CT Real Estate Latest Update with Verified Solutions

CT Real Estate Latest Update with Verified Solutions Broker One who acts as an intermediary between two or more people in negotiating the sale, purchase, or rental of property Salesperson Employed by or associated with the broker. Conducts brokerage activities on behalf of the broker. Residential, commercial, mixed-use, industrial, agricultural, special-purpose 6 Types of Real Property Land The earth's surface, extending downward to the center of the earth and upward infinitely into space, including things permanently attached by nature, such as trees and water. Real Estate Land at, above, and below the earth's surface, plus all things permanently attached to the land (both natural and man-made). Real Property Real estate plus rights that are automatically included in the ownership of land and real estate. Right of: possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion, disposition. Bundle of legal rights Appurtenance A right of privilege associated with real property in some way. Personal Property (chattel) Movable items Fructus industriales Annual plantings or crops of grains (personal property) Fructus naturales Perennial crops and trees that do not need cultivation (real property) Fixture Personal property that has been affixed to the land or building. Method of annexation, adaptation to real estate, agreement of the parties Legal tests for a fixture Principal, interest, taxes, insurance Basic costs of owning a home (PITI) Coinsurance clause Requires the homeowner to maintain insurance equal to at least 80% of replacement cost of the dwelling for full replacement on loss Agency The fiduciary relationship in which the agent is held in a position of special trust and confidence by the principal. Nonagent Assists one or both parties with the transaction without representing either party's interests and often is subject to specific statutory responsiblities. Express agency An agency relationship based on a formal agreement between parties. Implied agency Based on the actions of the parties that imply that they have mutually consented to an agency relationship. Completion of purpose, destruction or condemnation of property, expiration, mutual agreement, breach by one of the parties, operation of law (ex. bankruptcy) Reasons for termination of agency (6) Universal agent Someone empowered to do anything the principal could do personally (power of attorney). General agent Someone who represents the principal in a broad range of matters (ex. property manager). Special agent Someone who represents the principal in one specific act or business transaction only (ex. salesperson to a broker). Designated agent Someone authorized by the broker to act as the agent of a specified principal (occurs in dual agency situations). Commission Payment to a broker for services rendered, such as in the sale or purchase of real property. Procuring clause The effort that brings about the desired result. Antitrust Laws Laws that prohibit price-fixing, group boycotting, allocation of customers or markets, and tie-in agreements. Listing agreement An employment contract between broker and seller. Must be in writing to be enforceable. Exclusive-right-to-sell listing One broker is appointed as the seller's sole agent. The broker is entitled to a commission no matter who sells the property. Exclusive-agency listing Authorizes one broker to act as the sole agent of the seller, but the seller retains the right to sell the property themselves without having to pay a commission. Open listing Seller retains right to employ any number of brokers. The seller is obligated to pay commission only to the broker who successfully produces a ready, willing, and able buyer. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) A marketing organization composed of member brokers who agree to share their listing agreements with one another in the hope of procuring buyers for their properties more quickly than they could on their own. Broker protection clause Preserves a broker's commission if, within a certain number of days, the owner transfers the property to someone the broker introduced to them. Police power The power of a state to enact legislation to preserve order, protect the public health and safety, and promote the general welfare of its citizens. Eminent Domain The government right to acquire private property for public use. Condemnation The actual process by which the government takes property. Escheat The reversion of property to the state or county, as provided by state law, in cases where a decedent dies intestate without heirs capable of inheriting, or when the property is abandoned. Estate in land The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest a person has in real property. Freehold estates An estate in land in which ownership is for an indeterminate length of time Fee simple estate The highest interest in real estate recognized by the law; the holder is entitled to all rights to the property. Fee simple defeasible An estate in which the holder has a fee simple title that may be divested upon the occurence or nonoccurence of a specified event. Fee simple determinable A fee simple estate qualified by a special limitation. (so long as, while, or during) Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent If an estate is no longer used for the purpose conveyed, it reverts to the original grantor by the right of reentry. Life estate An interest in real or personal property that is limited in duration to the lifetime of its owner or some other designated person or persons. Pur autre vie "for the life of another" A life estate that is measured by the life of a person other than the grantee. Legal life estate A form of life estate established by state law, rather than created voluntarily by an owner. It becomes effective when certain events occur (dower, curtesy, and homestead). Homestead Land that is owned and occupied as the family home. In many states, a portion of the area or value of this land is protected or exempt from judgments for debts. Dower The legal right or interest, recognized in some states, that a wife acquires in the property her husband held or acquired during their marriage. Curtesy A life estate, usually a fractional interest, given by some states to the surviving husband in real estate owned by his deceased wife. Ownership in severalty Title held by one individual Tenancy in common A form of co-ownership by which each owner holds an undivided interest in real property as if each were sole owner. Joint tenancy Ownership of real estate between two or more parties who have been named in one conveyance as joint tenants (observes survivorship) Tenancy by the entirety The joint ownership, recognized in some states, of property acquired by husband and wife during marriage (observes survivorship) Community property A system of property ownership based on the theory that each spouse has an equal interest in the property acquired by the efforts of either spouse during marriage. Condominium ownership The owner of each unit holds fee simple title to the unit and own a specified share of the remainder of building and land (common elements) Cooperative ownership A corporation holds title to the land and building and tenants own shares of stock in corporation. The burden of any defaulted payment falls on the remaining shareholders. Metes-and-bounds method Method of legally describing land using a POB and POE Rectangular survey system Method of legally describing land using principal meridians and base lines, splitting up land into townships. Lot-and-block system Method of legally describing land using a subdivision plat map Datum A horizontal plane from which heights and depths are measured (usually for recording elevations) Lien A claim of a creditor or taxing authority against the real property of a debtor that is used as security to ensure repayment of the debt. Voluntary lein Type of lein created by action of the property owner Involuntary lein Type of lein created without the property owner's express permission Statutory lein Lein created by statute Equitable lein Lein created by a court based on the common law General lein Lein that affects both real and personal property Specific lein Lein that affects only real property Subordination agreement A written agreement between holders of leins on a property that changes priority of leins Ad valorem based on value Assessed value Value based on sales prices of comparable properties used for taxation purposes Equalization factor A factor by which the assessed value of a property is multiplied to arrive at a value for the property that is in line with statewide tax assessments. Redemption The right of a defaulted property owner to recover his or her property by curing the default Judgment The formal decision of a court upon the respective rights and claims of the parties to an action or suit. After it has been entered and recorded with the county recorder, it usually becomes a general lein on the property of the defendant. Lis pendens Litigation pending (notice of a possible future lein) Bilateral Contract having obligations on both sides Unilateral Contract having obligations on only one side Executed All parties have fulfilled their promises within a contract Executory One or both parties still have an act to perform in a contract. Void A contract that has no legal force or effect because it does not meet the essential elements of a contract Voidable A contract that seems to be valid on the surface but may be rejected or disaffirmed by one or both of the parties Assignment The transfer in writing of interest in a bond, mortgage, lease, or other instrument. Novation Substituting a new obligation for an old one or substituting new parties to an existing obligation. Earnest money deposit Money deposited by a buyer under the terms of a contract, to be forfeited if the buyer defaults but to be applied to the purchase price if the sale is closed. Contingency A provision in a contract that requires a certain act to be done or a certain event to occur before the contract becomes binding.