Real Property Flashcards
Appurtenance
A right or an interest that goes along with a piece of land: Air, water, mineral, support
Riparian
Flowing water: stream or river. Rights to the water are “riparian rights”
Littoral
Standing water: Lake or ocean. Rights to the water are “littoral rights”
Appropriative rights
Rights of a landowner to use water that their land does not touch. Obtained from the government through a permit system.
Doctrine of Emblements
Crops planted by a tenant farmer are the personal property of the tenant.
Are timber crops personal property or real property?
When they are harvested, they become personal property. If they are sold separately from the land and subject to a contract of sale before harvest, they are personal property.
What is the test to determine if something is a fixture?
Method of attachment, adaptation of the item to realty (eg, church pews), intention of the annexor (installer), relationship of the parties (tenant installations vs. owner)
What is the most important test in determining if something is a fixture?
Intention of the annexor. What did the person who installed it intend? Was it supposed to be permanent?
Are trade fixtures personal property or real property?
Trade fixtures installed by the tenant can be removed by the tenant at the end of the lease. If the tenant does not remove them, they become the owner’s property.
How is personal property conveyed?
Bill of sale
Can real estate agents list mobile homes?
Yes, if the title has been eliminated and the sale includes the property to which it is attached.
Metes and Bounds
A method of describing real property using a definite starting point and a series of courses (compass directions) and distances until the property has been completely enclosed.
Government Survey
Describes land referenced by a series of grids.
Principal Meridian and Base Line
Principal meridian is the primary north-south line in the Government Survey method, Base Line is east-west
Township lines
These run parallel to the base line (e/w)
Range Lines
These run parallel to the principal meridian (n/s)
Township
An area of land that is located at the intersection of a range and township tier. Each township measures 6 miles by 6 miles, 36 square miles.
Sections (of a township)
There are 36 sections, each measuring one square mile or 640 acres. Numbering starts in the NE corner and snakes down.
Acre
43,560sf
Lot and block
Method of land description that uses the subdivision maps / city maps to describe parcels. Plat maps are subdivision maps that are recorded with the county. Each lot includes dimensions, boundary lines and utility easements.
