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level: Interest in Real Estate

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Interest in Real Estate

Question	Answer
the placing of documents about the claims and ownership of real estate in the county clerk’s office at the courthouse	Recording
a condensed history of title to a tract of land that summarizes the transfers of ownership and encumbrances	Abstract of Title
- a document written by a lawyer that identifies any defects in an abstract of title that may or may not state that the seller has marketable title to the property bill of sale; a document written to pass ownership of personal property to someone else	Attorney’s Opinion of Title
insurance to protect the owner of a property if any other person proves ownership; covers the insured person’s investment into the property but does not guarantee continued ownership	Title Insurance
the degree, quantity, nature, and extent of one’s interest in property	Estate
an estate that is created as a matter of state law	Statutory Estate
an estate in land in which ownership will last for an indeterminate duration	Freehold Estate
a type of property interest allowing tenants to occupy and use a property they do not own; contains a reversionary right	Leasehold Estate
maximum ownership of real property, indefinite duration, freely transferable, and freely inheritable; also called a fee or a fee simple absolute; it is of indefinite duration, freely transferable, and freely inheritable	Fee Simple Estate
also known as a fee simple defeasible or qualified fee, is a type of freehold estate in which the person who has possession of the property is only able to hold the property until an event takes place or does not occur; two common defeasible fee estates are fee simple determinable and fee simple subject to condition subsequent	Defeasible Fee Estate -
a defeasible fee estate in which a grantor conveys a parcel of real estate subject to a condition of ownership; the grantor must go to court to assert their right to retake ownership (right of re-entry	Fee Simple Subject to Condition Subsequent
a defeasible fee estate that will come to an end automatically and immediately upon the occurrence of a designated event, the time of which is uncertain	Fee Simple Determinable Estate
an interest in real estate that will end upon the death of the life tenant or the pur autre vie life	Life Estate
a type of freehold life estate created by a deed or will that lasts for the duration of the tenant’s life	Conventional Life Estate
a type of freehold life estate created by an act of law; a Texas homestead would be one example	Legal life estate
a type of freehold life estate that grants someone ownership of a property for the duration of another person’s life	Pur Autre Vie
refers to the estate that will pass to another party at the death of the person upon whom the life estate is based	Remainder
the portion of an estate that will return to the original grantor when a life estate has ended	Reversion
refers to an an estate wherein, upon the death of the life estate owner, full ownership reverts to the original fee simple owner; also known as a revisionary right	Reversionary Interest
refers to recipient of the remainder — either the grantor who set up the life estate or a designated third party	Remainderman
a leased possession of property for a certain, specific period of time; also known as a tenancy for years	Estate for Years
any claim or right against a property held by another that is not the fee title owner.	Encumbrance
a right to use or cross someone else’s land for a specific purpose	Easement
an outline of what someone may not do on their own personal piece of property	Restriction
the permission to use someone else’s property for a temporary period of time	License
a transfer of ownership of a piece of real estate from one person to another	Conveyance
the legal process in which a court decides who will inherit property	Probate
when an owner’s property (such as a fence, tree, driveway) crosses the property boundaries of another landowner	Encroachment
a lien brought by a government entity such as a tax lien	Statutory Lien
a lien in which the real estate AND personal property may be sold to satisfy the debt	General Lien
a lien that is against only the real estate	Specific Lien
the order in which debts or taxes levied by the government will be paid off through a court sale	Priority of Liens
a lien that is created on purpose and with the agreement of the owner of the property in question, such as a mortgage	Voluntary Lien
a lien that is created without the property owner taking any action to initiate it	Involuntary Lien
a lien established by local, state, or federal law for a specific set of circumstances	Statutory Lien
a right that exists only in equity, with one party charging their property as security for a debt or loan	Equitable Lien
a lien created when a worker has not been paid for work done on a property	Mechanic’s Lien
a lien created by a writ of execution issued by a court to force payment of monies owed from a judgment when a debtor does not pay	Execution Lien
a lien filed by the government for failure to pay certain debts	Federal Judgment Lien
a document recording at the courthouse giving notice that a lawsuit is pending on a particular piece of property	Lis Pendens
a lien the seller has against a buyer as a security for the unpaid balance of the purchase price	Vendor’s Lien
ownership of land with all of the legal rights of possession, control, enjoyment, exclusion, and disposition	Bundle of Legal Rights -
property owners’ right to use water under the surface through the rule of capture	Groundwater Rights
the process that results in the gradual increase in land area through deposits of soil by action of water	Accretion
the sudden loss of land by flood, or when a stream or river changes course	Avulsion
a property that a person or family owns and occupies as their primary residence	Homestead
property owned by either spouse prior to the marriage or by gift or inheritance during the marriage	Separate Property