NC Broker License Glossary

Land

Defined as the earth's surface extending downward to the center of the earth and upward to infinity, including permanently attached natural objects.

Real estate

Includes land plus everything attached to it, both naturally and artificially.

Real property

Includes real estate plus interests, benefits,and rights automatically included with real estate ownership.

Improvements

Artificial attachments to land that include things such as fencing, buildings, and walkways.

Personal property

Property that is movable, may be owned by a person, and is not real property. Any type of non-permanent attachment.

Appurtenance

Automatic rights inherent in property ownership.

Profit (land)

The right to take products out of the soil.

License

The temporary right to use another person's property without possessing any interest or ownership in the land.

Air rights

Rights to use the airspace above the land may be sold or leased independently of the land itself.

Water rights

The rights to use the water either on or adjacent to one's land.

Riparian rights

Rights of the owners of a bordering property to use a flowing body of water, such as a river or creek.

Littoral rights

Rights of the owners of a bordering property to the use of a stationary body of water, such as a lake or sea.

Foreshore

The area between the mean high water mark and the low water mark, owned by the state.

Doctrine of prior appropriation

A legal right to use water over subsequent users of that water. The first person who uses the water source has priority over later claims.

Accretion

The gradual growth in the size of a land parcel due to water-deposited sand, silt, or gravel.

Erosion

The wearing away of land by wind, water, and other natural disturbances.

Avulsion

A loss of existing land by the sudden change in a watercourse, washing it away.

Reliction

The gradual creation of land when adjacent water levels recede.

Sub-surface rights

Rights related to the use of minerals and other products below the surface of the property.

Lateral support

Support that a land parcel receives from the adjoining land. It ensures that a property does not collapse or erode due to changes in the surrounding land or soil.

Chattel

Another word for personal property (as opposed to real property).

Trade fixtures

Affixed items installed by a tenant for business purposes that remain the personal property of the tenant.

Severance

Altering the characteristic of an item from real property to personal property by removing it from the land.

Annexation (chattels)

An attachment of personal property to real property, thereby making it a fixture (also known as an attachment).

Fruits of nature

Plants that don’t require annual cultivation, like trees, and are considered real estate.

Fruits of industry

Plants that do require annual cultivation, like crops, and are considered personal property.

Emblements

Growing crops, such as decorative trees or corn, which are produced annually; usually not considered fixtures, but are the personal property of the person who planted them.

Manufactured homes

Housing that is built to HUD specifications; manufactured housing must be at least 320 square feet and built on a permanent steel chassis and wheels, designated as personal property.

Modular homes

Built in pieces off-site and transported and built at a spot without transportation in mind (no chassis or wheels), designating it as real property as soon as it is assembled.

Freehold estate

Legal term for owning real property for an indefinite period and is an estate of inheritance.

Fee simple estate

An inheritable estate with absolute ownership; provides the most complete form of ownership and bundle of rights in real property

Defeasible fee estate

An estate which transfers fee simple title, but subject to certain conditions (so inherently less than fee simple). Also called a qualified fee estate.

Life estate

A type of property that individuals own for just their own lifetime. The ownership of the property terminates upon death. 

Pur autre vie

A life estate that lasts for the life of someone other than the life tenant. This type of estate persists for the lifetime of a person (the measuring life) who doesn’t hold the estate.

Life tenant

The owner of a life estate. The recipient of the life estate holds title to the property during their lifetime.

Estovers

A necessity allowed by law that permits a tenant to use timber from the leased property for minimum fuel, repairs, and tools.

Reversion

The lessor's right to reclaim possession of the property at the end of the lease term.

Remainderman

The person receiving title upon the death of the life tenant.

Marital life estate

When one married person dies, and is survived by a spouse this type of estate arises. In NC, the surviving spouse can inherit 1/3 of the property’s value.

Homestead

An estate which gives the owner special rights in property used as a family home, this estate is exempt from taxation.

Estate for years

A fixed-termination type of lease that may be for a day, week, month, year, several years, or any definite period of time; when the specified date occurs, the lease terminates automatically.

Estate from year to year

An estate set up for periodic tenancy that automatically renews at the end of each period.

Estate at will

Leasehold estate in which the duration of the lease is unknown at the time it's created; may be terminated by either the lessor or lessee at any time.

Estate at sufferance

A type of possession in which a tenant stays after the right to possess has terminated.

Severalty

A form of ownership that severs the interests of all others; complete, exclusive ownership.

Right of inheritance

A co- ownership position in which a co-owner’s interest may be willed to another person. When the sole owner dies, the property will transfer to the owner’s heirs according to a will or, in the absence of a will, state law.

Tenancy in common

A form of ownership that includes an undivided interest in the property; owners may sell, convey, mortgage, or transfer their interest without the consent of co-owners.

Joint tenancy

Property is owned by a group of two or more persons; the death of one person simply raises the stake the others have in the property; called right of survivorship.

Tenancy by the entirety

A type of concurrent estate in real property in which the owners of property are married; each spouse has an equal and undivided interest in the property.

Unity of person

The fifth unity required to take property as tenants by the entirety, based on the legal principle that married couples constitute a single legal entity.

Partitioning a property

A legal process conducted by a judge to divide jointly owned property, so co-owners can each be sole owners of their fractional interest held in the property. Not applicable to tenants by the entirety. 

Right of survivorship

A co-ownership position in which the death of one of the owners simply increases the interest of the others; ownership cannot be devised (passed down to heirs).

Common interest ownership

A form of real estate where individuals own a private unit (like a condo, townhouse, cooperative) but also share ownership and responsibility for common areas.

Condominium

A form of ownership that consists of an individual interest in a unit (commercial, industrial, or residential) and an undivided interest in the project's common areas.

Homeowners association (HOA)

A governing body made up of homeowners or their appointees to manage aspects of living in a community (e.g. fence heights, paint colors, amenities, etc.).

Common elements

The shared area of an association such as a homeowners association, condominium, or cooperative.

Declaration

A legal document filed in the county or state in which a condominium will be located, declaring the intent of the condominium complex.

Public offering statement

A document that provides a full and accurate disclosure of a property, as well as any material circumstances that affect it, the characteristics of it and the specific unit being offered; applies to timeshares, condominiums, and cooperatives.

Townhome (townhouse)

A single-family home attached to another on one side; often built in a two-story design.

Party walls

A shared wall on the border of two properties; each property owner owns their half of the wall and has an easement on the other half.

Cooperative (Co-op) ownership

A type of ownership where the resident owns no real estate but instead shares in a corporation considered personal property. 

Timeshare

A condominium-type property that is occupied for short periods by multiple unrelated individuals. These individuals may own real interest in the property or simply the right to use the property for specific times and duration.

Timeshare estate

The type of timeshare ownership that is a fee simple ownership.

Trust

An estate planning vehicle in which property is owned by an entity controlled by the trust maker.

Trustor

The individual creating the trust and person conveying title to a trustee.

Trustee

The third-party fiduciary in charge of carrying out the terms of the trust.

Beneficiary

The person entitled to the benefit of a trust arrangement.

Probate

The court-supervised process of transferring the deceased's property to their legal heirs.

Trust agreement

The instructions needed to create a trust for how the trustee is to hold and manage it on behalf of the beneficiary.

Living trust

A legal document in which assets are placed by a trustor during the trust-maker's lifetime and then transferred to a designated beneficiary at the trust-maker death by a chosen representative, called a successor trustee.

Testamentary Trust

A trust established at the death of a will maker, by provisions made within the will. Often used to create a trust for minor children.

Campground membership

Gives the purchaser the right to use all of the campground facilities, such as water or electric hookups, restrooms, and recreational facilities, like pools or playgrounds. Members may use the facilities at any time during the year.

Encumbrance

A claim, burden, or liability against a property that can affect its transferability or use.

Lien

A creditor's legal right to have their debt paid out of the property of a defaulting debtor, usually by a court sale. A type of encumbrance on real property that must be satisfied before the title can be transferred.

Voluntary lien

A lien that is agreed to, such as a mortgage.

Involuntary lien

A lien imposed on a property or person by someone else, such as for nonpayment of taxes.

Specific lien

A lien levied against real property (e.g., mortgages, mechanic’s liens, and materialmen’s liens), but only a single property.

General lien

A lien levied against a debtor and may include all of their assets. 

Judgement lien

Placed when monetary damages are awarded; can be placed on property until the debt is paid.

Writ of attachment

A court order that allows a creditor to place a lien on a debtor's property before a lawsuit is fully resolved to ensure the property is available to satisfy a future judgment.

Lis pendens

A public notice that a legal issue is pending.

Mechanic’s lien

Filed by contractors and sub-contractors who performed work on a property but weren’t paid for it.

Lien agent

Keeps a record of each notice of potential lien claim for the property owner, generally a title insurance company.

Easement

The authorized use of another's property for a specific purpose; runs with the land.

Dominant estate

Benefits from a predial servitude over a servient estate.

Servient estate

The property that is impacted by the easement.

Predial servitude

A legal right that benefits one property (the dominant estate) by placing a burden on another property (the servient estate).

Ingress

The right to enter.

Egress

The right to leave a property.

Party wall

A shared wall on the border of two properties; each property owner owns their half of the wall and has an easement on the other half.

Express easement

An easement that is clearly and explicitly stated in a written document.

Implied easement

An easement that is not in writing but is implied by law based on the circumstances.

Easement by necessity

An easement that grants the legal right to use a portion of another's property for ingress and egress because the property is landlocked.

Easement appurtenant

An easement that is attached to a property, allowing it to be used by a neighboring property for a specific purpose, like a shared driveway.

Easement in gross

An easement granted to a specific individual or business entity rather than being attached to the property itself like a utility easement.

Statutory Cartway

A legal process in NC where one property is landlocked and needs easement to access public road and petitions a court to acquire right of way through eminent domain.

Easement by presciption

An easement created through years of use in an open manner without the owner’s permission.

Easement by condemnation

An easement where the government converts private property to public, also called eminent domain.

Encroachment

The illegal intrusion of some structure or object across a property boundary line.

Ad valorem tax

A tax imposed on an item based on its assessed value, like property tax.