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