Key terms 3C

Adverse Possession

A means of acquiring title where an occupant has been in actual, open, notorious, exclusive, and continuous occupancy of property under a claim or right for the required statutory period.

In rem

A proceeding against the reality directly; as distinguished from a proceeding against a person. (Used in taking land from nonpayment of taxes, etc.)

Reference to a plan

A section of a deed that may refer to a plat map, which includes the block and lot number of a particular piece of property.

Special assessment districts

A geographic area in which the market value of real estate is enhanced due to the influence of a public improvement and in which as tax is apportioned to recover the costs of the public improvement.

Assessment Review Board

An independent tribunal established to hear assessment appeals.

A co-op doesn't sign a deed

What deed is used in a co-op transaction?

Quitclaim Deed

is a formal renunciation of a legal claim against some other person, or of a right to land. A person who quitclaims renounces or relinquishes a claim to some legal right, or transfers a legal interest in land.

Consideration

is a legal term used to describe the value that changes hands as part of an agreement between two or more parties.

bargain and sale deed

a deed "conveying real property without covenants". This is a deed "for which the grantor implies to have or have had an interest in the property but offers no warranties of title to the grantee."

Assessments

A charge against real estate made by a unit of government to cover a proportionate cost of an improvement such as a street or sewer.

Approved Assessing Unit

A city or town which has been certified by the State Board of Real Property Tax Services to have completed a revaluation or an update in conformance with its rules and regulations.

Assessing Unit

A city, county, town or village with the authority to value real property for purposes of taxation.

full convenant and warranty deed

A deed transferring title to commercial or residential real property from the grantor to the grantee. In New York, a full covenant and warranty deed provides the grantee with general covenants made by the grantor and the covenant under Section 13 of the New York Lien Law. This Standard Document has integrated notes with important explanations and drafting tips for both grantors and grantees.

Lien

A legal right or claim upon a specific property which attaches to the property until a debt is satisfied.

Lot and Block

A method of identifying the legal description of a property is known as what...?

Accession

A mode of acquiring property that involves the addition of value to property through labor or the addition of new materials.

Avulsion

A sudden and perceptible loss or addition to land by the action of water, or a sudden change in the bed or course of a stream is known as what

Land Patent

A supreme title to land which was originally acquired within the United States of America by a treaty. It grants the rights to the described land under the treaty to the individual person named on the patent and to their heirs and their assigns forever.

Public Grant

A term that is used for a gift of land that is from the government.

Metes and Bounds

A term used in describing the boundary lines of land, seeing forth all the boundary lines together with their terminal points and angles.

Assessed value

A valuation placed upon property by a public officer or a board, as a basis for taxation

Dedication

An appropriation of land to some public use, made by the owner, and accepted for such use by or on behalf of the public.

Special Assessment

An assessment made against a property to pay for a public improvement by which the assessed property is supposed to be especially benefited.

Levy

An assessment of tax.

Department of buildings

As a real estate agent, where should you search to find any records of violations on a property?

Executor Deed

Conveyance of property from decedent's estate

Schedule A

Identification of the property interest insured, the legal description of the insured property, the date and time coverage began, the premium paid for the policy and the total dollar amount to be paid for all claims settled.

Transfer Tax Return

In New York State, what is required to be recorded along with the deed...?

Dedication by Deed

Land that has been put aside for a public use by a deed which states exactly what the property will be used for.

Delivery and Acceptance

Legal policy mandates that a deed to real property be a matter of public record; therefore, subsequent to delivery and acceptance, a deed must be properly recorded.

premises

Part of deed that describes the facts of the transaction

Non-homestead

Real property that does not meet the definition of homestead. Non-homestead real property is generally counted as an asset; however, it is considered unavailable during the time the client make a reasonable effort to sell the property.

Execution

Signature of a party to a legal document. The act of signing a legal document.

Merger Doctrine

Stands for the proposition that the contract for the conveyance of property merges into the deed of conveyance.

Habendum Clause

That part of a deed beginning with the words "to have and to hold," following the granting clause and defining the extent of ownership the grantor is conveying.

Accretion

The addition of land through processes of nature, as by water or wind.

Land Patent

The legal documents that transferred land ownership from the U.S. Government to individuals. A supreme title to land which was originally acquired within the United States of America by a treaty is known as what

Homestead

The home which is owned by and is the usual residence of the client along with all the surrounding land and any building on that land, provided the land is not separated from the home by an property owned by others

Alluvion

The increase in the area of land due to sediment deposited by a river. This changes the size of a piece of land (a process called accretion) and thus its value over time.

Survey

The process by which a parcel or land is measured and its area ascertained; also the blueprint showing the measurements, boundaries and area.

Voluntary Alienation

The transfer of title during a typical 'arm's length' transaction is an example of what...?

conveyance

The transfer of title to land from one party to another.

The quality of title in a transaction

The type of deed is typically determined by:

Executor Deed

This type of deed must recite the full consideration in the transaction...?

Referee's Deed

Used to convey real property sold pursuant to a judicial order in an action for the foreclosure of a mortgage or for partition.

consideration (contract)

a benefit which must be bargained for between the parties, and is the essential reason for a party entering into a contract

Ad Valorem Tax

a tax levied on the assessed value of real and personal property

Quitclaim Deed

deed that conveys an individual's property rights to another but has none of the covenants of the warranty deed. Used when money isn't being exchanged

Statue of Frauds

requires certain contracts to be in writing.

Voluntary Alienation

transfer of title with the grantor's consent