“The Beginning”
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**SEMINAR GROUNDRULES
**SEMINAR BACK-UP// AAs VIA DROPBOX
**THE SYLLABUS
**DB RUBRIC
**WA RUBRICS - Units 1-3-4-6-8
**WRITING RULES & REGS
**QUIZZES –NO GRADE NO TIME LIMIT -BUT,
PLEASE TAKE THEM – THEY WILL HELP WITH
MIDTERM AND FINAL, TRUST ME! ALSO TAKE SELFSTUDY EXAM EACH CHAPTER – ANSWERS IN THE
BACK
**KEY TERMS / GLOSSARY EACH UNIT – LOTS OF
DEFINITIONS ON THE EXAMS, AND WHAT BETTER
PLACE TO FIND OR LEARN THEM?
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Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
Unit
1
3
4
6
8
Adverse Possession
Easement (“just” a grade)
Memo to Barb Buyer
Essay on RE financing
General Warranty Deed
Grading Rubrics for all are in Doc Sharing Unit 6 Essay is listed as Midterm Essay
Rubric
** Generally, the term “real
property” refers to land. Land
includes not only the earth but
everything of a permanent nature
over or under it. This includes
structures and minerals. Real
property ownership signifies the
right to use, control, and dispose of
the land or objects on, over, and
under the land.
**Personal property is a term that refers to all
other types of property. Sounds simple
enough, right? But, sometimes determining
whether an item is part of the realty or
personal property is not easy to do.
**Personal property can be tangible or intangible.
Tangible personal property, such as a car or
sofa, has physical substance. Intangible
personal refers to a set of rights and interests,
but there is no physical existence. Stock and
bonds are examples of intangible personal
property. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights
are other examples.
The law of property is governed
primarily by state law, AND THE LAW
OF THE STATE WHERE THE
PROPERTY IS LOCATED - and so may
vary from state to state.
Things that grow in the soil, such as trees
and plants, may be considered part of
the real property.
But annual crops may not be real property
The owner of real property also has
ownership rights to use water that is
located on the surface or beneath the
surface of the land. The source of water
will govern the landowner’s rights to own
and use that water. The categories of
water sources are (a) groundwater; (b)
surface water; and (c) water that
accumulates in a river, stream, or natural
lake
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The right to use such water sources will be either a
riparian right or appropriation.
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Under the riparian rights doctrine, the owner of
riparian land has the right to use the water equally with
other owners of riparian land, but cannot interfere with
the natural flow of the water.
Appropriation is a doctrine that is usually found in
Western states where water is scarce. It provides that the
right to use water is given to the landowner who uses the
water first. Thus, the date of appropriation determines the
user’s priority to use the water, with the earliest user
having the superior right. (More in our text.)
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Fixtures refer to personal property that
becomes installed in or attached to real
property in such a way that its removal would
compromise the integrity of the real property.
The more permanent the attachment, the more
likely it will be that a court determines that the
article is a fixture and part of the real property.
Nota Bene: For us, and for Exam
purposes, Fixtures are real property.
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An owner of real estate has the right to
possess, use, and dispose of his property.
Possession refers to occupying the land, which is
reflected in visible acts such as enclosure, cultivation,
constructing improvements, or occupying existing
improvements on the property.
Use refers to do with his land as he wishes, within the
bounds of the law. Clearly, a landowner cannot create a
health hazard or endanger others by the use of his land.
Dispose of land simply means selling or giving others
rights to the property.
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1. Inheritance and Devise: When a landowner dies,
ownership of his property is usually transferred to
someone else.
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Inheritance refers to the passage of title and ownership of
real property from a person who dies intestate -without
a will - to those who can claim a right to the property by
law because of a close relation to the deceased landowner.
Each state has its own descent laws dealing with this
disposition, and it is the law of the state in which the
property is located that will apply.
Devise refers to passing title to real property from a
landowner who dies with a will. The will must comply
with the state laws governing wills, and as with
inheritance, the law of the state in which the property is
located.
2. Gift: While the promise to make a gift of real
property is revocable (except when the recipient
has detrimentally relied upon the promise that
the gift would be made), once the gift is made
ownership to real property can be transferred.
3. Contract and Sale: Purchasing and selling real
property are ways of passing ownership rights.
Most real estate legal assistants, paralegals, and
attorneys deal with issues associated with
buying and selling real property.
4. Adverse Possession: If a person unlawfully
possesses property of another for a long enough
period of time, he may acquire title to the
property under the doctrine of adverse
possession. States have statutes regarding the
required elements to establish a claim of
adverse possession and the period of time
needed for such possession before title to the
property passes to the “squatter.” Tacking refers
to the adding of possession periods by different
adverse possessors of blood or contractual
relation.
(Unit 1 Written Assignment = AP)
There are six modern-day estates in
real property: fee simple (or fee
simple absolute), fee simple
determinable, fee simple on
condition subsequent, life estate,
estate for years, and estate at will.
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1. Fee Simple: Fee simple refers to an ownership
interest in real property that affords the owner the
greatest possible aggregation of rights, privileges, and
power. Only an individual and his heirs can hold a fee
simple absolute. There is a presumption that a fee simple
is created at every conveyance unless a lesser estate is
mentioned.
2. Fee Simple Determinable: A fee simple
determinable refers to an ownership interest in real
property that can revert to the grantor of the interest (or
his heirs or assigns) upon the occurrence or
nonoccurrence of a specified event. The conveyed interest
expires automatically upon the happening or
nonhappening of an event that is stated in the deed of
conveyance or the will creating the estate.
3. Fee Simple on Condition Subsequent: A fee simple
on condition subsequent occurs when a fee simple is
subject to a power in the grantor to recover possession of
the estate if a specified even occurs, such as the death of
the grantee or the divorce of the grantee.
4. Life Estate: A life estate is an interest in real property
that affords the holder all rights of possession and use of
land but exists only for the duration of the life of some
person, usually the holder of the life estate, but may be
someone else. If the life tenant commits waste, which
can occur if the life tenant does not take care of the
property and jeopardizes its value, the life estate will
terminate.
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5. Estate for Years: An estate for
years will result if the grantor conveys
his property for a fixed period of time.
Next to the fee simple, this is the most
common form of ownership.
6. Estate at Will: With an estate at
will, no fixed term is created and either
the lessor or lessee can terminate the
tenancy, without cause. Some states may
require that notice of termination of the
estate be given.
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