includes:
items not attached to the land, may or may not be conveyed when the property is sold. Each item is listed in and conveyed by a bill of sale.
Rights and interests in the land include:
air rights, water rights, mineral rights, oil and gas rights, and support rights.
Improvements may be:
Natural (growing); or man-made (fixtures). Personal property attached to the improvements becomes a fixture. Land is not classified as a fixture.
The tests for distinguishing fixtures from personal property are based on determining the intent of the parties. The tests include:
Method of attachment; Adaptation of the item to the property; Relationship of the parties; Intent and Agreement - provisions in a written agreement.
Land has physical and economic characteristics that…
help determine the value. Location, scarcity, improvements, and are preference all are used to help determine the value of a parcel of land.
A potential disadvantage of real-estate:
Not a liquid asset
All valid deeds must contain:
A legal description of the land being conveyed.
Three major types of legal descriptions:
Metes and bounds; rectangular (government) survey; recorded plat.
The metes and bounds method describes land:
by a series of measurements and boundaries. It starts at a defined “point of beginning” and then describes the boundaries of the parcel until an enclosed tract of land has been described. Goes clockwise.
The rectangular (government) survey describes land:
by reference to a system of grids. A series of ranges, tiers and townships relative to a principal meridian and a base line are used to locate the property.
The recorded plat method (aka: lot and block OR subdivision plat method) describes the land:
by referring to a lot number on a plat map that has been filed and recorded with the county recorder. Because the plat map contains a detailed description of the land, simple reference to the plat map is sufficient.
A survey may be used to:
establish and find property boundaries. They also identify encroachments.
The purpose of land use controls is to:
alleviate problems caused by haphazard unplanned growth of urban areas, and to promote more rational development in the future.
Zoning laws are meant to:
protect the health and safety of the community’s inhabitants.
Buffer zones:
are used to separate areas with incompatible uses.
Zoning ordinances:
are set at a local level and may be amended. A zoning amendment must be justified by the needs of the community.
A nonconforming use is a:
pre-existing use that was already legally in place when a new zoning ordinance came into effect and now doesn’t comply with the requirements of the new law.
Although nonconforming uses are generally allowed to remain,
they may be subject to certain restrictions. A nonconforming use usually cannot be rebuild if it is destroyed.
A variance is:
permission to build a structure or use property in a way that would not otherwise be allowed. Usually granted when strict compliance with the zoning ordinance would cause undue hardship to the property owner (i.e., deck).
A zoning authority can issue:
conditional use permits (special use permits) for uses that would ordinarily not be allowed in a zone (i.e., nursery at home).
Buyers should call the local zoning department to…
verify that the use they anticipate for the property is allowed.