Unit 3; Interests in real estate

Question 1

encroachment

Answer 1

a building or some portion of it– a wall or fence, for instance– that extends beyond the land of the owner and illegally intrudes on the land of an adjoining owner or a public street or alley.

Question 2

ecumbrance

Answer 2

anything–such as a mortgage, tax, or judgement lien; an easement; a restriction on the use of land; or an outstanding dower right– that may diminish the value or use and enjoyment of a property.

Question 3

escheat

Answer 3

The reversion of property to the state or county, as provided by state law, in cases in which a decedent dies intestate without heirs capable of inheriting, or when the property is abandoned.

Question 4

estate in land

Answer 4

The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest a person has in real property.

Question 5

fee simple

Answer 5

The highest interest in real estate recognized by the law; the holder is entitled to all rights to the property.

Question 6

fee simple absolute

Answer 6

The maximum possible estate or right of ownership of real property, continuing forever.

Question 7

fee simple determinale

Answer 7

a fee simple estate qualified by special limitation. Language used to describe the limitation includs the word so long as, while, or during.

Question 8

fee simple subject to a condition subsequent

Answer 8

an estate carrying the limitation that, if it is no longer used for the purpose conveyed, it reverts to the original grantor b the right of reentry

Question 9

freehold estate

Answer 9

An estate in land in which ownership is for an indeterminate length of time, in contrast to a leasehold estate.

Question 10

future interest

Answer 10

A person’s present right to an interest in real property that will not result in possession or enjoyment until sometime in the future such as a reversion or right of reentry.

Question 11

heir

Answer 11

one who might inherit or succeed to an interest in land under the state law of descent when the owner dies without leaving a valid will

Question 12

homestead

Answer 12

Land that is owned and occupied as the family home. In many states, a portion of the area or value of this land is protected or exempt from judgements for debts other than those secured by the property.

Question 13

judgment

Answer 13

The formal decision of a court upon the repective rights and claims of the parties to an action or suit. After a judgment has been entered and recorded with the county recorder, it usually becomes a general lien on the property of the defendant.

Question 14

inverse condemnation

Answer 14

An action brought by a property owner seeking just compensation for diminished use and value of land because of an adjacent property’s public use.

Question 15

legal life estate

Answer 15

A form of life estate established by state law, rather than created voluntarily by an owner. It becomes effective when certain events occur. see, dower, curtesy, and homestead for legal life estates used in some states.

Question 16

license

Answer 16

(1) in real estate practice, the privilege or right granted to a person by a state to operate as a real estate broker or salesperson. (2) The revocable permission for a temporary use of land– a personal right that cannot be sold.

Question 17

lien

Answer 17

a right given by law to certain creditors to have their debts paid out of the property of a defaulting debtor, usually by name by means of a court sale.

Question 18

life estate

Answer 18

An interest in real or personal property that is limited in duration to the lifetime of its owner or some other designated persons.

Question 19

life tenant

Answer 19

A person in possession of a life estate.

Question 20

limited liabilty company(LLC)

Answer 20

A form of business organization that combines the most attractive features of limited partnerships and corporations.

Question 21

Lis pendens

Answer 21

a recorder legal document giving constructive notice that an action affecting a particular property has been filed in either a state or a federal court

Question 22

party wall

Answer 22

an exterior wall of a building that straddles the boundary line between two lots, or a commonly shared partition wall between two connected properties.

Question 23

police power

Answer 23

The government’s right to impose laws, statues, and ordinances, including zoning ordinances and building codes, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

Question 24

pur autre vie

Answer 24

“for the life of another” A life estate pur atre vie is a life estate that is measured by the life of a person or persons other than the grantee

Question 25

remainder interest

Answer 25

The remnant of an estate that has been conveyed to take effect and be enjoyed the after termination of a prior estate, such as when an owner conveys a life estate t one party and the remainder to another.

Question 26

reversionary interest

Answer 26

The remnant of an estate that the grantor hold after granting a life estate to another person

Question 27

right-of-way

Answer 27

The right given by one landowner to another to pass over the land, construct a roadway, or use as a pathway, without actually transferring ownership.

Question 28

servient tenement

Answer 28

Land on which an easement exists in favor of an adjacent property, called the dominant tenement

Question 29

tacking

Answer 29

Concept providing that successive periods of continous occupatrion by different parties may be combined to reach the required total number of years needed to steablish a claim for a prespective easement

Question 30

taking

Answer 30

Process of land being taken from a property owner for public use through eminent domain with the requirement that the owner he compensated fairly.

Question 31

taxation

Answer 31

the process by which a government body raises monies to fund its operation.

Question 32

appurtenant easement

Answer 32

an easement that is annexed to the ownership of one parcel and allowes the owner the use of the neighbors land.

Question 33

condemnation

Answer 33

A judicial or administrative proceeding to exercise the power of eminent domain, through which a government agency takes private property for public use and compensates owner

Question 34

covenats, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs)

Answer 34

private agreements that affect land use. They may be enforced by an owner of real estate that benefits from them and can be included in the seller’s deed to the buyer.

Question 35

Curtesy

Answer 35

A life estate, usually a fractional interest, given by some states to the surviving husband in real estate owned by his deceased wife. Most states have recognized other marital property rights and abolished curtesy.

Question 36

deed restrictions

Answer 36

Clauses in deed limiting the future uses of the property. deed restrictions may impose a vast variety of limitations and conditions– for example, they may limit the density of buildings, dictate the types of structures that can be erected, or preventuildings from being used for specific purposed or even from being used at all.

Question 37

eminent domain

Answer 37

The right of a government or municipal quasi-public body to acquire property for public use through a court action called condemnation, in which the court decides that the use is a public use and determines the compensation to be paid to the owner.

Question 38

easement in gross

Answer 38

An easement that is not created for the benefit of any land owned by the owner of the easement but that attaches personally to the easement owner. for example, a right granted by a property owner to a friend to use a portion of the property for the rest of the friend’s life would be an easement in gross.

Question 39

easement by prescription

Answer 39

an easement acquired by open, notorious, continous, hostile and adverse use of the property for the period of time prescribed by state law.

Question 40

easement by necessity

Answer 40

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment of a parcel of real estate

Question 41

easement appurtenant

Answer 41

an easement that follows along with the land

Question 42

easement

Answer 42

a right to use the land for anther for a specific purpose, such as for a right-of-way or utilities; an incorporeal interest in land because it does not include a right possession.

Question 43

dominant tenement

Answer 43

A property that includes in its ownership the appurtenant right to use an easement over another person’s property for a specific purpose.