Real Estate Law: Chapter 7

pur autre vie

"For the life of another." A life estate that is measured by the life of a person other than the grantee.

littoral rights

1. A landowner's claim to use water in large navigable lakes and oceans adjacent to his or her property. 2. The ownership rights to land bordering these bodies of water up to the high-water mark.

license

1. A 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.

encroachment

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 some land of a adjoining owner or a street or alley.

prior appropriation

A concept of water ownership in which the landowner's right to use available water is based on a government-administered permit system

fee simple determinable

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

legal life estate

A form of life estate established by state law, rather than created voluntarily by an owner. It becomes effective when certain events occur.

condemnation

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 the owner.

future interest

A person's present right to an interest in real property that will not result in possession or enjoyment until some time in the future, such as a reversion or right of re-entry

lien

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

easement

A right to use the land of another for a specific purpose, such as for a right-of-way or utilities; an incorporeal interest in land.

easement by prescription

An easement acquired by continuous, open, and hostile use of the property for the period of time prescribed by state law.

easement by necessity

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment of a parcel of real estate (e.g., a right of ingress and egress over a grantor's land).

appurtenant easement

An easement that is annexed to the ownership of one parcel and allows the owner the use of the neighbor's land

easement in gross

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 of the owner. (For example, a right granted by Eleanor Franks to Joe Fish to use a portion of her property for the rest of his life would be an easement in gross).

freehold estate

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

fee simple defeasible

An estate in which the holder has a fee simple title that may be divested upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event.

life estate

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

riparian rights

An owner's rights in a land that borders on or includes a stream, river, or lake. These rights include access to and use of the water.

encumberance

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

deed restrictions

Clauses in a deed limiting the future uses of he 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, prevent buildings from being used for specific purposes or even from being used at all.

fee simple subject to a condition subsequent

If an estate is no longer used for the purposed conveyed, it reverts to the original grantor by the right of reentry.

homestead

Land that is owned an occupied as the family, In many states, a portion of the area or value of this land is protected or exempt from judgments for debts.

estate in land

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

police power

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

fee simple

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

fee simple absolute

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

taxation

The process by which a government or municipal quasi-public body raises monies to fund its operation.

reversionary interest

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

escheat

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

eminent domain

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.

avulsion

The sudden tearing away of land, as by earthquake, flood, volcanic action, or the sudden change in the course of a stream.

remainder interest

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