Chapter 2

Question 1

Accretion

Answer 1

The increase or addition of land by the deposit of sand or soil washed up naturally from a river, lake, or sea

Question 2

Agricultural Fixtures

Answer 2

In North Carolina, a fixture attached to leased property by a tenant farmer is considered the landowner’s real property rather than the tenant’s personal property

Question 3

Air Rights

Answer 3

Right to use the open space above a property, usually allowing the surface to be used for another purpose

Question 4

Appurtenance

Answer 4

A right, a privilege, or an improvement belonging to, and passing with, the land

Question 5

Avulsion

Answer 5

The sudden tearing away of land, as by earth- quake, flood, volcanic action, or the sudden change in the course of a stream. The loss of land may not result in loss of title to the property

Question 6

Bundle of Legal Rights

Answer 6

The concept of land ownership that includes ownership of all legal rights to the land—i.e. disposition, exclusion, enjoyment, possession and control.

Question 7

Common Elements

Answer 7

Parts of a property that are necessary or convenient to the existence, maintenance, and safety of a condominium or are normally in common use by all of the condominium residents. Each condominium owner has an undivided ownership interest in the common elements

Question 8

Condominium Ownership

Answer 8

The absolute ownership of a unit in a multiunit building based on a legal description of the airspace the unit actually occupies, plus an undivided interest in the ownership of the common elements, which are owned jointly with the other condominium unit owners

Question 9

Cooperative Ownership

Answer 9

A residential multiunit building whose title is held by a trust or corporation that is owned by and operated for the benefit of persons living within the building, who are the beneficial owners of the trust or stockholders of the corporation, each possessing a propri- etary lease to a specific apartment in the building

Question 10

Emblements

Answer 10

Growing crops, such as grapes and corn, that are produced annually through labor and industry; also called fructus industriales. Usually considered to be personal property

Question 11

Erosion

Answer 11

The gradual wearing away of land by water, wind, or other natural forces; the diminishing of property by the elements may cause loss of ownership

Question 12

Estovers

Answer 12

A necessity allowed by law; for example, the right of a life tenant to use some of the property’s resources to provide for needed repairs

Question 13

Fee Simple Absolute

Answer 13

The maximum possible estate in real property; most complete and absolute ownership; indefinite in duration, freely transferable and inheritable

Question 14

Fee Simple Defeasible

Answer 14

An estate in which the holder has a fee simple title that may be terminated upon the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a specified event. Two categories of defeasible fee estates exist: fee simple determinable and fee simple on condition subsequent

Question 15

Fee Simple Determinable

Answer 15

An estate in real estate that continues “so long as” a prescribed land use continues. Estate ends automatically upon the termination of the prescribed use; no lawsuit is necessary for reversion

Question 16

Fee Simple With Condition Subsequent

Answer 16

An estate in real estate that prohibits a specific condition on the property. Grantor has the right to re-enter the property and reclaim ownership through legal proceedings

Question 17

Fixture

Answer 17

An item of personal property that has been con- verted to real property by being permanently affixed to the realty

Question 18

Foreshore

Answer 18

Land at the coast between average high tide and average low tide this is owned by the state of North Carolina

Question 19

Freehold Estates

Answer 19

An estate in land in which ownership is for an indeterminate length of time, in contrast to a lease- hold estate

Question 20

Fructus Inustriales

Answer 20

Growing crops, such as grapes and corn, that are produced annually through labor and industry; also called fructus industriales. Usually considered to be personal property

Question 21

Fructus Naturales

Answer 21

Plants that do not require annual cultivation and are considered real property

Question 22

Future Interests

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Homestead

Answer 23

Land that is owned and occupied as the fam- ily home. In many states, a portion of the area or value of this land is protected for exempt from judgments for debts

Question 24

Joint Tenancy

Answer 24

A concurrent form of ownership of real estate between two or more parties who have been named in one conveyance as joint tenants. Ownership interest may be unequal. Right of survivorship is not automatic in North Carolina but can be added by an attorney

Question 25

Lateral Support

Answer 25

The support a parcel of land receives from adjacent land; a neighbor’s duty to support adjoining land in its natural state

Question 26

Life Estate

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Life Tenant

Answer 27

A person in possession of a life estate

Question 28

Limited Common Elements

Answer 28

Common elements of a condominium project reserved for the exclusive use of one or more units, such as parking spaces or storage areas

Question 29

Litoral Rights

Answer 29

(1) A landowner’s claim to use water in large navigable lakes and oceans adjacent to the property. (2) The ownership rights to land bordering these bodies of water up to the average high-water mark

Question 30

Manufactured Home

Answer 30

A dwelling, also known as a mobile home or house trailer; built under HUD regulations with a permanent chassis. It is considered personal property until the moving hitch, wheels and axles are removed, the unit is attached to a permanent foundation on land owned by the owner of the manufactured home, and an affidavit attesting to these actions has been filed with the Dept. of Motor Vehicles

Question 31

Modular Home

Answer 31

A dwelling consisting of a series of rooms or units built off-site according to the NC State Building Code; is considered real property as soon as it is assembled on the land. May be multi-storied

Question 32

Nonfreehold (leasehold) Estate

Answer 32

A tenant’s right to occupy real estate during the term of a lease, generally considered a personal property interest; nonfreehold estate

Question 33

North Carolina Condominium Act of 1986

Answer 33

Specifies that a condominium is created and established when the developer of the property executes and records a declaration of its creation in the county where the property is located. The declaration must include any covenants, conditions, or restrictions on the use of the property. Other requirements include disclosure and other consumer protection measures in connection with new residential con- dominium unit sales

Question 34

Planned Unit Development (PUD)

Answer 34

A planned combination of diverse land uses, such as housing, recreation, and shopping, in one contained development or subdivision

Question 35

Proprietary Lease

Answer 35

A lease given by the corporation that owns a cooperative apartment building to the shareholder for the shareholder’s right as a tenant to an individual apartment

Question 36

Pur Autrie Vie

Answer 36

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

Question 37

Reliction

Answer 37

Gradual recession of water which uncovers land that usually belongs to the riparian owner

Question 38

Remainder Interest

Answer 38

A future interest in real estate cre- ated by the grantor for some third party that will 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

Question 39

Remainderman

Answer 39

One entitled to receive a remainder interest in some estate sometime in the future

Question 40

Reversionary Interest

Answer 40

A future estate that the grantor holds while granting a life estate to another person

Question 41

Right of Survivorship

Answer 41

A concurrent form of owner- ship reserved for property owned by husband and wife. Right of survivorship is mandatory; making the surviving spouse owner in severalty immediately upon the death of a spouse

Question 42

Riparian Rights

Answer 42

An owner’s rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river, or lake. These rights include access to and use of the water

Question 43

Severalty

Answer 43

The ownership of real property by only one person or entity; also called sole ownership

Question 44

Subjacent Support

Answer 44

The support of the surface of land by the land’s subsurface; duty of the owner of subsurface rights to support the surface of the land

Question 45

Subsurface Rights

Answer 45

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate to the water, minerals, gas, oil, and so forth that lie beneath the surface of the property

Question 46

Surface Rights

Answer 46

Ownership rights in a parcel of real estate that are limited to the surface of the property and do not include the air above it (air rights) or the minerals below the surface (subsurface rights)

Question 47

Tenancy By The Entirety

Answer 47

A concurrent form of owner- ship reserved for property owned by husband and wife. Right of survivorship is mandatory; making the surviving spouse owner in severalty immediately upon the death of a spouse

Question 48

Tenancy in Common

Answer 48

A concurrent form of ownership in which each owner holds an undivided interest in the real property. Ownership interests can be unequal and the right of survivorship is not allowed

Question 49

Time-Share Ownership

Answer 49

Any right to occupy a unit of real property during five or more separated time periods over a period of at least five years

Question 50

Total Circumstances Test

Answer 50

Legal test applied by the courts to determine whether an item is a fixture (and, therefore, part of the real property) or personal property. All four parts of the test must be applied, but intention is the major part of the test. These four tests are easy to remember by using the mnemonic IRMA: 1. Intention of the annexor: Did the person who installed the item intend it to remain permanently or to be removable? (The courts look at objective evidence of the party’s intent, not the party’s subjective intent. In other words, the courts look at the facts surrounding the situation and determine what a reasonable person would have intended by them.) 2. Relationship of the annexor: Is the person making the attachment an owner or a tenant? It is presumed that an owner intends a permanent attachment (the item becomes a fixture), while a tenant intends a tempo- rary attachment (the item remains personal property). The greater the legal relationship the annexor has to the real property, the greater the likelihood the item will be declared a fixture. 3. Method of annexation: How permanently was the item attached? Can it be removed without causing damage? 4. Adaptation to real estate: Has either the item or the property been tailored to facilitate working together? Has it been customized or built in to the property?

Question 51

Townhouse Ownership

Answer 51

A hybrid form of ownership where the owner holds fee title to their unit and the ground beneath; horizontal ownership. Frequent use of party walls; row houses. Common areas are usually owned and maintained with other unit owners through a homeowners’ association

Question 52

Trade Fixture

Answer 52

An article installed by a tenant under the terms of a lease and removable by the tenant before the lease expires

Question 53

Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

Answer 53

A codification of commercial law, adopted in most states, that attempts to make uniform all laws relating to commercial transactions, including chattel mortgages and bulk transfers. When chattels are purchased on credit, security interests are created by an instrument known as a security agreement. To give notice of the security interest, a financing statement must be recorded. Article 6 of the code regulates bulk transfers—the sale of a business as a whole, including all fixtures, chattels, and merchandise

Question 54

Waste

Answer 54

An improper use or abuse of a property by a possessor who holds less than fee ownership, such as a tenant, life tenant, mortgagor, or vendee. Such waste ordinarily impairs the value of the land or the interest of the person holding the title or the reversionary rights