BLAW Chapter 25: Property

The four main duties a Landlord has to his tenants are:

(1) Duty to Deliver Possession (2) Quiet Enjoyment (3) Duty to Maintain Premises (4) Duty to return security deposit

Types of Nonpossessory Interests:

(1) Easements (2) Profit (3) License (4) Mortgage

Real property consists of the following (four):

(1) Land (2) Buildings (3) Plant life (4) Fixtures

A Tenant's Duties

(1) Pay Rent (2) Use for proper purpose (3) Do not damage (4) Do not disturb others

Property falls into three categories:

(1) Real (2) personal (3) intellectual

Landlord's Remedies for Non-Payment of Rent

(1) Use up security deposit (2) Sue to recover under contract (3) Evict

At a minimum, a lease must include (four things):

(1) names of the parties (2) premises being leased (3) duration of the agreement (4) the rent

The three most common forms of concurrent estates are:

(1) tenancy in common (2) joint tenancy (3) tenancy by the entirety

________ terminates a tenancy by the entirety and leaves the two parties as tenants in common.

Divorce

________ _______ is the power of the government to take private property for public use.

Eminent domain

_______ are goods that have become attached to real property.

Fixtures

Two or more people holding equal interest in a property, with the right of survivorship

Joint tenancy

_________ is similar to tenancy in common but is used less frequently.

Joint tenancy

An agreement in which an owner gives a tenant the right to use property.

Lease

______ _______ means all tangible property other than real property - a toothbrush, a share of stock, a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, etc.

Personal property

______ _______ involves interests in land and things firmly attached to it, including buildings and trees.

Real property

______ is the compensation the tenant pays the landlord for use of the premises, and paying the _____ is the tenant's foremost obligation.

Rent

The _______ generally requires that a long-term lease be in writing.

Statute of Frauds

Although all levels of government have the power to take property, they must pay the owner a fair price.

Takings Clause

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

Zoning statutes

An order requiring the homeowner to eliminate the nuisance

abatement

The tenant's right to quiet enjoyment focuses primarily on the tenant's _____ _____ _____ the rented property. The landlord's duty to maintain the property focuses on whether the property _____ _____ ______ _____ ______.

ability to use; meets a particular legal standard

If a landlord prevents the tenant from possessing the premises, he has __________ evicted her.

actually

A tenancy for years terminates _________ when the agreed period ends.

automatically

When two or more people own real property at the same time, they have _______ ________.

concurrent estates

Generally, if the property owner refuses the government's offer, the government will file suit seeking ___________ of the land; that is, a court order specifying what compensation is just and awarding title to the government.

condemnation

A _________ is similar to a covenant, but it allows for a landlord to evict a tenant if there is a violation. A promise or undertaking contained in a lease whose breach may result in eviction.

condition

In these cases, the landlord has not actually prevented the tenant from possessing the premises but has instead interfered so greatly with her use and enjoyment that the law regards the landlord's actions as equivalent to an eviction.

constructive eviction

To claim a _______ ________, the tenant must vacate the premises and prove that the interference was sufficiently serious and lasted long enough that she was forced to move out.

constructive eviction

If a landlord substantially interferes with the tenant's use and enjoyment of the premises, he has ______________ evicted her.

constructively

The basic agreement between the landlord and a tenant is a contract, called a ________. It defines the terms of the leasehold interest.

contract

Any co-tenant in a tenancy in common may _______ her interest in the property to another person.

convey

A _________ is simply a promise by either the landlord or the tenant to do something or refrain from doing something. A promise or undertaking contained in a lease whose breach does not result in eviction.

covenant

Many leases include an _______ _______, permitting the landlord to raise the rent during the course of the lease if his expenses increase for specified reasons.

escalator clause

The different rights that someone can hold in real property are known as ________ or _________.

estates, interests

The most common interference with quiet enjoyment is an _________, meaning some act that forces the tenant to abandon the premises.

eviction

A person may own property outright, having the unrestricted use of the land and an unlimited right to sell it. Such a person owns a ______ ______ _______. Full ownership privileges in a property.

fee simple absolute

What we think of as "owning" land is in fact a ________ _________, that is, the right to possess real property and use it in any lawful manner for an indefinite time.

freehold estate

If you want the property to become consolidated when one owner dies, use the ___________.

joint tenancy

The parties (like in a tenancy in common) again own a percentage of the entire property and also have the absolute right of partition. The primary difference is that a ___________ includes the right of survivorship.

joint tenancy

The Fifth Amendment to U.S. Constitution states, "...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without _______ _______"

just compensation

The owner of a freehold estate who allows another person temporarily to live on his property.

landlord

When an owner of a freehold estate allows another person temporary, exclusive possession of the property, the parties have created a __________ ___________.

landlord-tenant relationship

Temporary right of possession with reversion

leasehold interest

The landlord conveys a ______ ________ to the tenant, meaning the right to temporary possession. One party has the right to occupy the property for a given length of time

leasehold interest

A tenant is generally _______ for injuries occurring within the premises she is leasing, whether that is an apartment, a store, or otherwise.

liable

A _______ gives the holder temporary permission to enter another's property.

license

The mortgagee in most cases obtains a _________ on the house, meaning the right to foreclose on the property if the mortgagor fails to pay back the money borrowed.

lien

In most states, a landlord has a duty to deliver the premises in a habitable condition and a continuing duty to __________ the habitable condition.

maintain

If a husband goes bankrupt, creditors _____ _____ ______ his house if he and his wife own it as tenants in common.

may not seize

A ________ is a security interest in real property.

mortgage

The homeowner who borrows money is the _________ because she is giving the mortgage to the lender. The lender, in turn, is the _________, the party acquiring a security interest.

mortgagor; mortgagee

A _________ is an unprivileged interference with a person's use and enjoyment of her property.

nuisance

All co-tenants have an absolute right to ________.

partition

A form of partition in which a property is divided among co-owners

partition by kind

A __________ is created for a fixed period and then automatically continues for additional periods until either party notifies the other of terminations.

periodic tenancy

A lease for a fixed period, automatically renewable unless terminated.

periodic tenancy

The most common type of tenancy, it automatically renews itself every month/year (specified period) unless either party gives adequate notice to the other that she wishes to terminate.

periodic tenancy

The landlord's first important duty is to deliver __________ of the premises at the beginning of the tenancy; that is, to make the rented space available to the tenant.

possession

A ________ gives one person the right to enter land belonging to another and take something away.

profit

All tenants are entitled to _______ _______ of the premises, meaning the right to use the property without the interference of the landlord.

quiet enjoyment

General rule for fixtures: An object is a fixture if a ________ person would consider the item to be a ________ ________ of the property.

reasonable; permanent part

If the defective conditions seriously interfere with the tenancy, the court declares the implied warranty breached and orders a _______ ________; that is, a reduction in the rent owed.

rent abatement

The landlord is also keeping a _______ _______ in the property, meaning the right to possess the property when the lease ends.

reversionary interest

The landlord's right to occupy the property at the end of the lease.

reversionary interest

Means that when one joint tenant dies, his interests in the property passes to the surviving joint tenants.

right of survivorship

If Frank and George own vacation property as joint tenants, Frank has the power to sell his interest to Harry. But as soon as he does so, the joint tenancy is _________; that is, broken. Harry and George are now tenants in common, and the right of survivorship is destroyed.

severed

Unlike an easement or a profit, a license is a ________ right.

temporary

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

tenancy at sufferance

A tenancy that exists without the permission of the landlord, after the expiration of a true tenancy.

tenancy at sufferance

In these situations, the landlord has the option of seeking to evict the tenant or of forcing the tenant to pay a use and occupancy fee for as long as she stays.

tenancy at sufferance

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

tenancy at will

These type of tenancies are unusual in that they are very vague. Either party can end them at any time, so they provide no security for either landlord or tenant.

tenancy at will

A system of ownership of marital property in which each spouse owns the entire estate

tenancy by the entirety

In ____________, which exists in about half the states, the husband and wife each own the entire property, and they both have a right of survivorship.

tenancy by the entirety

In a _________, neither party has the right to convey his or her interest.

tenancy by the entirety

Any lease for a stated, fixed period is a ____________.

tenancy for years

If a landlord rents a summer apartment for the months of June, July, and August of next year, that is a ______________.

tenancy for years

If you want each person to have right to dispose of her interest without changing others' rights, use _________.

tenancy in common

In a ____________, each tenant has the power to leave his interest in the real estate to his heirs.

tenancy in common

Two or more people holding equal interest in a property, but with no right of survivorship; the most common form of concurrent estate

tenancy in common

The law presses that a concurrent estate is a _________; a court will interpret an estate as a ________ only if the parties creating it clearly intended that result.

tenancy in common; joint tenancy

A person given temporary possession of the landlord's property

tenant

Co-owners are automatically considered ______________ unless another type of interest is specified.

tenants in common

What is the primary difference between tenancy in common and joint tenancy? Joint tenancy includes _____________, while tenancy in common does not.

the right of survivorship

An owner prohibited by an ordinance from erecting a certain kind of building, or adding on to his present building, may seek a _________ from the zoning board, meaning an exception granted for special reasons unique to the property.

variance

The implied _______ ______ ________ requires that a landlord meet all standards set by the local building code, or that the premises be fit for human habitation.

warranty of habitability