PSI Exam: Property Ownership Flashcards

PSI Exam: Property Ownership Flashcards

Creation and termination of easementmutual agreement, necessity, longtime use, termination of easements, abandonment, release of easements, conclusion of the reason, merger of the dominant and servient estates.

DeclarationDeveloper's organizational plans. Includes: bylaws, legal

descriptions, and surveys, restrictive covenants (CC&R) Legal tests for fixtures(1) Intention of person who attached the item to make it permanent(2) Method of attachment, annexation, degree of permanence(3) Adaptation of item to use of property, custom-made bookshelf(4) Relationship and general understanding between parties, Intangible (incorporeal) propertyabstract, "untouchable", yet very real elements, such as mortgages, rights, and other encumbrances, like stocks and retirement accounts.Joint tenancyUnity of title, time, possession, interest

(equal).*Connecticut: allows unequal interest**Alaska,

Ohio, and Oregon: abolished altogether

Property descriptionsmay be legal; such as metes and bounds, lot and block, or rectangular survey or street address. Full legal description is required for a deed to be valid.Right of habitationLouisiana term for when a person has not been granted a full usufruct, but does receive a nontransferable real right to dwell in the house of another.Rectangular surveygrid system that measures from the axis where a baseline, an east-west line, and a principle meridian, or north-south line, intersect.Mechanic/Material-mans' liens priorityfollows state specific rules for time limits on recording the lien, such as within one year of the project, as well as determination of the lien's effective date. Commonly, effective the date the work began, NOT the date of recording, represent an enforceable lien for a statutory period after recording, generally a year, unless satisfied or renewed.Right of SurvivorshipAs each individual joint tenant passes away, the remaining tenants interest would increase until the last remaining person becomes the sole owner Time share ownershipfee simple ownership of interval occupancy of specific unit, available to the owner at a specific time period each year.Encroachmentsspecial type of encumbrance, involves some form of

overlapping use of one property by another. Ex: when a

portion of a building passes into another's property

(trespass) or a roofline extends across a property

(nuisance).Legally: unauthorized, illegal infringements that

can affect a title's marketability, but may arise and exist with the knowledge and consent of owners.

Types of title(1) Clear (good) title: free of restrictions that would limit

transfer(2) Marketable title: a reasonable buyer would

accept as clear(3) Equitable title: holder's right to acquire

ownership and formal legal title; interest that may be sold, assigned, or transferred by the prospective buyer(4) Legal

(naked) title: holder has apparent ownership but not full

title. Ex: seller has entered into binding sales contract,

thereby relinquishing rights to the buyer

Appurtenancesthings that "belong" to something else, generally by attachment, includes a number of rights that "run with the land", which means rights that do not end when new owner

takes title. Ex: gardens, buildings, certain easements

(deeds of right of way).Party wall easementcommon building wall or stand-alone wall either on or at a property line. Involves both owners in ownership, maintenance, and access issues.Future interestsRight to acquire the estate upon its termination as a life estate (1) Remainder (2) Reversion Metes and bounds"walks" the property. Begins at a POB, then describing the distance and directions along the property line, follows a clockwise direction back to the POB.Benchmarksname for permanent markers, brass disks set in concrete or stone that identify marker's latitude, longitude, and elevation.Priority of liensDate of redecoration from the first to most recent. However, property tax liens are always superior to other liens, regardless of effective date.Condominium ownership(1) Fee simple title to the unit (2) Undivided interest in the jointly owned common areas as tenants in common with

other association members (3) Horizontal property act:

allows ownership of airspaces. NOT responsible for other unit's unpaid taxes.Specific lien"special", limited to a specific item controlled by the debtor, such as a mortgage on a house or loan or car.Property dedicationwhen a private entity owns a road or gathering place used by the public, that entity may publish a notice or block off private property one day a year to formally assert its continued right to do so.Joint tenancy with right of survivorship specifically includes "with rights of survivorship" in the

language of the deed. Sometimes abbreviated: JTWROS,

or JTRS."poor man's will" Trade fixturesused by business tenant. Display cases, supermarker freezers; the tenant's removeable personal property.Adverse possessionform of involuntary alienation. Actual title is transferred based on demonstrated use similar to that needed for a prescriptive easement's right to continue a specific use.Tenancy in commonundivided fractional interest in the property. Does not convey either the use or ownership into separate portions of the physical property. Each tenant may hold a deed that does not name any of the other owners.Non-monetary encumbrancesPhysical and legal restrictions as easements, encroachments, both restrict the use/transfer of property.

Ex: subdivision covenants, conditions, and restrictions