PETE
limitations on the ownership imposed by the government for the general welfare of community; supersede rights or interests of the individual owner
P= Police power
- Enabling acts grant authority from the state to local governments to protect the public health and safety and general welfare.
- Zoning ordinances, building codes, environmental protection laws, and other regulations (19)
E= Eminent domain
- The right of the gov to take privately owned real estate for public use; condemnation is the process by which this right is exercised.
- Right extends to quasi-government bodies; can include renewal projects
Legal protections for the property owner
- Past, use had to be for legitimate public use; however condemnation has been defined more broadly; Kelo v. city of New London case where the court found that the city invoked a state statute that authorized use of eminent domain to promote economic development
- Just compensation must be paid to the owner for property taken and diminished value
- The rights of the owner must be protected under due process of law
T= Taxation
a charge on real estate to raise funds to meet the costs of government operations (10)
E= Escheat
provides that the ownership of real estate will revert to the state ( or county ) in which it is located when its former owner dies without a will ( intestate) and has no heirs capable of being discovered by the state.
Estates in Land
defines the owner’s degree, quantity, nature, and extent of interest in real property
Freehold estates
estates for an indeterminable period of time
Encumbrances
claim, charge, or liability that attaches to real estate
- Liens-monetary charge
- Encumbrances- restrictions, easements, encroachments that affect the condition or use of the property
Lien
charge against property that provides security for the debts or other obligations of the property owner (10)
Deed restriction
private agreement that affects the use of land (19)
Easement
right to use the land of another for a particular purpose
Appurtenant easement
attached to the ownership of one parcel and allows this owner the use of a neighbor’s land
- Servient tenement
- Dominant tenement
Party wall easement
used for a wall that straddles the property line of adjacent properties with different owners
Easement in gross
an individual or company interest in or right to use the land of another ( frequently for utilities)
Easement by necessity
arising because owners must have ingress to and egress from their land
Easement by prescription
arises when use has been continuous, exclusive, and without the owner’s approval
a. Open, notorious, visible, without owner’s approval
b. Tacking
Terminating an easement
- When purpose for which created no longer exists
- Merger-Dominant or servient becoming owner of both under one legal description
- Abandonment of the easement
- Nonuse of a prescriptive easement by its owner
License
the privilege to use another’s land for a specific purpose; can be terminated or canceled by the licensor
Encroachment
anything that illegally extends from one property across the property line onto another parcel or beyond legal building lines
Riparian rights
rights granted to owners of land along a river, stream, or similar body of water
Littoral rights
rights of owners whose land boders commercially navigable lakes, seas, and oceans
Accretion, erosion, avulsion
Accretion- increases in land resulting from deposit of soil by water’s action
Erosion- loss of soil by gradually wearing away by natural forces
Avulsion- sudden removal of soil due to act of nature
Doctrine of prior appropriation
the right to use any water, except for limited domestic use, is controlled by the state rather than the adjacent landowner
Fee Simple estate
the highest type of interest in real estate recognized by law
Fee simple absolute
no limitations except for public and private restrictions, such as zoning laws and restrictive covenants
Fee simple defeasible
qualified ( limited ); subject to the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event
Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent
exists provided condition is not violated; former owner retains a right of reentry if the condition is broken
Fee simple determinable
( qualified by special limitation ) exists “ so long as “ limitation is met; former owner retains a possibility of reverter
Life estate
limited to the duration of a lifetime, either that of the owner or of another designated person
Pur autre vie
created by the owner by deed or will for a life tenant for the life of a person other than the life tenant
Remainder interest
a future interest in the fee simple estate for the remainderman ( the person to whom the property will pass when the life estate ends
Reversionary Interest
returns to the original owner ( or the original owner’s heirs ) when the life estate ends
Legal life estates
created by state statute rather than voluntarily by the owner
Dower
the life estate interest of a wife in the real property of her deceased husband
Curtesy
the life estate interest of a husband in the real property of his deceased wife
Homestead rights
a legal life estate in real estate occupied as the family home; protects the equity in a residence from a judgement by unsecured creditors ( during the occupant’s lifetime )