Unit 2: Real Property And The Law

Question 1

What is land?

Answer 1

The earth’s surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward to infinity.

Question 2

What is real estate?

Answer 2

Land plus all human-made improvements to the land that are permanently attached.

Question 3

What is real property?

Answer 3

The interests, benefits, and rights that are automatically included in the ownership of real estate.

Question 4

List the 5 components of the bundle of legal rights

Answer 4

1. Right of possession
2. Right to control the property within the framework of law
3. Right of enjoyment
4. Right of exclusion
5. Right of disposition (sell, will, transfer, or otherwise dispose of property)

Question 5

What are the two meanings of the word “title?”

Answer 5

1. the right to or ownership of the property, including bundle of legal rights
2. Evidence of ownership by a deed

Question 6

What is an appurtenance?

Answer 6

It is a right or privilege associated with the property, although not necessarily a physical part of it. It runs with the land. Ex. Parking spaces, easements, water rights.

Question 7

What are surface rights?

Answer 7

All rights limited to the surface of the earth

Question 8

What are subsurface rights?

Answer 8

Rights to the natural resources below the earth’s surface.

Question 9

What are air rights?

Answer 9

Rights to the space above the earth.

Question 10

What are water rights?

Answer 10

Water rights are common law or statutory rights held by owners of land adjacent to rivers, lakes, or oceans, and are restrictions on the rights of land ownership.

Question 11

What are riparian rights?

Answer 11

Common-law rights granted to owners of land along the course of a river, stream, or flowing body of water. If the water is nonnavigable, the owner owns land under the water to the exact center of the waterway.

Question 12

What are littoral rights?

Answer 12

Similar to riparian rights, owners with littoral rights enjoy unrestricted use of available waters but own the land adjacent to the water only up to the average high-water mark.

Question 13

Define accretion, erosion, and avulsion

Answer 13

Accretion- increases in land resulting from the deposit of soil by waters action.

Erosion- gradual wearing away of land by natural forces.

Avulsion - the sudden removal of soil by nature, like a mudslide.

Question 14

Describe the doctrine of prior appropriation

Answer 14

Where water is scarce, the right to use any water, with the exception of limited domestic use, is controlled by the state rather than the landowner.

Question 15

Describe personal property

Answer 15

Personal property (personalty) is all the property that can be owned and that does not fit in the definition of real property. Ex. Chairs, money, clothing, tables

Question 16

Name and describe the two different categories of trees and crops

Answer 16

1. Fructus naturales
   Trees, perennial shrubbery, and grasses that do not require annual cultivation
2. Fructus industriales
   Annually cultivated crops such as fruit, vegetables, and grain, often called emblements

Question 17

Describe severance

Answer 17

The act of turning an object from real property to personal property by separating it from the land. Ex. Owner cuts down a tree

Question 18

Describe annexation

Answer 18

The changing of personal property into real property

Ex. Owner buys cement, stones and sand and makes a sidewalk.

Question 19

What is a fixture?

Answer 19

Personal property that has been so attached to land or a building that, by law, has become real property.

Ex. Heating systems, cabinets, plumbing, light fixtures

Question 20

What is MARIA?

Answer 20

It is the legal test of a fixture.

Method of annexation (how permanent is it?)

Adaptability of the item for the land’s ordinary use Ex. Fridge vs fridge built to match cabinets

Relationship of the parties

Intention of the person in placing the item on land (is it intended to be temporary?)

Agreement of the parties

Question 21

Describe a trade fixture

Answer 21

An article owned by a tennant, attached to a rented space or building, and used for conducting business is a trade fixture, also called a chattel fixture. Trade fixtures must be removed by end of lease, all damage during removal must be repaired.

Ex dining booths in restaurant, hydraulic lifts in mechanic shop

Question 22

What is accession?

Answer 22

Accession happens when an owner acquires property that the renter fails to remove after the lease expires.

Question 23

What are the 4 economic characteristics of real property? (Affects the lands value)

Answer 23

1. Scarcity
2. Improvements
3. Permanence of investment
4. Area preference

Question 24

What are the 3 physical characteristics of real property?

Answer 24

1. Immobility
2. Indestructibility
3. Uniqueness

Question 25

Give examples of emblements and appurtenances.

Answer 25

Emblements are growing crops that are produced annually. Crops are personal property. Appurtenances are affixed to the property or used with land for its benefits. Ex. Land leases, easements.

Question 26

Describe the difference between a fixture and a trade fixture.

Answer 26

A fixture is real property that was once personal property. They are affixed with the intention of turning them into real property. A trade fixture is the exception to the rule. It remains personal despite how permanently attached it is. Its purpose is to remain personal property.

Question 27

What is the major difference between riparian/littoral rights vs the doctrine of prior appropriation?

Answer 27

Some states have common law doctrine of riparian and littoral rights. This dictates that water rights are automatically conveyed with the property. Other states control the water under the doctrine of prior appropriation.