Unit #2 - Nature of Real Property Vocab

Question 1

Air Rights

Answer 1

The right to build or develop in the airspace of a property. They can be transferrable from one property owner to another.

Question 2

Appurtenance

Answer 2

Anything used with the land for the benefit of it’s owners, such as a roadway or waterway. (easements, right-of-ways, and condo parking)

Question 3

Base line

Answer 3

A point of reference, predetermined and runs east-west

Question 4

Bill of Sale

Answer 4

Transfers ownership of personal property (property, car, etc)

Question 5

Bundle of Rights

Answer 5

Real property is described as a bundle of rights, including legal rights of ownership. (Possession, use, enjoyment, disposition, exclusion)

Question 6

Civil Law

Answer 6

The system of law concerned with private relations between members of a community rather than criminal, military, or religious affairs.

Question 7

Common Law

Answer 7

Also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law, is the body of law created by judges.

Question 8

Community Property

Answer 8

Property acquired by spouses during marriage.

Question 9

Correction Line

Answer 9

Every four townships north and south of a baseline, a correction line is measured at the full interval (6 miles) for that side of each township it borders.

Question 10

Correlative Use

Answer 10

Doctrine that states that property owners may use a reasonable amount of water from an underground source, but not to the detriment of adjoining property owners

Question 11

Emblements

Answer 11

Crops produced annually by labor and industry as distinguished from crops that grow naturally on the land. (Ex: corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, garden vegetables)

NOT Emblements: trees, grass, and naturally growing fruit

Question 12

Fixture

Answer 12

Any object permanently attached to a property by way of bolts, screws, nails, glue, cement, or other means. Items like chandeliers, ceiling fans, and window treatments

Question 13

Fructus Industriales

Answer 13

Crops produced by human labor (lettuce cotton, grapes, etc)

Question 14

Fructus Naturales

Answer 14

Naturally occurring plant growth such as grasses.

Question 15

Guide Meridian

Answer 15

Every four townships east and west of the principal meridian, establishes the full interval of 6 miles for that side of each township it borders.

Question 16

Land

Answer 16

Land refers to the earth’s surface down to the center of the earth and upward to the airspace above, including the trees, minerals, and water.

Question 17

Legal Description

Answer 17

There are types of legal description of land (earliest to most recent):

1. Metes and bounds
2. Rectangular survey system
3. Lot and block

Question 18

Littoral Rights

Answer 18

Right to use of water from a lake or other body of water by adjoining property owners.

Question 19

Lot and Block System

Answer 19

Subdivision system; method of legal description of land using parcel maps identified by tract, block and lot numbers.

Question 20

Markers

Answer 20

Natural or artificial object used to identify locations in metes and bounds description. Also called Monuments.

Question 21

Meridians

Answer 21

Imaginary lines that run north to south and intersect base lines that run east to west to form the starting point for land measurement using the rectangular survey system of land description.

Question 22

Metes and Bounds

Answer 22

A surveyor uses boundary markers and measures the distance from marker to determine a property’s perimeter. Metes refers to distances that can be measured by inches, feet, yards, or rods. Bounds are artificial boundaries such as rivers or roads (also rocks, fences, iron pipes, natural/artificial objects).

Question 23

Mineral Rights

Answer 23

Refers to the right to remove substances from the land, usually from beneath the surface. Includes solid materials, such as gold, coal, iron, and gravel from the soal/riverbeds.

Question 24

Monuments

Answer 24

A fixed object and point established by a surveyor to establish land locations; includes not only artificial objects such as posts and fences, but natural objects such as trees, mountains and water courses.

Question 25

Personal Property

Answer 25

Any movable thing or intangible item of value that is capable of being owned by a person and not recognized as real property. (ex: inventory)

Question 26

Plat Map

Answer 26

A map dividing a parcel of land into lots, as in a subdivision.

Question 27

Point of Beginning

Answer 27

A surveyor’s mark at the beginning location for the wide-scale surveying of land. A surveyor begins at a well-known landmark, such as the center point of a street intersection.

Question 28

Ranges

Answer 28

Range lines refer to identified lines running north-to-south across the nation, from which specific parcels of property are measured. Range lines are six miles apart, which create columns called ranges.

Range lines are normally used in conjunction with base lines, principal meridians, township lines, townships and sections.

Question 29

Real Estate

Question 30

Real Property

Question 31

Rectangular Survey System

Question 32

Right of Appropriation

Question 33

Riparian Rights

Question 34

Section

Question 35

Section and Township System

Question 36

Tiers

Question 37

Township

Answer 37

Townships are created from the intersection of range lines and township lines. The township is the basic unit of measurement in the rectangular survey system. The area created by the intersection of a township line and a range line is a township.

Question 38

Underground Water Rights

Answer 38

Purchasing real estate in California may include a water right. Water rights include the use of underground water, such as acquired through a well, and the use of surface water, such as from creeks, rivers, and lakes.

Question 39

U.S. Government Survey System

Answer 39

The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectangular Survey System.

Question 40

Water Rights

Answer 40

an owner of land that is contiguous to a water source generally has a Riparian Water Right. Basically, most any land that touches or borders a creek, stream, river, or lake has a right to use the water for reasonable and beneficial use.