Unit 4

Question 1

Define condemnation:

Answer 1

A judicial or administrative proceeding to exercise the power of eminent domain, through which a government agency takes private property for public use and compensates the owner. 60

Question 2

Define covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs)

Answer 2

Private agreements that affect land use. They may be enforced by an owner of real estate that benefits from them and can be included in the seller’s deed to the buyer. 56, 397

Question 3

Define covenant

Answer 3

A written agreement between two or more parties in which a party or parties pledge to perform or not perform specified acts with regard to property; usually found in such real estate documents as deeds, mortgages, leases, and contracts for deed. 56, 106

Question 4

Define deed restrictions:

Answer 4

Clauses in a deed limiting the future uses of the property. Deed restrictions may impose a vast variety of limitations and conditions—for example, they may limit the density of buildings, dictate the types of structures that can be erected, or prevent buildings from being used for specific purposes or even from being used at all. 56

Question 5

Define easement:

Answer 5

A right to use the land of another for a specific purpose, such as for a right-of-way or utilities; an incorporeal interest in land because it does not include a right of possession. 56

Question 6

Define easement:

Answer 6

appurtenant An easement that follows along with the land. 56

Question 7

Define easement by necessity:

Answer 7

An easement allowed by law as necessary for the full enjoyment of a parcel of real estate (e.g., a right of ingress and egress over a grantor’s land). 58

Question 8

Define estate in land:

Answer 8

The degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest a person has in real property. 52

Question 9

Define fee simple:

Answer 9

The highest interest in real estate recognized by the law; the holder is entitled to all rights to the property. 53

Question 10

Define fee simple absolute:

Answer 10

The maximum possible estate or right of ownership of real property, continuing forever. 53

Question 11

Define defeasible fee estate:

Answer 11

An estate in which the holder has a fee simple title that may be divested upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event. There are two categories of defeasible fee estates: fee simple on condition precedent (fee simple determinable) and fee simple on condition subsequent. 54

Question 12

Define fee simple subject to a condition:

Answer 12

subsequent An estate carrying the limitation that, if it is no longer used for the purpose conveyed, it reverts to the original grantor by the right of reentry. 53

Question 13

Define inverse condemnation:

Answer 13

An action brought by a property owner seeking just compensation for diminished use and value of land because of an adjacent property’s public use. 61

Question 14

Define legal life estate:

Answer 14

A form of life estate established by state law, rather than created voluntarily by an owner. It becomes effective when certain events occur. See dower, curtesy, and homestead for legal life estates used in some states. 54

Question 15

Define lien:

Answer 15

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. 56

Question 16

Define easement by prescription:

Answer 16

An easement acquired by open, notorious, continuous, hostile and adverse use of the property for the period of time prescribed by state law. 58

Question 17

Define easement in gross:

Answer 17

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. For example, a right granted by a property owner to a friend to use a portion of the property for the rest of the friend’s life would be an easement in gross. 57

Question 18

Define encroachment:

Answer 18

A building or some portion of it—a wall or fence, for instance—that extends beyond the land of the owner and illegally intrudes on the land of an adjoining owner or a public street or alley. 59

Question 19

Define encumbrance:

Answer 19

Anything—such as a mortgage, tax, or judgment lien; an easement; a restriction on the use of the land; or an outstanding dower right—that may diminish the value or use and enjoyment of a property. 55

Question 20

Define future interest:

Answer 20

A person’s present right to an interest in real property that will not result in possession or enjoyment until sometime in the future, such as a reversion or right of reentry. 54

Question 21

Define homestead:

Answer 21

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 other than those secured by the property. 55

Question 22

Define pur autre vie:

Answer 22

“For the life of another.” A life estate pur autre vie is a life estate that is measured by the life of a person or persons other than the grantee. 54

Question 23

Define remainder interest:

Answer 23

The remnant of an estate that has been conveyed to take effect and be enjoyed after the termination of a prior estate, such as when an owner conveys a life estate to one party and the remainder to another. 54

Question 24

Define reversionary interest:

Answer 24

The remnant of an estate that the grantor holds after granting a life estate to another person. 54

Question 25

Define taking:

Answer 25

Process of land being taken from a property owner for public use through eminent domain with the requirement that the owner be compensated fairly. 61

Question 26

Define servient tenement:

Answer 26

Land on which an easement exists in favor of an adjacent property, called the dominant tenement. 56

Question 27

Define dominant tenement:

Answer 27

A property that includes in its ownership the appurtenant right to use an easement over another person’s property for a specific purpose. 56

Question 28

Government ownership of real estate for public use is called

escheat
eminent domain
condemnation
police power

Answer 28

answer is eminent domain

Question 29

A license is an example of a (N)

easement appurtenant
encroachment
personal privilege
restriction

Answer 29

answer is personal privilege

Question 30

An easement appurtenant

terminates with the sale of the property
is a right of way for a utility company
is revocable
runs with the land

Answer 30

the answer is runs with the land

Question 31

Which of the following is a legal life estate

leasehold
the simple absolute
Homestead
determinable fee

Answer 31

the answer is homestead

Question 32

Owner has a fence on this property. By mistake, the fence extends 1 foot over the lot line into a neighbor’s property. Defendant is an example of a

license
encroachment
easement by necessity
easement by prescription

Answer 32

the answer is encroachment