Key Terms - Unit 3 Encumberances on Real Property

ad valorem taxes

A tax levied according to value, generally used to refer to real estate tax.

assessment

(1) The imposition of a tax, charge, or levy, usually according to established rates. (2) Official valuation of property for the purpose of establishing assessed value for tax purposes.

deed restrictions

Clause placed in a deed by the owner to control the future uses of the property.

dominant tenement

A property that includes in its ownership the appurtenant right to use an easement over another' person’s adjacent property for a specific purpose; ownership of the easement runs with the land.

easement

A right to limited use and enjoyment of the land of another for a specific purpose without ownership; a nonpossessory interest in real estate. To types of easements are easement appurtenant and easement in gross.

easement appurtenant

An easement that runs with the land; the easement is part of both the dominant and the servient tracts and conveys with the title to either tenement.

easement by necessity

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment o f a parcel of real estate; i.e., to allow a landlocked owner a right of ingress and egress over a grantor’s land.

easement by prescription

An easement acquired through adverse use of another’s property for a period of 20 or more years in North Carolina.

easement in gross

An easement that is not created for the benefit of any land owned by the owner of the easement but that attaches personally to the easement owner. There is no dominant tract; the easement attaches to the servient tract. Personal easement in gross is not assignable; a commercial easement in gross is assignable.

encroachment

An unauthorized intrusion of an improvement, or any part of an improvement, on the real property of another party; an make title to both parcela unmarketable. Best discovered by survey.

encumbrance

Any charge, claim, lien, or liability held by someone other than the owner of property that may diminish the value or use and enjoyment of a property. May not prevent the transfer of title.

general lien

The right of a creditor to have all of a debtor’s current and future property for the next 10 years - both real and personal - sold to a satisfy a debt: i.e. judgment lien.

judgment

The formal decision of a court upon the respective rights and claims of the parties to an action or a suit. After a judgement has been entered and recorded with the county recorder, it becomes a general involuntary lien on the current and future real and personal property of the debtor in the county where recordered for the next 10 years.

license

(1) A privilege or right granted to a person by a state to operate as a real estate broker. (2) The personal revocable nontransferable right to a temporary use of another’s land - a personal right that cannot be sold.

lien

A right given by law to certain creditors to have their debts paid out of the property of a defaulting debtor, usually by means of a court sale. An encumberance on real proprety that can be general or specii

lien agent

A title insurance entity that is designated under the North Carolina Mechanic’s Lien Law by a real property owner to receive notifications of possible mechanics’ liens from construction project vendors.

lis pendens

A recorded legal document giving constructive notice that an action potentially affecting title to a particular property has been filed in either a state or a federal court; title is effectively unmarketable during the litigation.

machinery act

he North Carolina General Statutes that govern the ad valorem taxation of property.

mass appraisal

A valuation technique sometimes used for tax assessment purposes that applies a standard percentage increase or decrease to all property in a given location; sometimes referred to as horizontal adjustments.

mechanic’s lien

A specific, involuntary lien secured by interest in real property to give security to contractors, laborers, and materialmen who have performed work or furnished materials in the erection or repair of a building.

mill

One - tenth of one cent. Some states use a mill rate to compute real estate taxes; for example, a rate of 52 mills would be $0.052 tax for each dollar of assessed valuation of a property.

octennial reappraisal

In North Carolina, the statutory reappraisal of all real property in every county every eight years for tax purposes.

priority

The order of position or time. The priority of liens is generally determined by the chronological order in which the lien documents are recorded. Property tax and assessment liens have priority even over previously recorded liens.

servient tenement

Land on which an easement exists in favor of an adjacent property (called the dominant tenement ); also called a servient estate or tract. Easement runs with the land.

special assessment

tax or levy customarily imposed against only those specific parcels of real estate that will benefit from a proposed public improvement like a street or sewer.

specific lien

A lien affecting or attaching only to a specific parcel of land or piece of real property; i.e. mortgage lien.

tax lien

A statutory lien against real property for nonpayment of taxes. Real and personal property tax liens and assessments take priority over all other liens. Real property tax and assessment liens are specific liens; personal property tax liens are general liens.

writ of attachment

At the request of a creditor, the court retains custody of the unsecured property during the lawsuit to ensure that the property remains available to satisfy a judgment ordered as resolution of the suit by the court. A recorded writ is an encumbrance on the property.

writ of execution

A court order directing the county sheriff to sell a defendant’s property as required by judgment or court decree.