B-Law CH 42 terms and things to know from notes

mortage

A security interest in real property

When a tenant wrongfully holds over from the term of their lease, it is called:

A tenancy at sufferance

Damage Tenant Rule

A tenant is liable to the landlord for any significant damage he causes to the property.

Disturbances tenant rule

A tenant must not disturb other tenants, but the landlord must be reasonable in judging what constitutes a disturbance.

Quiet Enjoyment

All tenants are entitled to the quiet enjoyment of the premises, without the interference of the landlord.

Reversion example

Andrew has a reversion, meaning that upon Claire's death, the property automatically returns to him or to his heirs.

Tenency for years

Any lease for a stated, fixed period

Nuisance Law

Anything that offends someone's use of the property

Personal Injury

At common law, a landlord had very limited liability for injuries on the premises, but today many courts require a landlord to use reasonable care and hold her liable for foreseeable harm.

Estates and Interests

Both terms simply indicate specified rights in property.

In Suzanne's will, she left her home and five acres to her niece, Abrhianna. However, before her death, Suzanne sold the property to Clark, providing a deed in fee simple. At the moment of Suzanne's death, who owns the property?

Clark owns the property.

Signing an 18-month lease on a two-bedroom townhouse with a monthly rent of $900 creates a:

Fixed- term Tenancy

What is an Easement?

Gives the right for someone to enter a property of someone else's

What happens when a landlord doesn't return a security deposit

In those cases, tenants are often able to sue for as much as three times their security deposit.

To be enforceable, a long-term residential real estate lease must be?

In writing

Non-possessory interests

Interests that never involve possession,

Real property is distinguished from personal property by its:

Lack of movabililty

4 factors of real property

Land, Building, Plantlife, fixtures

Easement by Implication

Results from surrounding circumstances that indicate that the parties must have intended an easement

Reversion

Returning property to the former owner or heirs, can be declared at any time.

Future Interest types

Reversion and Remainder

Land burdened by an easement is called:

Servient estate

community property

System of ownership of marital property in which assets earned during the marriage are owned jointly by the spouses

Which of the following forms of tenancy will be created if a tenant stays in possession of leased premises without the landlord's consent, after the tenant's one-year written lease expires?

Tenancy at sufferance

Prescriptive Easement

The right to use or access land created by open and continuous access for a certain period of time without prior permission

rent

The tenant is obligated to pay the rent, and the landlord may evict the tenant for non-payment.

Tenancy in Common

The tenants in common do not own a particular section of the property; they own an equal interest in the entire property.

Which of the following is true about easements appurtenan

They Run with the land

Fee Simple Absolute

When a person may own property outright, having the unrestricted use of the land and an unlimited right to sell it.

How is a landlord tenant created?

When an owner of a freehold estate allows another person temporary, exclusive possession of the property, the parties have created a landlord-tenant relationship.

Concurrent Estates

When two or more people own real property at the same time,

Do all co-tenets have the right to partition?

Yes

Notice to Quit

a landlord's notice terminating a tenancy

Methods for transferring title to real estate include:

by sale, by gift, through a will, through adverse possession, and through eminent domain.

A tenant renting an apartment under a three-year written lease that does not contain any specific restrictions may be evicted for .

counterfeiting money in the apartment

Periodic Tenancy

created for a fixed period and then automatically continues for additional periods until either party notifies the other of termination. Most Common

Partition

division of the property among the co-tenants.

A tenancy for years will last:

for a definite period of time

After acquiring three new rental properties, Savannah made improvements to them. In the first property, she installed ceiling fans in each bedroom. In the second, she laid out decorative throw rugs in the living room. In the third, she had a new central air unit installed. Six months later, she decides to sell the properties and is wondering which of these improvements she can remove from the properties and keep for herself. Of the three improvements, Savannah CANNOT remove:

the ceiling fans and central air unit because they would be considered fixtures.

A new north-south interstate highway was being planned, and the route for the interstate went straight through Roy's property. Roy received a notice from the city stating that his property would be condemned and setting a hearing on the matter. Roy appeared at the hearing to contest the action, saying he had lived in this house for forty years, and strenuously objected to the city taking his property! The probable result is that:

the city may take the property under the principle of eminent domain since it is for a public use, as long as it pays Roy just compensation.

Sabrina owns an apartment complex in upstate New York. One of her renters, Salvo, informs her in January that the heating unit has stopped working in his apartment. Sabrina promises to fix the problem, but two weeks later, the heating unit is still not working. Salvo may:

vacate the apartment, and Sabrina will be liable for any expenses he incurs.

What happens when a tenancy in common tenant dies

when a co-tenant dies, her interest in the property passes to her heirs, along with all of her other assets.

What does right of survivorship mean?

when one joint tenant dies his interest in the property passes to the surviving joint tenants

Remainder

when the life tenant dies, the property goes to a named third person, not to the original owner.

Easement by Grant

Occurs when one party expressly transfers an easement to another party

tenancy by eternity

The husband and wife each own the entire property and they both have a right of survivorship

Triple Net Lease

The landlord gets base rent, plus taxes, plus insurance, and maintenance.

Which of the following does NOT qualify an object as a fixture?

The object was in or on the property at the time of sale.

Fixtures

goods that have become attached to the real property.

Tenancy at Sufferance

occurs when a tenant remains on the premises, against the wishes of the landlord, after the expiration of a true tenancy.

What are the three categories of property?

real, personal, intellectual

A tenant's personal property will become a fixture and belong to the landlord if its removal would .

result in substantial harm to the landlord's property

A landlord's right in property that he has leased to a tenant is called a:

reversionary interest.

Zoning

statutes are state laws that permit local communities to regulate building and land use.

Forms of Concurrent Estates

tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety.

Secruity deposit

Landlords may require tenants to post a deposit that can be used to pay for repairs if a tenant damages the property.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Nuisance law, zoning ordinances, and eminent domain all permit a government to regulate property and in some cases to take it for public use.

condemnation

Occurs when the government seizes private property and compensates the owner

If an individual owns a piece of property and has the unlimited authority to use and sell the property, they:

Own the property in fee simple absolute

Joint Tenency

Ownership of property by two or more co-owners, each of whom has an equal share and the right of survivorship

Which of the following are common law requirements for transfer of title by adverse possession? Choose 3 answers.

Possession must be open, visible, and not secret. Possession must be actual and exclusive. Possession must be hostile, against the true owner's wishes.

eminent domain

Power of a government to take private property for public use, but must pay the owner the fair price of the land.

Quick, Onyx, and Nash were deeded a piece of land as tenants in common. The deed provided that Quick owned one-half the property and Onyx and Nash owned one-quarter each. If Nash dies, the property will be owned as follows:

Quick 1/2, Onyx 1/4, Nash's heirs 1/4

Question: Paul and Shelly Higgins had two wood stoves in their home. Each rested on, but was not attached to, a built-in brick platform. The downstairs wood stove was connected to the chimney flue and was used as part of the main heating system for the house. The upstairs stove, in the master bedroom, was purely decorative. It had no stovepipe connecting it to the chimney. The Higginses sold their house to Jack Everitt, and neither party said anything about the two stoves. Is Everitt entitled to either stove? Both stoves? Strategy: An object is a fixture if a reasonable person would consider the item to be a permanent part of the property, taking into account attachment, adaptation, and other objective manifestations of permanence.

Result: A buyer normally takes all fixtures. The downstairs stove was permanently attached to the house and used as part of the heating system. The owner who installed it intended that it remain, and it was a fixture; Everitt got it. The upstairs stove was not permanently attached and was not a fixture; the sellers could take it with them.

Alejandro is the owner of Mex-To-Go, a popular food truck from which he serves his favorite Mexican foods. During the spring, he likes to park his food truck near the city's little league baseball field because of the heavy evening traffic. He leases a small plot of land next to these fields for the months of March, April, and May. Alejandro's lease is a:

Tenancy For Years

mortgagee

The party acquiring a security interest in property

profit

The right to enter land belonging to another and take something from it

license

The right to temporarily enter land belonging to another

A landlord's duties include:

giving the tenant possession of the leased property.

Tenancy at Will

has no fixed duration and may be terminated by either party at any time.

Partition By Kind

meaning that it actually divides the land equally among the co-tenants.

A landlord's rights include:

receiving rent according to the lease

When a tenant is allowed to remain in possession of the residence after the expiration of a fixed-term tenancy by continuing to pay monthly rent, the tenancy has become a:

Periodic Tenancy

Question: Doris Rowley rented space from the city of Mobile, Alabama, to run the Back Porch Restaurant. Her lease prohibited assignment or subletting without the landlord's permission. Rowley's business became unprofitable, and she asked the city's real estate officer for permission to assign her lease. She told the officer that she had "someone who would accept if the lease was assigned." Rowley provided no other information about the assignee. The city refused permission. Rowley repeated her requests several times without success, and finally she sued. Rowley alleged that the city had unreasonably withheld permission to assign and had caused her serious financial losses as a result. Comment. Strategy: A landlord may not unreasonably refuse permission to assign a lease. Was the city's refusal unreasonable?

Result: A landlord is allowed to evaluate a prospective assignee, including its financial stability and intended use of the property. Mobile could not do that because Rowley provided no information about the proposed assignee. Mobile wins.

Question: Loren Andreo leased retail space in his shopping plaza to Tropical Isle Pet Shop for five years at a monthly rent of $2,100. Tropical Isle vacated the premises 18 months early, turned in the key to Andreo, and acknowledged liability for the unpaid rent. Andreo placed a "For Rent" sign in the store window and spoke to a commercial real estate broker about the space. But, for nine months, he did not enter into a formal listing agreement with the broker or take any other steps to rent the space. With approximately nine months remaining on the unused part of Tropical's lease, Andreo did finally hire a commercial broker. He also sued Tropical for 18 months' rent. Comment. Strategy: When a tenant abandons leased property early, the landlord is obligated to mitigate damages. Did Andreo?

Result: For about nine months, Andreo made no serious effort to lease the store. The court rejected his rent claim for that period, permitting him to recover unpaid money only for the period he made a genuine effort to lease the space.