REAL ESTATE VOCAB

Lease

A contract between a lessor and a lease which gives possession but not ownership, to the lessee in exchange for rent. A lease is considered personal property.

Sublease

Tenant rents to another tenant. This happens when an existing tenant decides to lease to a third party.

Quiet Title Action

A lawsuit used to establish who legally owns a property, and to resolve competing claims against the title.

Abandonment

Voluntarily giving up the rights and responsibilities of possession of a property + intent to give it up permanently.

Fixture

Personal property that has become real property, for example, a pool covering or painting that has been nailed to the wall. It is now considered part of the real estate, and when the house gets sold that goes with it.

Tenancy in common

Tenancy in common is a form of co-ownership where two or more people own interests in the same property. Each owner can have an equal or unequal ownership share. Example:

Three people buy a property:

• Alice owns 50%

• Bob owns 30%

• Carol owns 20%

They're all tenants in common.

The biggest exam point is that there is NO right of survivorship. If one owner dies, their share passes according to their will or estate, rather than automatically going to the other co-owners.

Bargain and sale deed

A bargain and sale deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest the grantor has in real property, but does NOT provide the buyer with warranties about the title.

In simple terms:

“I'm giving you whatever ownership interest I have, but I'm not promising that the title is free of problems.”

Alienation of Title

Alienation of title means the transfer of ownership of property from one person to another.

Basically, alienate = transfer/lose ownership.

Example:

Alice owns a house and sells it to Bob.

➡ Alice's ownership is alienated
➡ Bob becomes the new owner.

Personal property

Personal property is property that is movable and is not permanently attached to land or a building.

Think:

Personal property = stuff you can take with you.

Life estate pur autre vie

A life estate that lasts for someone else's lifetime, not the life of the person holding the estate. “I get to use this property until SOMEONE ELSE dies”

Constructive Eviction

Constructive eviction happens when a landlord does something (or fails to do something) that makes the rental property so unlivable that the tenant is essentially forced to leave.

Title insurance

Insures against any losses due to defects or problems with the title after it has been searched or examined. Ensures the buyer is getting a clean title. title insurance protects against covered past/hidden title problems; it isn't the same thing as homeowners insurance, which primarily covers things like damage to the house.

dominant tenement

A dominant tenement is the property that BENEFITS from an easement.

Think of an easement between two properties:

• 🏡 Property A → needs to use part of Property B to access the road

• 🏡 Property B → its land is being used

Property A = dominant tenement because it benefits from the easement.

Property B = servient tenement because it is the property being used/burdened by the easement.

Tenant improvement allowance

money provided by the landlord to help a tenant pay for improvements or renovations to a rental space. More common with commercial leases.

Sandwich lease

A sandwich lease occurs when a person is a lessee (tenant) who subleases the property to another person, making them both a tenant and a landlord.

Think of it as:

Owner → Tenant → Subtenant

The middle person is the “sandwich.”

Warranty deed

A deed in which the grantor warrants/guarantees the title and agrees to defend the grantee against covered title claims.“I'm promising you that I really own this property and that I'll stand behind the title I'm giving you.”

Fee Simple defeasible

A fee simple defeasible is ownership that can be lost if a specific condition is violated.

Think:

“You own it, BUT there are conditions attached.”

Example:

A city gives Alice a property as long as the property is used as a public park.

Alice has ownership, but if the property stops being used as a public park, her ownership can end.

Fee simple estate (fee simple absolute)

A fee simple estate is the highest form of ownership of real property. The owner has the property for an unlimited duration and can generally sell it, give it away, lease it, or leave it to someone in a will.

Think:

“I own this property, and there is no set date when my ownership ends.”

Joint Tenancy

A form of co-ownership in which two or more people hold property with a right of survivorship, meaning a deceased owner's interest passes automatically to the surviving joint tenant(s).

Real Property

Generally immovable. Goes with the real estate. land plus everything permanently attached to or associated with the land