UNIT 1: Real Property & the Law

Question 1

Accession

Answer 1

Acquiring title to additions or improvements to real property as a result of the annexation of fixtures or the accretion of alluvial deposits along the banks of streams

Question 2

Air Rights

Answer 2

The right to use the open space above a property, generally allowing the surface to be used for another purpose

Question 3

Annexation

Answer 3

The process of converting personal property into real property

Question 4

Appurtenance

Answer 4

A right, privilege, or improvement associated with land.

-Runs with the land

Question 5

Area Preference

Answer 5

People’s desire for one area over another, based on a number of factors such as history, reputation, convenience, scenic beauty, and location.

Question 6

Bundle of Legal Rights

Answer 6

The concept of land ownershiop that includes ownership of all legal rights to the land:

• Possession
• Control
• Enjoyment
• Exclusion
• Disposal

Question 7

Chattel

Answer 7

Personal Property

Question 8

Emblement

Answer 8

Growing crops, such as grapes and corn, which are produced annually through labor and industry; also called fructus naturales

Considered personal property

Question 9

Factory-built Housing

Answer 9

Dwellings that are built off site and trucked to a building lot where they are installed or assembled

Question 10

Fixture

Answer 10

An item of personal property that has been convertyed to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty.

• Attachment
• Adaptation
• Agreement

Question 11

Improvement

Answer 11

(1) Any structure, usually privately owned, erected on a site to enhance the value of the property–e.g. building a fence or driveway (2) A publicly owned structure added to or benefiting land, such as a curb, sidewalk, street, or sewer.

Question 12

Land

Answer 12

The earth’s surface, extending downwared to the center of the earth and upward infitely into space, including permanent natural objects such as water or trees

Question 13

Manufactured Housing

Answer 13

Dwellings built to HUD specifications that are at least 320 SF and on a permanent chasis

Question 14

Mine Subsidence

Answer 14

The process of downward land shifts due to the collapse of underground mine shafts and groundwater flows, usually resulting in sinkholes and troughs. Damage to structures may be functional, cosmetic, or structural

Question 15

Nonhomogeneity

Answer 15

A lack of uniformity; dissimilarity. Because no two parcels of land are exactly alike, real estate is said to nonhomogeneous.

Question 16

Personal Property

Answer 16

Items, called chattels, that do no fit into the definition of real property; moveable objects.

Question 17

Real Estate

Answer 17

Land; a portion of the earths surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward infitely into space, including all things permanently attached to it, both natural and artificial.

Question 18

Real Property

Answer 18

The interests, benefits, and rights inherent in real estate ownership.

Basically real estate + legal rights associated with it.

Question 19

Severance

Answer 19

Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching it from the land; e.g. cutting down a tree

Question 20

Situs

Answer 20

The personal preference of people for one area over another, not necessarily based on objective facts and knowledge.

Question 21

Subsurface Rights

Answer 21

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate to the water, minerals, gas, oil, and so forth that lie beneath the surface of the property.

Question 22

Surface Rights

Answer 22

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate that are limited to the surface of the property and do not include the air above it (air rights) or the minerals below the surface (subsurface rights).

Question 23

Trade Fixture

Answer 23

An article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease and removeable by the tenant before the lease expires (see expanded definition).

Question 24

Water Rights

Answer 24

Common law rights held by owners of land adjacent to rivers, lakes, or oceans; includes restrictions on those rights and land ownership.