CT Real Estate Exam General: Property Ownership Rated A+

CT Real Estate Exam General: Property Ownership Rated A+ Survey location and dimension of property Real Property The house and land Personal Property everything but the house and land Improvement Addition to the property or land Vertical Land description Defining the Air rights Fixture once-moveable items attached to real property Trade fixture a fixture that is not attached to real property. Used in Commercial settings. EX: freezer at restaurent. Annexation Personal Property becoming Real Property Severance Real Property becoming Personal Property The legal tests for a fixture - Is it custom made for that house? - Method of attachment(degree of permanence) - Intention of person who put it there - understanding between tenant and owner Appurtenances Attachment part of land, ex: A/C or garden These appurtenances "run with the land" Emblements Crops Tangible Property Touchable Property, ex: house Intangible Property Untouchable Property, ex: stock How to remember: intan = untouch Physical characteristics of land immobility, permanence/indestructibility, and uniqueness Economic Characteristics of land. What makes a particular property valuable? - scarcity (unique) - improvements - permanence of investment - area preference (location) Monument point of reference Metes and bounds system of property description How large is a township? 6x6 miles How large is a section? 1x1 mile How many townships are in a quadrant? 4 What does a proper survey establish? dimension and location of property How large is an acre? 43,560 square feet Encumbrance A restriction on the use and/or transfer of real property What does GLA stand for? Gross Living Area Stand-alone single family residences use interior or exterior dimensions for understanding the square footage of a home? exterior Condos and coops use interior or exterior dimensions for understanding the square footage of a home? interior Non-monetary assets Assets a company holds for which it is not possible to PRECISELY determine a dollar value ex: house Monetary assets An asset such as cash, accounts receivable, or a note receivable where the amount is a fixed, stated amount. lien - monetary encumbrance - A right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged Voluntary lein debt approved by owner/borrower EX: mortgage Involuntary lien Debt placed against the owner's will EX: tax lien General lien affects all of a debtor's property and assets ex: tax lien Specific lien limited to a specified item controlled by the debtor mechanic's lien inability to pay people who worked on your property federal tax lien inability to pay taxes (involuntary, specific) judgement lien court order to pay creditor (involuntary, general) priority of liens The first lien recorded must be paid first, unless it is a federal or property tax lien When are mechanic lien's recorded? The day the job was finished, not the day it was recorded to the county, city, or town. Easement Gives a non-owner the right to use another person's property for a specific use. ex: cross over it Easement Appurtenant the right to use ones property for the benefit of another property. Right-of-way to cross someones property to get to another property which has no other access Easement by necessity allows an owner of a landlocked parcel to cross over another's land to access a public road servient tenement the property that provides use of their land dominant tenement the property that "commands" the benefits of the other property run with the land The rights and covenants in a real estate deed that remain with the land, regardless of ownership or deed ex: appurtenant rights easement in gross - There is only a servient tenement. - The party that is given access to use the land does NOT BENEFIT from using it, unlike the appurtenant easement which has the dominant servient receive a benefit. ex: utilities easement (sewer pipes or telephone lines) personal-use easements - Easement for personal use like using the other person's property as a shortcut. - They are terminated with the death of either party. Hence the word PERSONAL - VERY IMPORTANT: it is considered an easement in gross prescriptive easements A right to use another person's property by constantly using that person's property without impediment for "x" amount of time. - there must also be a "pattern of use" how long do you have to use a person's property in CT to get prescriptive easement 15 years In order to get "prescriptive easement" status your actions must be open (visible), continuous (constant), hostile, EXCLUSIVE How can you stop prescriptive easement claims? "Walkers Welcome" or " "Private Property: Use by Permission" Tacking meet the 15 year requirement for prescriptive easement by using the time spent using the previous owner's property. Adverse Possession legally gain the right to land by trespassing or encroachments. Must be open, hostile, continuous, and exclusive. Party Wall easements a common building wall or wall that is on the property line and is owned by both owners. license personal, revocable right granted by the owner, for someone else, to use the property ex: a ticket for a parking lot encroachments property owner violates the property rights of his neighbor by building something on the neighbor's land or by allowing something to hang over onto the neighbor's property. trespass building on a person's property nuisance tree limbs or roofline across property boundary lines encroachments legal definition unauthorized and/or illegal infringements that can affect a title's marketability title document that indicates recognition of ownership. ex: deed clear title/good title title free of restrictions that would limit its transfer marketable title a reasonable buyer would accept as a clear title purchase agreement obligates a buyer to buy and a seller to sell severalty/tenancy in severalty an individual has sole ownerships of a title concurrent ownership ownership by two or more people tenants in common undivided fractional interest (ownership) in property there may be uneven shares (ex: 1 guy owns 66% and the other owns 33% joint tenancy undivided interest (ownership) in the property no uneven shares four unities set of legal requirements for creating a joint tenancy. unity of title, time, possesion, and interest unity of title all parties named on the same deed unity of time took title at the same time unity of possession all parties have undivided possession and use of rights unity of interest all parties have an equal interest in the property unity of interest in CT allows unequal interest right of survivorship -For joint tenancy - with each death of individual joint tenants, the other joint tenants interest will increase tenancy by the entirities a couple owns the property as one indivisible legal unit community property jointly owned by spouses if bought house during marriage, except for inheritances. common interest ownership multiple owners have OVERLAPPING and INSEPERABLE interest in a property. ex: condo, coop, townhouse fee simple absolute ownership of a property What does a condo owner own? 1. fee simple/absolute ownership of unit. 2. undivided interest in common areas. ex: pool declaration a developer's organization plans How does one achieve condominium status? a developers organizational plans are recorded what kind of documents does a declaration include? bylaws, legal descriptions, surveys(location and dimensions), and restrictive covenants (restrictions on what you can do with the property) coop unit occupant does not own the unit, instead owns stock in the company that owns the complex. company must pay property tax nonfreehold estate / leasehold estate - a temporary right to occupy land or property - considered personal property because you cant transfer title prorated fees fees in coops that the tenant must pay the coop owner. Fees like operating expense and assessments freehold estates completely owned estates categorized as real property estate in fee simple same things a freehold estate but can be freely used and transferred life estate one that conveys an estate for the duration of a person's life conventional life estate person A gives life estates to person B, person B has complete ownership of property until person B's death. from there it goes to person A's heir life tenant the owner of a life estate future interests (life estate) the right to acquire the estate upon its termination as a life estate remainder/ remainder interest the heir/person who gets the estate after the life estate grantee dies reversion/ reversionary interest after the life estate grantee dies, the estate goes back to the grantor benchmarks permanent markers that identify the latitude, longitude, and elevation datum a point from which elevations are measured