Unit 2: Real Property and the Law- 4% Flashcards
Accession
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.
Accretion
The increase or addition of land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up naturally from a river, lake, or sea.
Air Rights
The right to use the open space above a property, usually allowing the surface to be used for another purpose.
Annexation
Process of converting personal property into real property.
Appurtenance
A right, privilege, or improvement belonging to, and passing with, the land; “runs with the land.”
Area Preference
People’s desire for one area over another, based on a number of factors such as history, reputation, convenience, scenic beauty, and location.
Avulsion
The sudden tearing away of land, as by earthquake, flood, volcanic action, or the sudden change in the course of a stream.
Bundle Of Legal Rights
The concept of land ownership that includes ownership of all legal rights to the land—possession, control within the law, enjoyment, exclusion, and disposition.
Chattel
See personal property.
Items, called chattels, that do not fit into the definition of real property; movable objects.
Emblements
Growing crops, such as corn, that are produced annually through labor and industry; also called fructus industriales.
Erosion
The gradual and sometimes imperceptible wearing away of the land by natural forces, such as wind, rain, and flowing water.
Fixture
An item of personal property that has been converted to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty.
Improvement
(1) Any structure, usually privately owned, erected on a site to enhance the value of the property (e.g., a building, fence, or driveway). (2) A publicly owned structure added to or benefiting land (e.g., a curb, sidewalk, street, or sewer).
Land
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.
Littoral Rights
(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.
Manufactured Housing
Dwellings that are built off site and trucked to a building lot where they are installed or assembled.
Nonhomogeneity
A lack of uniformity; dissimilarity. Because no two parcels of land are exactly alike, real estate is said to be nonhomogeneous.
Personal Property
Items, called chattels, that do not fit into the definition of real property; movable objects.
Prior Appropriation
A concept of water ownership in which the landowner’s right to use available water is based on a government-administered permit system.
Real Estate
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.
Real Property
The interests, benefits, and rights inherent in real estate ownership; often used as a synonym for real estate.
Riparian Rights
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.
Severance
Changing an item of real estate to personal property by detaching it from the land (e.g., cutting down a tree).
Situs
The location of land for legal purposes; the jurisdiction in which land is located.
Subsurface Rights
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.
Surface Rights
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).
Trade Fixture
An article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease that is removable by the tenant before the lease expires.
Water Rights
Common law rights held by owners of land adjacent to rivers, lakes, or oceans; includes restrictions on those rights and land ownership.
The Law of the Sea identifies national territorial waters as those extending from a baseline up to
12 nautical miles.
The Law of the Sea identifies territorial waters as those extending up to 12 nautical miles from a baseline that is the mean low-water line of a coastal country.
An owner of land is entitled to all land created through an increase in the land resulting from the deposit of soil by the water’s action called
accretion.
An owner of land is entitled to all land created through an increase in the land resulting from the deposit of soil by the water’s action called accretion.
The new owner of a condominium received the right to use a parking space in the multi-unit building. This right is an example of
an appurtenance.
An appurtenance is a right or privilege associated with the property, although not necessarily a part of it; typical appurtenances include parking spaces in multiunit buildings, easements, water rights, and other improvements.
Another term for personal property is
chattels.
Fixtures, fructus naturales, and realty are all real property.
The owners of littoral rights en
unrestricted use of available waters.
Littoral rights belong to owners of land that borders commercially navigable lakes, seas, and oceans, and the owners have unrestricted use of the available waters.
Which of the following is a physical characteristic of land?
Indestructibility
The ability to make improvements, preference for the area, and relative scarcity of similar property are all economic matters. The land’s indestructibility is a physical matter, even though it is subject to both natural and human forces.
A property owner wants to use water from a river that runs through the property to irrigate a potato field. To do so, the owner is required by state law to submit an application to the Department of Water Resources describing in detail the plan for beneficial use of the water. If the department approves the owner’s application, it will issue a permit allowing a limited amount of river water to be diverted onto the property. Based on these facts, it can be assumed that this property owner’s state relies on which rule of law?
Doctrine of prior appropriation
Many states whose water is in relatively short supply have passed statutes authorizing a system of prior appropriation in which owners downstream do not necessarily have to wait for “what’s left” after those upstream have drawn their fill. Priority—who is allowed to appropriate water first—is established, instead, by the date of approved filing and continued conformity with any rules and limitations on use imposed by the jurisdiction.
The need for regulation of the activities of real estate brokers and salespeople has long been recognized because
their work involves other people’s real estate and money.
The need for regulation of the activities of real estate brokers and salespeople has long been recognized because their work involves other people’s real estate and money.
Real estate brokers and sales associates may NOT act as attorneys unless they
are also licensed attorneys representing clients in that capacity.
Real estate brokers and sales associates may not act as attorneys unless they are also licensed attorneys representing clients in that capacity.
The phrase bundle of legal rights is properly included in
the definition of real property.
Purchasing real property means buying rights of ownership, or a bundle of legal rights.
A buyer purchased a parcel of land and immediately sold the mineral rights to an oil company. The buyer gave up which of the following?
Subsurface rights
Sub means under or beneath. Subsurface then, is below the surface—the place where most minerals are found.
Manufactured housing is the term used for a factory-built home as of
1976.
With the passage of The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1976,manufactured homes became federally regulated.
A landowner sells his property but retains the rights to any oil and gas found beneath the property. These rights are called
subsurface rights.
They are the rights to natural resources below the earth’s surface. An owner may transfer surface rights without transferring subsurface rights.
Which of the following is considered an improvement?
Sewer
It is infrastructure added to the land. An improvement is anything that is added as a fixture to the land.
A property owner’s land is located along the banks of a river. This owner’s water rights are called
riparian rights.
Riparian rights are common law rights granted owners of land along the course of a river.
All of the following are economic characteristics of land EXCEPT
uniqueness.
Uniqueness is a physical characteristic of real estate, along with immobility and indestructibility.
The characteristics of real property fall into which two broad categories?
Economic and physical
Real property possesses seven basic characteristics that define its nature and affect its use. These characteristics fall into two broad categories: economic and physical.
The area preference or situs (place) of a property is commonly referred to as
“location, location, location.”
Area preference or situs (place) of property is commonly referred to as “location, location, location.” This economic characteristic refers not only to geography but also to people’s preference for a specific area. Area preference is based on several factors, such as convenience, reputation, and history.
A right or privilege tied to real property, although not necessarily part of the property, is called
an appurtenance
An appurtenance is a right or privilege association with the property, although not necessarily a part of it. An emblement or trade fixture is a tangible item on the property. The deed is a document that transfers title.
A truckload of lumber that a homeowner purchased has been left in the driveway for use in building a porch. The lumber is considered
personal property.
The lumber will become realty if and when it is later affixed in the course of construction. Until then, it is personal property—a chattel—of the landowner.
Method of annexation, adaptation to real estate, and agreement between the parties are the legal tests for determining whether an item is
a fixture or personal property.
The overall test in determining whether an item is a fixture (real property) is the intention of the person installing it, how uniquely adapted the item is to the property in which it is installed, how item was installed and the damage its removal would cause, the relationship of the parties, and what the parties have agreed to.
A rural property owner acquired ownership of land that was deposited by a river running through her property by
accretion.
Increases in land adjacent to a body of water resulting from the deposit of soil by the water’s action is known as accretion, and the owner is entitled to that land.
Many states determine the order of water rights to which users of the water hold recorded beneficial use permits. This allocation of water rights is controlled by
the doctrine of prior appropriation.
The doctrine of prior appropriation usually applies in states where water is scarce. The landowner receives a permit to a specified amount of water, and priority of water rights is usually determined by the oldest recorded permit date.
In the legal tests to determine whether an item is a fixture, the permanence of its installation is considered under
the method of annexation.
The permanence of an item’s installation is considered in determining whether the item can be removed without causing damage to the surrounding property or whether any damage caused by its removal can be repaired easily.
The most important economic characteristic of land is
location.
Location is sometimes called area preference or situs.
Which of the following describes the act by which real property can be converted into personal property?
Severance
When we sever something, we cut it loose. Severing (felling) a tree from its roots converts it from realty—real(proper)ty—to personalty—personal(proper)ty. The process is called severance.
The purpose of real estate license laws is to protect the public in real estate transactions from fraud, dishonesty, and
incompetence.
The purpose of real estate license laws is to protect the public from fraud, dishonesty, and incompetence in real estate transactions.
