Real Estate Title Transfer Flashcards
_________ ________: Also known as voluntary alienation. Typically, real estate professionals are concerned with the _________ ________ of real property titles. _________ ________ involves the intentional
conveyance of title, by sale or gift, from one owner to another by means of a deed or a patent. Homeowners selling their homes to interested buyers are engaging in the most common type of _________ ________.
Voluntary Transfer
A ______ _____ transfers legal title to land from the government to a private party.
Historically, they were a common form of title transfer, although it is seldom used today. The Homestead Act of 1862 granted ownership rights to anyone occupying and improving a given area of land for a specified time. These grants to individuals were conferred by means of a ______, a formal document conveying a part of the public domain to a private citizen.
Public grant
patent
A _______ _____ transfers title to real property from one private person to
another. Most voluntary transfers are _______ ______. A title is generally conveyed by deed. The party conveying title is known as the GRANTOR (* vendor in Louisiana). The party receiving title is known as the GRANTEE (* vendee in Louisiana)..
Private grant
The voluntary conveyance of title as a gift from a private owner to the government is known as ______ __________. A subdivider, for example, may publicly dedicate a
certain area of a subdivision as land to be used for streets and parks.
Public Dedication
_____ are used to transfer title voluntarily.
Deeds
___________ ________ or involuntary alienation. Title to real property may be transferred involuntarily, or without the owner’s consent. Most involuntary transfers of title are effected through the
action of the law, through government bodies or the courts.
Involuntary Transfer
_______ ______- the right to acquire private property, by government, for public use. Lands thus acquired must be used for specific public purposes and the owners affected must be justly compensated
for their loss of title.
(* In Louisiana, this is called expropriation).
Eminent Domain
The government’s right of eminent domain is expressed through court action known
as ____________.
Condemnation
_________ ____: Joint tenancy and tenancy in common can be dissolved by partition suit. Only one of the co-owners need initiate such a suit. The tenancy can be dissolved by _________ ____ whether all owners agree to it or not. The outcome of the suit is usually a court ordered sale of the property. The proceeds of the sale are divided proportionately among the co-tenants.
Partition Sale
_______: When an owner dies without leaving a will and without heirs, his property title reverts to the state. Since property cannot be allowed to remain owner-less, the state must assume ownership where there is no legal claim to title.
Escheat
________ ______: This involves transfer by foreclosure, attachment and tax sale. This occurs when an owner defaults on a debt and his creditors file suit. If a judgment is entered against the owner, his property will be sold, and the proceeds of sale used to pay off the debt. The property may also be sold at a tax sale for failure to pay property taxes.
Judicial Action
_______ __________: This is the acquisition of title to property by possession of the property for a statutory number of years. In order to claim title, the occupancy and possession of the property must be
continuous, open, hostile, exclusive and notorious. The adverse possessor must occupy the property he claims continuously, for a period of five to thirty years, as determined by state law.
Adverse Possession
If two or more adverse claimants occupy the same property in succession, the years of their occupancy may be combined for the benefit of the most recent claimant. This adding together of years to meet the
statutory requirements of possession is known as _______. Payment of property taxes by the adverse claimant may also be a necessary condition.
(* In Louisiana, the term for adverse possession is acquisitive prescription. If a claimant occupies a parcel of property in good faith, it may become his in ten years; if in bad faith, it takes thirty years.)
tacking
The title to real property may be _________ by ____. A will is a written instrument by which a person arranges for the conveyance of his property to take effect after his death. A person who dies leaving a will is said to have died _______. A _______ is one who inherits property in a will.
transferred by will
testate
legatee
_________ ____: a formally prepared will, usually by an attorney, which is witnessed and signed.
Statutory Will
___________ ____: a will completed entirely in the testator’s own handwriting, dated and signed by him, but not witnessed by any other person. Some states do not recognize holographic wills. (* In Louisiana, this type of will is recognized, but it is called an olographic will.)
Holographic Will
___________ ____: a will made orally by a testator who is near death. Only personal property may be transferred by this type of will. It must be witnessed, and the witness must commit the testator’s words to writing. The testator must be legally competent for ___________ and holographic wills to be binding.
Nuncupative Will
______ ____: must be in writing, signed by the testator, sealed, and notarized with three witnesses.
(* Effective July 1, 1999, Louisiana recognizes only two forms of wills, holographic and notarial (same as
statutory).
Mystic Will
A _______ is an addition to an existing will by which changes in the provisions of the will are made.
codicil
When a testator dies, his will is admitted to _______. This is a court proceeding designed to establish the validity and authenticity of the will, and allow the legatees, creditors, and other interested parties to claim their shares of the estate.
probate
An ________, or _________, if female, is usually appointed in the will to carry out
the instructions of the will. If not, the court will appoint an _____________ for that purpose. (* In Louisiana, the term for probate is succession. Real property transferred by will is known as the devise. The person to whom such real property is transferred is known as the devisee. An executor’s deed is used to
convey title to real property to the devisee).
executor
executrix
administrator
_____ is a wife’s interest in her husband’s estate at his death.
Dower
_______ is the husband’s interest in his
wife’s estate.
Curtesy
________ By ____ Of __________: When a person dies without leaving a valid will, he dies _______. In this case, state law determines how his property will be divided. An _____________ is named
by the court to administer an intestate succession. Laws of succession vary from state to state, but typically, they will satisfy the interest of heirs in the following order: surviving spouses and children, followed by the deceased’s grandchildren, parents, siblings, and other more distant relations. In states recognizing community property as a form of husband and wife co-ownership, the entire estate is transferred to the surviving spouse. In most other states, the deceased’s estate is usually divided among the surviving spouse and children. Distribution of the estate is usually supervised by a court appointed
administrator.
Transfer by Laws of Succession
intestate
administrator
________ by _________ involves the acquisition of real property interests
through natural or artificial causes, or acts of God. Although this is a type of involuntary transfer, it is treated separately because no deeds or other legal instruments are involved.
Transfer by Accession
The principal forms of transfer by Accession are:
HInt: AREA
Accretion
Reliction
Erosion
Attachment
_________- the gradual, physical increase in the size of a property as the result of some natural process, usually the action of water. Such deposits are called ________.
Accretion
alluvion
_________- the gradual exposure of land behind a receding waterline. When the water level of a lake, river, or stream drops, the land exposed becomes a part of the adjoining property.
Reliction
_______ - the loss of property by wearing away of soil by wind, water, etc.
Erosion
__________ - Real property interests may be gained, lost or transferred by artificial means. Improvements on real property, for example, fixtures, may become permanent property additions. Even
improvements made in error, a garage built on the wrong lot.
Attachment
A ____ is a written instrument by which the title to real property is formally transferred from one party to another. A deed must be properly executed to be valid. A deed must also be conveyed to and accepted by the party to whom the title is being transferred.
deed
A ________ ____ contains covenants, (or promises), of warranty. That is, it
guarantees that the title it conveys is good.
Warranty Deed
The _______ ________ ____ offers a more comprehensive guarantee of title than any other type of deed. The grantor certifies that the title he is conveying is free of defects which may have arisen either before or during the time he owned the property. This is the best type of
deed because it contains all covenants warranting back through all previous owners. (* In Louisiana, this type of deed is called a SALE WITH WARRANTY).
General Warranty Deed
The following five covenants are included in a general warranty deed:
HInt: SEFAQEWF
Covenant of Seizen
Covenant against Encumbrances
Covenant of Further Assurance
Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment
Covenant of Warranty Forever
________ Of ______- assures that the grantor fully possesses or is “seized with” the title he is conveying.
Covenant of seizen
________ _______ ____________ - assures the grantee that the property is free from liens and encumbrances, other than those specified in the deed.
Covenant against Encumbrances
________ of _______ _________: promises that the grantor will defend the grantee’s title
against all claims which may arise from the period prior to transfer.
Covenant of Further Assurance
________ of _____ __________: protects the grantee’s rights to physical possession of the property without being disturbed by other parties making claims against his rights.
Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment
