Real Estate Practice Exam Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated directly from the real estate study guide transcript.

Appurtenance

Rights, improvements, and privileges that go WITH the land.

Annexation

The process of attaching a fixture and making it permanent real property.

Severance

The process of removing a fixture and making it personal property.

Emblements

Annually cultivated crops belonging to the farmer who planted them, which are considered personal property and transferred with a bill of sale.

Non-homogeneity

A physical characteristic of land stating that each piece of land is unique.

Situs

Location preference from an economic standpoint, which can change over time as people change.

Police Power

The government's right to regulate and control the use of property for the health, safety, and general welfare of the public.

Variance

Permission granted by a zoning committee to break zoning rules when a property violates them.

Buffer Zone

An area of land situated between incompatible land uses, in transitional order.

Eminent Domain

The right of the government to take private property for public use through the act of condemnation.

Inverse Condemnation

The act of forcing the government to buy private property.

Escheat

The process by which property reverts to the state when someone dies with no will and no heirs or kindred, or when property is abandoned.

Encumbrance

A limit on a property owner's rights that can also act as a cloud on the title.

Encroachment

Occurs when a structure trespasses into another's property, requiring a survey and disclosure.

Dominant Estate

The estate or property that benefits from an easement.

Servient Estate

The estate or property that serves the needs of an easement and is encumbered by it.

Adverse Possession

Acquiring title to property without a deed through hostile or notorious occupancy.

Estate in Severalty

Sole ownership of property by one person, business, or corporation.

Tenancy in Common

Ownership by two or more people without rights of survivorship, where interest passes at probate and unequal shares are permitted.

Joint Tenancy

Ownership by two or more people with rights of survivorship, requiring equal shares and the four unities of title, time, interest, and possession (TTIP).

Fee Simple Absolute

The best type of ownership where the owner possesses all available legal rights to the property.

Fee Simple Defeasible

Defeatable ownership bound by terms and conditions; if violated, the property reverts back to the original owner.

Pur Autre Vie

A life estate where the duration of ownership is based on the life of someone other than the life tenant.

Tenancy at Sufferance

A situation where an individual remains in possession of property after the lease has expired without permission or rent payment.

Constructive Eviction

Occurs when a landlord is aware of property conditions, refuses to fix them, and allows the property to deteriorate to an uninhabitable state, forcing the tenant to leave.

Riparian Rights

The right to use water from streams, creeks, rivers, or small bodies of water.

Littoral Rights

The right to use water from lakes or oceans.

Accretion

Appurtenance

Rights, improvements, and privileges that go WITH the land.

Fixture

An item that was personal property but has been installed and attached in a way that it becomes real property.

Trade Fixtures

Items that remain at the end of a lease and go with the tenant if removed before the lease is over; if left behind, ownership passes to the landlord.

Annexation

The process of attaching a fixture and making it permanent.

Severance

The process of removing a fixture and making it personal property.

Emblements

Annually cultivated crops whose ownership belongs to the farmer who planted them, considered personal property.

Non-homogeneity

A physical characteristic of real property meaning each piece of land is unique.

Situs

Location preference from an economic standpoint, which can change as people change over time.

Metes and Bounds

The oldest method of land description using terminal points, angles, street names, and always having a point of beginning.

Variance

Permission to break zoning rules when a property violates zoning, obtained by applying through the zoning committee.

Set back

The space between lot lines and building lines required by zoning.

Non-conforming use

A property use that was permitted before a zoning change and is grandfathered in, allowing it to continue but not be altered or rebuilt without permission.

Buffer Zone

Land located between incompatible uses in a transitional order, such as green space between commercial and residential areas.

Eminent Domain

The right of the government to take private property for public use through the act of condemnation.

Inverse Condemnation

The act of forcing the government to buy property.

Escheat

The reversion of property to the state when someone dies with no will and no heirs or kindred, or when property is abandoned.

Encumbrance

A limit on a property owner's rights that can also create a cloud on the title.

Encroachment

Occurs when a structure trespasses onto another's property, requiring disclosure and a survey.

Easement

The limited use of another's land without possession, which needs to be written and recorded and runs with the land.

Easement in Gross

An easement belonging to a corporation or utility company that is not affected by any sale of the land.

Adverse Possession

Squatter's rights where an individual obtains title to a property without a deed through hostile or notorious occupancy.

Estate in Severalty

Sole ownership of property by one person, business, or corporation.

Tenancy in Common

Ownership by two or more people without rights of survivorship, permitting unequal shares and passing interest at probate.

Joint Tenancy

Ownership by two or more people WITH rights of survivorship, requiring equal shares and the four unities of TTIP (Title, Time, Interest, Possession).

Fee Simple Absolute

The best type of ownership in which the owner possesses all available rights to the property.

Fee Simple Defeasible

Ownership with terms and conditions that, if violated, causes the property to return back to the original owner.

Pur Autre Vie

A life estate based on the duration of someone's life other than the life tenant.

Estate for Years

A leasehold estate with a specific start and end date, which survives death and property sale, requiring no notice to terminate.

Periodic Tenancy

A month-to-month lease that automatically renews and requires notice to terminate.

Tenancy at Sufferance

Occurs when an individual stays after a lease expires without permission or paying rent, creating a holdover tenant.

Constructive Eviction

Occurs when a landlord allows a property to deteriorate until it becomes uninhabitable and refuses to fix it, forcing the tenant to leave.

Riparian Rights

The right to use water from streams, creeks, rivers, or small bodies of water.

Littoral Rights

The right to use water from lakes or oceans (large bodies of water).

Accretion

The slow buildup of land from soil deposits over time.

Reliction

The exposure of dry land created when water recedes or retreats.

Avulsion

A sudden, violent change or loss of land caused by events like floods or storms.

Habendum Clause

The statement in a deed indicating words of conveyance for the transfer of real property.

General Warranty Deed

A deed providing the greatest protection for the buyer, covering defects back to the sovereign of the soil.

Quitclaim Deed

A deed offering no warranties or guarantees and providing the least protection, often used to clear a cloud on a title.

Dedication

When a developer transfers the title of subdivision streets and public spaces to the government by recording a plat plan.

Subrogation Clause

A title insurance clause stating that an insured party cannot double dip and must reimburse the title company for recovered funds.

Principle of Substitution

Valuation principle stating that the maximum value of a property is based on the price of a similar substitute property.

Functional Obsolescence

Loss in property value brought on by unique internal property factors, such as unpopular floor plans or inadequate bedrooms.

Economic Obsolescence

Incurable loss in property value due to outside factors external to the property, such as pollution or noise.

Statute of Frauds

Law requiring all contracts that convey real property to be in writing to be enforceable by courts, except leases of $1$\,year or less.

Parol Evidence Rule

Rule stating that if a contract is incomplete or unclear, oral evidence may be used to clarify the agreement.

Novation

The substitution of a new contract or new party in place of an existing one, releasing the original party from liability.

Boot

Additional capital or property included in a $1031$\,exchange to even out the transaction, which is fully taxable at the time of exchange.

Blockbusting

The illegal practice of manipulating current property owners into selling out of fear that protected classes are moving into the neighborhood.

Steering

The illegal practice of manipulating buyers into or away from certain neighborhoods based on protected classes.

Commingling

The illegal mixing of client trust funds with a broker's business or personal funds.

Conversion

The illegal practice of using client trust funds for personal or business expenses.

Blanket Loan

A mortgage loan covering more than one parcel of land, which contains a release clause allowing individual lots to be released upon partial payoff.

Package Loan

A loan that includes both real property and personal property within the same mortgage.

Acceleration Clause

A mortgage provision allowing the lender to declare the entire principal balance due and payable immediately upon default.

Alienation Clause

Also known as a due-on-sale clause, requiring the remaining mortgage balance to be paid in full if the property is sold without lender approval.

Defeasance Clause

A mortgage clause stating that the lien is defeated and cleared once the underlying debt is fully repaid.

RESPA

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which regulates closing procedures on residential $1$-to-$4$\,family properties and prohibits illegal kickbacks.

Redlining

The illegal practice by financial institutions or insurers of refusing to lend or issue policies in specific geographic areas.