Ownership and Leasing of Real Property

Real Property  Real property--Rights and interests in land, buildings, and fixtures  Fixtures—any piece of personal property permanently attached to a foundation set into the land  Trade fixtures—fixtures that retain identity as personal property,  Example: oven screwed to floor in pizza place

Real Property Rights  Surface Rights  Rights to the air space above the land  Mineral rights  Water rights

 Surface rights—right to occupy the land, develop it with buildings, and fixtures, and even to lay waste to it by destroying its resources such as timber or water

 Right to air space—the air space above the surface of the land is also part of the realty and you are granted ownership

 Mineral rights-the right to dig or mine the earth beneath the surface  Solid minerals—coal, iron, ore, nickel, and uranium  Fluid-oil, natural gas, vapor  Doctrine of capture—grants ownership of these fluid minerals to the party who extracts or captures them  Example: if a person drilled an oil well on a quarter acre lot and began pumping oil that extended 25 acres, all the oil could be removed under this doctrine

 Water rights—control of the water on the surface or under the ground  Control of water rights is governed by individual states  Regulations of water use  Riparian—someone who owns land abutting a body of water  Prior appropriation system—grants the first party to use the water source priority in subsequent years over other potential users

Limitations of Ownership  Easements  Restrictive covenants  Zoning ordinances  Duties owned to entrants on land

Easements  Easement—irrevocable rights to some limited use of another’s land  Easement Appurtenant—easement given to neighboring landowner, benefits neighbor’s land  Easements in Gross—benefit a person (non neighbor) or business  Easement by Necessity—when property owner must cross another person’s land to access hir or her property  Easement by Prescription—when someone makes systematic use of your property for a long period of time, typically years

Restrictive Covenants  Restrictive covenants—a promise usually made in writing by the buyer to the seller, limits use of the land in some way  Ex. Buyer may contract that they will not graze sheep, if the buyer who gave the covenant resells, the new owner is bound only if the covenant is the kind that runs with the land.

Zoning Ordinances  Zoning ordinances—regulate the location of residential, business, and industrial districts  Nonconforming use  Spot zoning—treatment of a single property in a manner inconsistent with the treatment of similar properties in the area  Variance-allows owner to make use of land inconsistent with the general zoning ordinance

Duties Owed to Entrants on Land  Trespass—unauthorized invasion of the private property or premises of another  Licensee-a person whom the possessor of real property has permitted to be on the realty  Public Invitee—a member of the public invited by the land’s possessor to enter or remain on the land for a public purpose  Business Invitee—shopper or moviegoer  Attractive Nuisance--if you create something that attracts children to your property you are required to make precautions against their injury

Forms of Real Property Ownership  Estate—bundle of ownership rights in, and powers over, realty; also property of deceased  Conveyance—transfer of an estate from a grantor to a grantee by a deed  Grantor—party who transfers ownership powers  Grantee—party who receives ownership

 3 types of Estates  Fee simple absolute—an estate that conveys all ownership rights and interests “greatest possible bundle of rights and interests”  Conditional estate—makes the ownership conditional on some act or event “so long as…”  Life estate-ownership only for the length of the person’s life  Non-freehold estate—tenancy, involves the transfer of only certain rights, and interests (typically possession and use)

Transfer of Ownership  Ownership transferred by sale, gift, inheritance

 Deed—legal document used to transfer ownership of real property  Quitclaim deed—transfers only whatever rights and interests the grantor may have in the real property  Warranty deed—protects the grantee by providing several enforceable grantor’s warranties enforceable against the grantor

 Adverse Possession  Occurs when you adversely and exclusively possess in an open and notorious way the land of another private person  Adverse—occupation is without the consent of the owner  Open and notorious—occupation must be visible to the public, examples, fences, crops, barns  Continuously—occupation is uninterrupted

 Dedication—act of giving real property to the government for use as a park or roadway  Eminent domain--Power of the government to take private property for public use in exchange for the fair market price  Condemnation proceeding—a hearing to determine fair compensation for the owner and acquire ownership for the government