Real Estate Salesperson Licensing Exam Property Ownership, Land Characteristics, and Interests in Real Estate Flashcards

24 sample cards from the Property Ownership, Land Characteristics, and Interests in Real Estate deck

Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.

1. What is tenancy by the entirety?

   A form of co-ownership available only to married couples, treating them as a single legal unit with right of survivorship; neither spouse can convey their interest separately without the other's consent.

2. What is community property?

   In community-property states, most property acquired by either spouse during marriage is owned equally (50/50) by both, while property owned before marriage or received by gift/inheritance is separate property.

3. What is a partition action?

   A partition is a legal action by which co-owners (tenants in common or joint tenants) divide jointly owned property or force its sale to terminate the co-ownership.

4. How does ownership by a general partnership differ from a limited partnership?

   In a general partnership all partners share management and unlimited personal liability; in a limited partnership, general partners manage and bear full liability while limited partners are passive investors liable only up to their investment.

5. How does a corporation hold title, and what is a key tax drawback?

   A corporation is a legal entity that holds title in severalty in its own name (perpetual existence, limited owner liability); its drawback is double taxation - profits are taxed to the corporation and again to shareholders as dividends.

6. What is a land trust, and who are the parties to a trust?

   A land trust holds real estate title for a beneficiary, often keeping ownership private. The parties are the trustor/grantor (creator), the trustee (holds/manages title), and the beneficiary (receives the benefits).

7. In a condominium, what does an owner hold, and how are common areas owned?

   A condo owner holds fee simple title to their individual unit plus an undivided tenancy-in-common interest in the common areas shared with all other unit owners.

8. How does a cooperative (co-op) differ from a condominium?

   In a cooperative, a corporation owns the entire building; residents buy shares of stock and receive a proprietary lease to their unit, so they own personal property (stock) rather than real estate.

9. What is a timeshare?

   A timeshare is a form of shared ownership giving the holder the right to use/occupy a property for a specified interval each year, either as a fee (deeded) interest or a right-to-use (leasehold) interest.

10. What is an encumbrance?

    An encumbrance is any claim, charge, lien, or right held by a non-owner that affects or limits the title or use of real property, such as easements, liens, deed restrictions, and encroachments.

11. What is an easement?

    An easement is a non-possessory right to use another person's land for a specific purpose (e.g., a right of way); it runs with the land and does not grant possession or ownership.

12. What is the difference between an easement appurtenant and an easement in gross?

    An easement appurtenant benefits an adjoining parcel and involves two tracts (dominant and servient tenements), transferring with the land. An easement in gross benefits a person or entity (e.g., a utility company) with no dominant tenement.

13. In an easement appurtenant, what are the dominant and servient tenements?

    The dominant tenement is the parcel that benefits from / uses the easement; the servient tenement is the parcel that is burdened by / grants the easement.

14. What is an easement by prescription?

    An easement acquired by open, notorious, continuous, hostile, and adverse use of another's land for the statutory period, without the owner's permission.

15. What is an easement by necessity?

    An easement created by a court (or by law) when a parcel is landlocked, giving the owner a right of ingress and egress across an adjoining parcel because there is no other access to a public road.

16. What is a license in real estate, and how does it differ from an easement?

    A license is a revocable, personal permission to use another's land for a specific purpose; unlike an easement, it is not an interest in land, does not run with the land, and can be revoked at any time by the owner.

17. What is an encroachment?

    An encroachment is an unauthorized physical intrusion of an improvement (building, fence, driveway) onto an adjoining owner's land; it is an encumbrance often revealed by a survey and may affect marketability.

18. What are deed restrictions / restrictive covenants (CC&Rs)?

    Private limitations placed on land use by a deed or by a subdivision's recorded covenants, conditions & restrictions (CC&Rs); they bind present and future owners and are enforced by other affected owners, typically through injunction.

19. If a deed restriction and a zoning ordinance conflict, which controls?

    The more restrictive of the two controls - the owner must comply with whichever (private deed restriction or public zoning law) imposes the stricter limitation.

20. What is a lien?

    A lien is a financial encumbrance - a charge or claim against property used as security for a debt or obligation - that gives the creditor the right to have the debt satisfied from the property, often by forced sale.

21. What is the difference between a voluntary lien and an involuntary lien?

    A voluntary lien is created intentionally by the owner's action (e.g., a mortgage); an involuntary lien is created by law without the owner's consent (e.g., tax liens, mechanic's liens, judgment liens).

22. What is the difference between a general lien and a specific lien?

    A general lien attaches to all of a debtor's property, real and personal (e.g., judgment liens, IRS/estate tax liens); a specific lien attaches only to one identified property (e.g., mortgage, mechanic's lien, property tax lien).

23. What is a mechanic's lien?

    A specific, involuntary, statutory lien placed against real property by contractors, laborers, or suppliers who provided labor or materials to improve the property and were not paid.

24. Which lien generally takes priority over all others regardless of recording date?

    Real estate (ad valorem) property tax liens and special assessment liens take priority over all other liens, regardless of when other liens were recorded.

What this deck covers

Property Ownership, Land Characteristics, and Interests in Real Estate flashcards FAQ