Terminology Flashcards
Land
Surface of the earth, all permanently attached natural features, extending downward to the center and upwards to infinity.
Real Estate
Land + Improvements
Improvements
Any non-natural structure permanently attached to the land (e.g. buildings, fences, decks, roads, but NOT trees)
Real property
Land+improvements+bundle of rights
What are the bundle of rights?
Control
Disposition (transfer)
Exclusion
Possession
Quiet enjoyment
Bundle of Rights: exclusion
Landowner has the right to decide who gets to be on the property and who doesn’t
Bundle of Rights: Possession
Right to occupy, live, breathe, and do whatever you want. AKA Right to use.
Bundle of Rights: quiet enjoyment
Right to use your property without interference.
Bundle of rights: control
Right to use and make changes to the property in any way that is not illegal—build whatever, landscape, and use as collateral for debt (“encumber the property”)
Bundle of rights: possession vs. control
Possession says you can use the property how you please (renter) and control means you can manipulate it how you please (homeowner)
Bundle of rights: disposition
AKA Transfer
Common law
The side of law that arises from judgments and decisions made in courts rather than legislation 
Allodial system
Anyone can have complete ownership of their land (AKA Fee Simple)
Title
Actual ownership of a real property including the bundle of rights (not a paper)
Chattel
Impermanent property, aka personal property
Fixture
Personal property transformed into real property
Annexation
Process of creating a fixture
Trade fixture
Personal property attached to real property that is owned by and needed for a tenant’s business 
Severance
Converting real property into personal property (removing a ceiling fan or bidet)
Adaptability (fixtures)
Anything specifically adapted to the home or integral to its function (e.g. box air conditioning unit or specialized door)
Intent (fixtures)
Were they intending to keep the item when it was installed?
Emblements
Crops grown by a farmer that are considered personal property (because of the profit, also called fructus industriales)
Percolating rights
Use and ownership of underground water
Littoral rights
Refers to lakefront or oceanfront water rights
Riparian rights
Water rights for moving water, like rivers or streams
What is an estate?
Possessory interest in real property
What’s the difference between absolute and defeasible estates?
Absolute has no restrictions and freely given to heirs; defeasible has a perpetual condition that the property be used for a certain purpose or under specific conditions.
Encumbrance
Non-possessory interest in a property that burdens the title
Reversionary interest
Property reverts back to the person who granted it in the first place once the measuring life ends.
Remainder interest
When the estate passes onto someone other than the grantor
Act of waste
When a life tenant does something to diminish the value of the property
Pur Autre Vie
When the measuring life of a life estate is something other than the life of the tenant
Ownership in severalty
Ownership with only one owner: a person, corporation, or other legal entity
Undivided interest
Type of interest that gives each co-owner the possession of the whole property, not a portion of it
Right of survivorship
When one co-owner dies, their ownership reverts to the surviving co-owner
Tenancy in common
Non-married co-owners who don’t specify how to take title
