Ch 2 Characteristics of Real Property

LOT AND BLOCK SYSTEM

(AKA) the recorded plat method, is used to describe properties in residential, commercial, and industrial subdivisions. This is the method most frequently used in metropolitan areas.

Public Land Survey System (PLSS)

(AKA: rectangular survey) survey and classify land parcels before naming an owner, particularly in rural or undeveloped land Ohio, the first state surveyed under the system. In areas called "Seven Ranges" Shortly after the American Revolution and proposed by Thomas Jefferson The Land Ordinance of 1785 was the beginning of the Public Land Survey System

rule of capture

(Non-solid minerals) the law allows oil or gas to be removed from wells on the surface of the owner's land even if the oil or gas came from under a neighbor's property.

Residential surveys 2 basic forms.

A house location survey, which is also sometimes called a drive-by survey, is designed to show the location of the house and other large structures on the property, as well as the orientation of those structures in relation to each other. More detailed surveys, often called cadastral land surveys, typically contain much more information. While house location maps give property owners a sense of what is present and where, a cadastral document shows exactly where boundaries, easements, and property lines are located. Surveyors typically go to the property and make real-time measurements, which are compared with archived land records to create a more complete picture of what is located where.

Lateral Support

A landowner has the right to demand that a neighboring property owner does nothing to cause the land to collapse, which could result from some types of excavations.

Parcel or tract:

A portion of land delineated by boundaries is considered a parcel or tract.

Air Rights

Airplanes, Sell airrights (Condominiums), Solar rights to everyone.

Conversion:

Conversion is the act of transforming real to personal property through severance, or personal to real property through affixing.

Local Regulation

County and local government regulation focuses on land use control, control of improvements, and taxation

rectangular survey system, or government survey method,

Developed by the Federal Gov. aka: Township and Range System

Emblements:

Emblements are plants or crops considered personal property since human intervention is necessary for planting and harvesting.

Fixtures vs Trade Fixtures:

Fixtures are fixed (Real Property) and Trade Fixtures (Chattels) are temporary and can be removed.

Relationship of parties. (Real property or chattle)

If a tenant installs a fixture in order to conduct business, the fixture may be considered a trade fixture, which is the tenant's personal property.

Functionality. (Real property or chattle)

If an item is vital to the operation of the building, it may be deemed a fixture, even though perhaps easily removable. Window-unit air conditioners and detachable solar panels are possible examples.

Sale or lease contract provisions. (Real property or chattle)

In a sale or lease transaction, the listing of an item in the contract as a personal property item, or a fixture, overrides all other considerations. Unless otherwise stated as exceptions, all fixtures are included in the sale.

difficulties with British system of metes and bounds

Irregular shapes for properties make for much more complex descriptions. Eventually, the descriptions become challenging as the landscape changes trees die or streams move by erosion. It wasn't useful for the large, newly surveyed tracts of land being opened in the west, which were being sold sight unseen to investors. system didn't work until there were people available to maintain records.

Littoral rights: vs Riparian rights

Littoral not moving, Riparian moving water (river)

TYPES OF SURVEYS

Location Survey - A location survey is boundary survey with the additional location of all the interior improvements. Missing corner markers are replaced. The surveyor will prepare a map showing the boundaries and improvements. This type of survey may be required for obtaining a loan. Topographic Survey - This survey locates improvements and topographic features such as elevations of the land, embankments, contours, water courses, roads, ditches, utilities, etc. This survey is often used in conjunction with a Location Survey in order to prepare a Site Design Map, a Subdivision Map, or an Erosion Control Plan. Site Planning Survey - This survey uses a boundary and topographic survey as a base to design future improvements. It can be a design for a house, a residential subdivision, a store, a shopping center, a new street or highway, a playground, or anything else. Subdivision Survey - This often includes a topographic survey of a parcel of land which will be divided into two or more smaller tracts, lots or estate division. This can also be used for site design of lots, streets and drainage. It is for construction and recording. Construction Survey - This survey uses surveying techniques to stake out buildings, roads, walls, utilities, etc. This includes horizontal and vertical grading, slope staking, and final as-built surveys. Geographic Positioning System - GPS surveys use portable receiving antennas to gather data transmitted from satellites which are used to calculate the position of the object being located on the surface of the earth. The receiving antennas can be miles apart and still obtain very accurate data. GPS surveys are used to establish coordinate control points for the State Plane Coordinate Systems, large boundary surveys, and subdivision surveys. It can also be used to collect data for Geographic Information Systems / Land Information Systems (GIS/LIS), such as the location of streets, homes, businesses, electric, phone & gas utilities, water & sewer systems, property lines' soil & vegetation types, water; courses, etc. This data can be used in future planning, preservation and development. ALTA/ACSM Survey - This is a very detailed survey often required by lending institutions and is strictly geared towards companies purchasingcommercial property. Standards created by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) are used to create this type of survey. The location of all improvements in relation to property lines as well as any easements and setback requirements are shown on this survey as well as any encroachments that exist.

point of beginning, or POB

Meters and bounds: starting at an origination point and returning to the POB at the end of the description

The three accepted methods of legally describing parcels of real estate are:

Metes and bounds - a system which uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land Rectangular survey system, or government survey method - a system of describing land by referring to meridians and baselines Lot and block method, or recorded plat method - a system used to locate and identify land, particularly for lots in densely populated metropolitan areas, suburban areas, and areas beyond the suburbs

metes and bounds uses:

Monuments Directions or courses in the form of compass readings Distances measured in any convenient unit

A manufactured home will be considered real propert when the owner does this?

Obtains a building permit Acquires a certificate of occupancy Records a document specifying that the home has been attached to a permanent foundation

What is considered to be emblements?

Plants and crops requiring human intervention and labor

A legal description is required for:

Public recording Creating a valid deed of conveyance or lease Completing mortgage documents Executing and recording other legal documents

Range Vs Tonwship Tier

Range - The north-south area between consecutive meridians is called a range. A range is identified by its relationship to the principal meridian. All ranges are six miles wide. Tier - The east-west area between two parallels is called a tier, or a township strip. A tier is identified by its relationship to the base parallel. All tiers are six miles wide.

tangible vs intangible property

Real estate all tangible Personal maybe intangilble like stocks, patents...

Meridians Vs Parallels

Rectangular Survey System: Meridians: north and south. Theprincipal meridian is the single designated meridian for identifying townships in the principal meridian's geographical "jurisdiction." There are 36 principal meridians in the national survey. Parallels: run east and west

What are the four important rights associated with owning a parcel of real estate?

Right to use Right to transfer Right to encumber Right to exclude

California Doctrine (Water Rights)

Rights to water are based upon the right to use water and not upon ownership of water. The State Water Resources Control Board administers permits and licenses for California's surface water. The type of water source is determined by date of first use and not the physical location or type of water source

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT. Rod, Chain, Mile, Square Mile, Acre, Section, Yard.

Rod 16.5 feet; 5.5 yards Chain 66 feet; 4 rods; 100 links Mile 5,280 feet; 1760 yards; 320 rods Sq. Mile 640 acres Acre 43,560 sq. feet; 160 sq. rods Section 640 acres Sq. Foot 144 sq. inches Sq. Yard 9 sq. feet Cu. Yard 27 cu. feet

In describing a section what is the sequence?

Section, township than range

What is accession in relation to Trade Fixtures?

Should the tenant fail to remove a trade fixture, it may become the property of the landlord through accession.

What are datums?

Standard elevation reference points,

Land can be laterally divided into what classifications of rights?

Surface rights Subsurface rights Air rights

Judicial Regulation

The judicial system exerts an influence on real estate ownership and use through decisions based on case law and common law, as distinguished from statutory law.

Converting Section Fractions to Acres

The size in acres of a subsection of a township is a fraction of 640 acres, since there are 640 acres in a section.

Rights that "runs with the land" are also called ?

These rights are called appurtenances and apply to those things that can be transferred along with the land upon its sale, such as air rights, surface rights, and subsurface rights.

British system of metes and bounds.

This system describes property lines based on local markers and bounds that were drawn by people and usually based on the topography.

Trade fixtures, or chattel fixtures,

are items of a tenant's personal property that the tenant has temporarily affixed to a landlord's real property in order to conduct business.

Land use regulations and ordinances

control how all property within the jurisdiction may be developed, improved, demolished, and managed.

Adaptation (Real property or chattle)

f an item is uniquely adapted to the property, or the property is custom-designed to accommodate the item, it may be deemed real property whether the item is easily removable or not. House keys, a garbage compactor, and a removable door screen are examples.

Doctrine of Prior Appropriation

have taken the legal position that the state owns and controls all bodies of water

What are benchmarks?

identified local elevation markers to provide reference elevations for nearby properties.

Land has three unique physical characteristics:

immobility, indestructibility, and heterogeneity.

A simple definition of real estate is?

is air, water, land, and everything affixed to the land.

The right to exclude gives the property owner the legal right to?

keep others off the property and to prosecute trespassers.

The legal concept of real estate encompasses:

land all man-made structures that are "permanently" attached to the land (Improvements)

legal description of real propert

one which accurately locates and identifies the boundaries of the subject parcel to a degree acceptable by courts of law in the state where the property is located.

Property:

property is not only the item that is owned but also a set of rights to the item enjoyed by the owner.

The general criterion for a legal description is

provides sufficient data for a surveyor to locate the parcel. identifies the property as unique and distinct from all other properties. provides accuracy and consistency over time. facilitate transfers of ownership and prevent boundary disputes and problems with chain of title. provides a basis for court rulings on encroachments and easements.

two classifications of property: real property and personal property.

real property and personal property. Personal: Corporealpersonalproperty,includingsuchitems as animals, merchandise,andjewelry Incorporealpersonalproperty,comprised of suchrights as stocks,bonds, patents, andcopyrights

What is Affixing, or attachment?

the act of converting personal property to real property by attaching it to the real estate, such as by assembling a pile of bricks into a barbecue pit, or constructing a boat dock from wood planks.

Township

the area enclosed by the intersection of two consecutive meridians and two consecutive parallels. Since the parallels and meridians are six miles apart, a township is a square with six miles on each side. Its area is therefore 36 square miles.

Government entities regulate the following aspects of real property interests:

the bundle of rights: possession, usage, transfer, encumbering and exclusion legal descriptions financing insurance inheritance taxation

Severance (real or personal property)?

the conversion of real property to personal property by detaching it from the real estate, such as by cutting down a tree, detaching a door from a shed, or removing an antenna from a roof.

Federal Regulation

the federal government is primarily concerned with broad standards of real property usage, natural disaster, land description, and discrimination.

State Regulation

the primary regulatory entities of the real estate business

Subjacent Support

the right to have one's property supported from beneath the surface. Subjacent support issues can arise when a landowner has transferred rights to remove minerals to someone else.

The right to encumber the property essentially means?

the right to mortgage the property as collateral for debt

The legal concept of land encompasses:

the surface area of the earth everything beneath the surface of the earth extending downward to its center all natural things permanently attached to the earth the air above the surface of the earth extending outward to infinity

The rectangular survey system divides a township into?

thirty-six squares called SECTIONS. Each side of a section is one mile in length. Thus the area of a section is one square mile, or 640 acres.

Land Ordinance of 1785 and then the Northwest Ordinance in 1787

to control the survey, sale, and settling of the new lands.

What water rights does an owner of a property that contains, or adjoins, a body of water enjoy? The answer depends on three variables:

whether the state controls the water whether the water is moving whether the water is navigable