REAL ESTATE PREP-National Ownership
Calculating the acreage of a parcel
-Multiply the denominators of the fractional descriptions together -Divide 640 by the resulting number
Homestead laws generally provide that
1. All or portions of one's homestead are exempt from a forced sale executed for the collection of general debts (judgment liens). The various states place different limits on this exemption 2. Tax debts, seller financing debt, debts for home improvement, and mortgage debt are not exempt 3. The family must occupy the homestead 4. The homestead interest cannot be conveyed by one spouse; both spouses must sign the deed conveying homestead property 5. The homestead exemption and restrictions endure over the life of the head of the household, and pass on to children under legal age. State laws define specifically how the interest transfers upon the death of the household head 6. Homestead interests in a property are extinguished if the property is sold or abandoned. Abandonment is the discontinued use of the property. If the owner does not intend to use it again as a home, then the rights are extinguished
fee simple owner may also do any of the following
1. Pass a life estate in reversion or remainder to another person. 2. Use the property as security for a debt. 3. Grant an easement. 4. Allow another person to lease the property. 5. Give permission for another to conduct an activity on the property.
characteristics of the life estate
1. The owner enjoys full ownership rights during the estate period. 2. Holders of the future interest own either a reversionary or a remainder interest. 3. The estate may be created by agreement between private parties, or it may be created by law under prescribed circumstances
government's right to take a property voluntarily from an owner, three requirements
1. The property owner must be paid compensation 2. The property must be used for the public good 3. The owner must have due process in the courts system
Examples of interests include
1. an owner's enjoyment of the complete bundle of rights 2. a tenant's temporary enjoyment of the right to use and exclude 3. a lender's enjoyment of the right to encumber the property over the life of a mortgage loan
two types of life estates
1. conventional life estate 2. legal life estate
types of fee simple defeasible
1. determinable subsequent 2. condition subsequent
leasehold estate
1. distinguished by its specific duration, as represented by the lease term 2. is not commonly equated with ownership of the property (leaseholder's rights are temporary)
tenancies
1. leasehold estates 2. freehold estates
two types of conventional life estates
1. ordinary 2. pur autre vie
examples of public interest
1. police power 2. right to acquire ownership through the power of eminent domain 3. ownership claimed by escheat
Escheat
1. provides another example of the state's interest in real property 2. if an owner dies without a will and without heirs, the property reverts to the state 3. if the property is abandoned (by failure to pay taxes), the ownership of the property goes to the state
freehold estate
1. the duration of the owner's rights cannot be determined 2. the rights may endure for a lifetime 3. for less than a lifetime 4. for generations beyond the owner's lifetime 5. commonly equated with ownership of the property
defeasible fee estate is perpetual, provided the usage conforms to stated conditions
1. the property must be used for a certain purpose, or under certain conditions 2. if the use changes or if prohibited conditions are present, the estate reverts to the previous grantor of the estate
Elective share laws
1. the surviving spouse is entitled to a percent of the deceased spouse's property 2. surviving spouse must file for the elective share within a limited time period 3. if the spouse fails to file, the estate passes on according to the will, or the state's laws of descent 4. elective share right pertains only to the surviving spouse and is not transferable
Examples of interests include
4. a repairman's right to encumber the property when the owner fails to pay for services 5. a buyer's right to prevent an owner from selling the property to another party under the terms of the sale contract
Examples of interests include
6. a mining company's temporary right to extract minerals from the property's subsurface 7. a local municipality's right to control how an owner uses the property 8. a utility company's right to have access to the property in accordance with an easement
Examples of interests include
9. the length of time a person may enjoy the interest 10. the portion of the land, air, or subsurface the interest applies to 11. the public or private nature of the interest 12. the inclusion or exclusion of legal ownership of the property
fee simple estate
A freehold estate of potentially unlimited duration highest form of ownership interest one can acquire in real estate
Community Property
Community property is a form of ownership that distinguishes property into categories of separate (owned by one party) and community (owned equally by both parties)
Elective Share
Elective share is a state-level statute enabling a surviving spouse to make a minimum claim to the deceased spouse's real and personal property in place of the provisions for such property in the decedent's will
correction line
Every 24 miles north and south of a base parallel
Metes and bounds
Identifies the boundaries of a parcel of real estate using reference points, distances, and angles.
Condition Subsequent
If any condition is violated, the previous owner may repossess the property. However, reversion of the estate is not automatic; the grantor must re-take physical possession within a certain time frame
Example of Reversion
If no remainder estate is established, the estate reverts to the original owner or the owner's heirs. For example, Mr. Smith gives his home to his ill cousin Jim with the stipulation that when Jim dies, the home will revert to Mr. Smith or his heirs. In this situation, Mr. Smith owns a reversionary interest
Reversion
If no remainder estate is established, the estate reverts to the original owner, or the owner's heirs. In this situation, the original owner retains a reversionary interest or estate
Estates in Land (or familiarity, an estate)
If the interest-holder enjoys the right of possession
Discuss how the right of possession determines what kind of estate or interest a party has in real estate
If the interest-holder enjoys the right of possession, the estate is an estate in land. If the interest-holder does not have the right of possession, the interest is an encumbrance in the case of a private interest-holder, or some form of public interest in the case of a non-private (i.e., governmental) interest-holder
public interest
If the interest-holder is not private, such as a government entity, and does not have the right to possess, the interest
How are directions described in a metes and bounds survey
In terms of degrees east or west of an imaginary north-south axis
The rectangular survey system
It is inadequate as a method of legal description for irregular shapes
components of a description using the recorded plat method
Lot number, block identifier, subdivision name, section location, township, county, state
What method of legal description was the first one used in America
Metes and bounds system
bundle of rights attached to the fee simple absolute estate
Right of quiet enjoyment Right to give away Right to sell by deed Right to will Right to exclude Right to control within what is allowed by law
How far apart are common parallels
Six miles
datums
Standard elevation reference points
benchmarks
Surveyors have identified local elevation markers, to provide reference elevations for nearby properties
Examples of ENCUMBRANCES
Tax liens mortgages easements encroachments
check or quadrangle
The 24-by-24-mile square created by the intersection of guide meridians and standard parallels
Determinable Subsequent
The deed to the determinable estate states usage limitations. If the restrictions are violated, the estate automatically reverts to the grantor or heirs
tier or township strip
The east-west area between two parallels
fee interest, or the fee
The fee simple interest
range
The north-south area between consecutive meridians
fee tenant
The owner of the fee simple interest
Which land description method divides tracts of land into subdivisions and blocks
The recorded plat method.
sections
The rectangular survey system divides a township into thirty-six squares -Each side of a section is one mile in length -The description proceeds from the smallest unit to the largest
blocks (for ease of reference)
Tracts of land are subdivided into lots. In a large subdivision, lots may be grouped together
subdivisions
Used to describe properties in residential, commercial, and industrial
condemnation
When the owner and the government cannot negotiate a satisfactory voluntary acquisition of the property (government can institute this process)
What primarily distinguishes freehold estates from leasehold estates
Whether an estate in land is a freehold or leasehold estate depends on the length of time the holder may enjoy the right to possess the estate, the relationship of parties owning the estate, and specific interests held in the estate. The duration of the owner's rights in a freehold cannot be determined: they may last for a lifetime, for less than a lifetime, or for generations beyond the owner's lifetime. In a leasehold, they have a specific duration, as represented by the lease term
Example of Determinable Subsequent
a deed may read that Mrs. Becker gives a 20-acre parcel of land to the Mayfair Foundation as long as it is used for educational purposes. The key words here are "as long as." If at some point the Mayfair Foundation builds a retail space on the property, the title would terminate automatically and would revert to Mrs. Becker or her heirs
marital rights
a legal life estate makes it impossible for one partner to sell the property without the consent of the other partner, or to own property in one name only
A legal description of real property
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
life estate
an estate limited to the life of the owner
estate in land
an interest that includes the right of possession
Fee Simple Defeasible (fee simple estate)
conditional estates ownership can continue indefinitely, provided the use of the property conforms to certain stated conditions
Conventional Life Estate
created by grant from a fee simple property owner to the grantee, the life tenant
Legal Life Estate
created by state law, as opposed to, being created by a property owner's agreement - The focus of a legal life estate is defining and protecting the property rights of surviving family members upon the death of the spouse
Point of Beginning (POB)
description always identifies an enclosed area by starting at and returning to the origination point
An encumbrance
enables a non-owning party to restrict the owner's bundle of rights
Ordinary Life Estate
ends with the death of the life estate owner and may pass back to the original owners or their heirs (reversion) or to a named third party (remainder)
Pur Autre Vie life estate
endures over the lifetime of a third person, after which the property passes from the tenant holder to the original grantor (reversion) or a third party (remainderman)
guide meridian
every 24 miles east and west of a principal meridian
remainder interest or remainder estate
f a life estate names a third party to receive title to the property upon termination of the life estate, the party enjoys a future interest
life tenant
holder of a life estate -The life tenant does not have the right to pass ownership to his or her heirs
major forms of legal life estate
homestead, dower and curtesy, and elective share
Individual townships
identified by their tier and range identification taken together, with the tier designation named first
encumbrance
if a private interest-holder does not have the right to possess, the interest
non-possessory (government entities)
interests in real estate, which act to control land use for the public good within the entity's jurisdiction
estate
is a freehold estate or a leasehold estate
Life Estates
is a freehold estate that is limited in duration to the life of the owner or other named person
undivided interest
is an owner's interest in a property in which two or more parties share ownership
Eminent Domain
is the right of the government to take private property for a necessary public use, with just compensation paid to the owner
principal meridian
is the single designated meridian for identifying townships in the principal meridian's geographical "jurisdiction."
A parcel's street address is an insufficient legal description because
it lacks permanence and sufficient data for a surveyor to locate it
three accepted methods of legally describing parcels
metes and bounds rectangular survey system, or government survey method recorded plat method, or lot and block method
If two co-owners have an undivided equal interest
one owner may not lay claim to the northern half of the property for his or her exclusive use
freehold tenant
owner of the freehold estate
Fee Simple Absolute (fee simple estate)
perpetual estate that is not conditioned by stipulated or restricted uses. freely passed on to heirs
bundle of rights to real property
possess use transfer encumber exclude
Homestead
principal residence
Escheat
process of reversion to state ownership
elevation
property located above or below the earth's surface
Homestead laws
protect family members against losing their homes to general creditors attempting to collect on debts -In some states the exemption is automatic; in others, homeowners must file for the exemption
general criterion for a legal description
provides sufficient data for a surveyor to locate the parcel
legal description is required for
public recording creating a valid deed of conveyance or lease completing mortgage documents executing and recording other legal documents
"undivided" and "indivisible"
signify that the owner's interest is in a fractional part of the entire estate, not in a physical portion of the real property itself
may use eminent domain to acquire land for
streets, parks, public buildings, public rights-of-way, and similar uses
plat of survey or subdivision plat map
surveyor incorporates the survey data -The description first presents the property's lot number or letter, then the block identifier and the subdivision name
Community property requires
the consent of both parties to transfer or encumber. On the death of an owner, the laws of descent treat separate and community property differently
base parallel
the designated line for identifying townships
To transfer property within dower and curtesy states
the husband (or wife) must obtain a release of the dower interest from the other spouse in order to convey clear title to another party. If both parties sign the conveyance, the dower right is automatically extinguished
Curtesy
the identical right enjoyed by the husband in a deceased wife's property
leasehold tenant
the renter, or lessee
police power
the right of the local or county government to zone
taking
to take a property by eminent domain
The recorded plat method (or) lot and block system
used to describe properties in residential, commercial, and industrial subdivisions.
datum or benchmark
used to describe the elevation of a property in a legal description
Dower
wife's life estate interest in the husband's property -Property acquired under dower laws is owned by the surviving spouse for the duration of his or her lifetime