Unit 2: Real Property and 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

accretion

Answer 2

the increase or addition of land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up naturally from a river, lake, or sea.

Question 3

air rights

Answer 3

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

Question 4

annexation

Answer 4

process of converting personal property into real property

Question 5

appurtenance

Answer 5

a right, privilege, or improvement belonging to, and passing with, the land; “runs with the land”

Question 6

area preference

Answer 6

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

Question 7

avulsion

Answer 7

the sudden tearing away of land, as by earthquake, flood, volcanic action, or the sudden change in the course of a stream

Question 8

bundle of legal rights

Answer 8

the concept of land ownership that includes ownership of all legal rights to the land - possession, control within the law, enjoyment, exclusion, and disposition.

Question 9

chattel

Answer 9

See the definition of personal property. Personal property - items, called chattels, that do not fit into the definition of real property; moveable objects

Question 10

emblements

Answer 10

crowing crops, such as corn, that are produced annually through labor and industry; also called fructus industriales

Question 11

erosion

Answer 11

the gradual and sometimes imperceptible wearing away of the land by natural forces such as wind, rain, and flowing water.

Question 12

fixture

Answer 12

an item of personal property that has been converted to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty

Question 13

improvement

Answer 13

1. any structure, usually privately owned, erected on a site to enhance the value of the property ( fence or driveway)
2. a publicly owned structure added to or benefiting land. (sidewalk, street, sewer)

Question 14

land

Answer 14

the earth’s surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward infinitely into space, including things permanently attached by nature, such as trees.

Question 15

littoral rights

Answer 15

1. a landowner’s claim to use water in large navigable lakes and oceans adjacent to her property
2. the ownership rights to land bordering these bodies of water up to the high-water mark.

Question 16

manufactured housing

Answer 16

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

Question 17

nonhomogeneity

Answer 17

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

Question 18

personal property

Answer 18

items, called chattels, that do not fit into the definition of real property; moveable objects

Question 19

prior appropriation

Answer 19

a concept of water ownership in which the landowner’s right to use available water is based on a government-administered permit system

Question 20

real estate

Answer 20

land; a portion of the earth’s surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward infinitely into space, including all things permanently attached to it, whether naturally or artifically.

Question 21

real property

Answer 21

the interests, benefits, and rights inherent in real estate ownership; often used as a synonym for real estate.

Question 22

riparian rights

Answer 22

an owner’s rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river, or lake. These rights include access to and use of the water.

Question 23

severance

Answer 23

Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching it from the land (cutting down a tree, for example)

Question 24

situs

Answer 24

the location of land for legal purposes; the jurisdiction in which land is located.

Question 25

subsurface rights

Answer 25

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 26

surface rights

Answer 26

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

Question 27

trade fixture

Answer 27

an article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease that is removable by the tenant before the lease expires

Question 28

water rights

Answer 28

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