Real Property Ownership and Title Transfer

Practice flashcards covering property ownership forms, business entities in real estate, methods of alienation, deed types, and title recording processes based on the lecture notes.

What are the five rights included in the real property bundle of rights?

Possession, quiet enjoyment, disposition, exclusion, and control.

What is ownership in severalty?

A sole form of ownership where only one person or legal entity holds the title to the property, meaning the owner’s interest has been severed from the interests of all others.

What is co-ownership?

A form of ownership where two or more persons or legal entities share title to real property, with each person having an undivided interest.

What is the primary characteristic of tenancy in common?

It is undivided interest in land with no right of survivorship, and it is the only co-ownership that can be owned in unequal fractional portions.

What are the four unities required for joint tenancy?

Time (acquired at the same time), title (acquired through the same document), interest (equal interests), and possession (equal rights of possession).

What happens when one joint tenant dies in a joint tenancy?

The surviving members receive the deceased person’s share automatically and equally through the automatic right of survivorship.

What is the right of partition?

The right that allows any co-owner to end a co-ownership through voluntary agreement or a judicial process.

What form of co-ownership is reserved strictly for legal spouses?

Tenancy by the entireties.

In a limited partnership, what is the extent of a limited partner's liability?

The liability is limited to their original investment.

What are the specific requirements for a real estate investment trust (REIT) to avoid income tax?

It must have at least $100$ investors, earn $75\%$ of its income from real estate, and distribute $95\%$ of its taxable income to beneficiaries.

What are blue sky laws?

State laws that regulate securities.

How does a condominium owner's fee simple interest differ from a townhome owner's interest?

A condominium owner has fee simple interest in the interior airspace of their unit, whereas a townhome owner has fee simple interest in the unit, its exterior, and the ground directly beneath it.

What is a cooperative (co-op)?

A building owned by a corporation where residents are shareholders and receive a proprietary lease on an individual unit.

What is the difference between voluntary and involuntary alienation?

Voluntary alienation is a transfer of title by the owner's free will (e.g., sale or gift), while involuntary alienation is a transfer against the owner's will or without their action (e.g., foreclosure or eminent domain).

What is the difference between avulsion and accretion?

Avulsion is the violent tearing away of land by water (e.g., flash flood), while accretion is the gradual addition of dry land by waterborne sediment.

What is eminent domain?

The government’s constitutional power to take private property for public use as long as just compensation is paid.

What is the process of escheat?

The process by which property reverts to the state if a property owner dies intestate and has no heirs or creditors.

What is the difference between dying testate and dying intestate?

Dying testate means dying with a will, while dying intestate means dying without a will.

Who are the grantor and the grantee in a real estate transaction?

The grantor is the person conveying their interest in the real property, and the grantee is the person receiving it.

What are the common elements required for a deed to be valid?

It must be in writing, have a competent grantor’s signature, an identifiable grantee, words of conveyance, a legal description, consideration, and delivery to and acceptance by the grantee.

Which type of deed provides the grantee with the best possible protection?

General warranty deed.

What is a quitclaim deed often used for?

To clear an error or issue with an earlier deed, as it makes no warranties and conveys only the interest the grantor may have at that time.

What is the difference between constructive notice and actual notice?

Constructive notice is the legal presumption that everyone knows the contents of public records, while actual notice occurs when someone specifically examines those records.

What is a chain of title?

The deeds and other documents transferring title to property from one owner to the next as disclosed in the public record.

What is a cloud on the title?

A gap or flaw in the chain of title.

What is the purpose of a suit to quiet title?

To determine and resolve problems of instruments conveying land and remove clouds on the title.

What is a mortgagee policy in title insurance?

A title insurance policy required by a lender as a condition of financing the purchase of property.