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.

Question 2

Air Rights

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Annexation

Answer 3

Method of converting personal property into real property.

(Example: Using cement, stones and sand to build a sidewalk)

Question 4

Appurtenance

Answer 4

A right, privilege, or improvement belonging to, and passing with, the land.

The word comes from the Latin appertinere: “to appertain.”

Question 5

Attachment

Answer 5

The act of taking a person’s property into legal custody by writ or other judicial order to hold it available for application to that person’s debt to a creditor.

Question 6

Bill of Sale

Answer 6

A legal document that transfers personal property.

Question 7

Bundle Of Legal Rights

Answer 7

The concept of land ownership that includes ownership of all legal rights to the land—for example, possession, control within the law, and enjoyment.

Question 8

Chattel

Answer 8

Items of personal property, including such tangibles as chairs, tables, clothing, money, bonds, and bank accounts. Chattels include trade fixtures.

Question 9

Deed

Answer 9

A written instrument that, when executed and delivered, conveys title to or an interest in real estate.

Question 10

Emblements

Answer 10

Growing crops, such as corn, that are produced annually through labor and industry. Also called fructus industriales.

The tenant has an implied right to its harvest, so emblements are treated as the tenant’s property.

Question 11

Fixture

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Improvement

Answer 12

(1) Any structure, usually privately owned, erected on a site to enhance the value of the property—for example, building a fence or a driveway.

(2) A publicly owned structure added to or benefiting land, such as a curb, sidewalk, street, or sewer.

Question 13

Manufactured Housing

Answer 13

Dwellings that are built offsite and trucked to a building lot where they are installed or assembled.

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 and water.

Question 15

Personal Property

Answer 15

Items, called chattels, that do not fit into the definition of real property; movable objects. Also called personalty.

Question 16

Real Estate

Answer 16

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 artificially.

Question 17

Real Estate License Act 2000 (the Act)

Answer 17

State law enacted to protect the public from fraud, dishonesty, and incompetence in the purchase and sale of real estate. It was amended in 2020.

Question 18

Severance

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Situs

Answer 19

The personal preference of people for one area over another.

Question 20

Subsurface Rights

Answer 20

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 21

Surface Rights

Answer 21

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 22

Trade Fixture

Answer 22

An article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease and removable by the tenant before the lease expires.

Question 23

PITI

Answer 23

Acronym for
-principle
-interest
-taxes
-insurance

expenses that comprise an owner’s monthly payment.

Question 24

Equity

Answer 24

The interest or value that an owner has in property over and above any indebtedness.

Question 25

Homeowners Insurance Policy

Answer 25

A standardized package insurance policy that covers a residential real estate owner against financial loss from fire, theft, public liability, and other common risks.