February 2009

Easements

Posted on February 22, 2009 at 5:32 am in

Easements can be either positive or negative:

  • Negative. A negative easement prevents or limits the property owner’s right to control or use his or her property with unlimited freedom. [For example, two townhouses are built adjacent to each other, and Townhouse A builds a sundeck on her roof to enjoy the sun. She can try to get an easement against her neighbor in Townhouse B to prevent him from increasing his building height in any way that may significantly block her sunlight.]
  • Positive. A positive easement allows an individual or group to use the property of another property owner. This use must be for a specific purpose. [For example, Laura owns a ten-acre lot next to the lake. She sells a three-acre portion by the road to Brad, but Brad's land is blocked from the lake by Laura's remaining seven acres. As part of the sales agreement, therefore, Brad gets an easement to use a small roadway through Laura's property to access the lake. Brad can only use that easement to access the lake; he cannot build a guest cottage or garage on it, because his easement use is limited.]

An easement is a legal encumbrance upon a property and its ownership. Easements affect both the title to the property and the property’s physical condition

Quitclaim Deed

Posted on February 22, 2009 at 5:26 am in

The quitclaim deed accomplishes a simple conveyance of the grantor’s ownership interests or claims to ownership interest. The quitclaim deed offers no guarantee that the grantor actually possesses any ownership interest, let alone has the ability to convey title. In fact, the quitclaim normally only conveys the grantor’s current interest, if any, and not the property itself.

If the grantor’s purported interest are false or invalid, no ownership interests or property are conveyed. Also, if the grantor gains ownership interest after the quitclaim deed is conveyed, that ownership interest remains with the grantor and is not covered by the outdated quitclaim
deed.

Quitclaims are often used in corrective or simple situations. For example, if the title erroneously lists the ownership as Susan Jones (instead of Suzanna Jones) Suzanna can record a

quitclaim deed with the correct spelling. Another example is if Quincy helped his daughter Paula buy a house, and then Quincy wanted to remove his name from the title, he can issue a quitclaim deed that would remove him from the title.

Quitclaims are also recommended if the grantor (seller) is unsure about the quality of the title he or she possesses. For example, if you obtained a property through a foreclosure sale or adverse possession, you may want to consider using a quitclaim deed when you sell it.

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Real vs Personal Property

Posted on February 22, 2009 at 4:08 am in

Most physical items can normally be classified into either real or personal property. This is an important
distinction in the real estate industry and can translate into serious money.
The quick way to understand the difference between the two types of properties is to think of personal property,
as everything not permanently attached to the real estate.
As noted above, real estate is land (with its included rights) and anything permanently attached to that land.
Personal property is legally called "chattel," most probably because defining the concept of personal property
became a legal need when cattle became big business.

  • Attachment. The permanency of an item’s attachment to the real estate determines whether it is real or
    personal property. For example, a pile of wooden posts would be considered personal property until
    they are driven into the ground to create a fence, at which time, they become part of the real property.
  • Transfer. Real property is transferred with a deed; personal property is transferred with a bill of sale.
    With most home purchases, the deed transfers the land and house, while the bill of sale handles the
    transfer of the washer and dryer.

Per the preceding example, personally property can be converted into real property through the process of
attachment. Fixtures are objects that were previously personal property but have been attached to real estate,
thus making them real property. [Note: try not to confuse regular fixtures with trade fixtures; trade fixtures,
sometimes called chattel fixtures, are considered personal property.]
By the same token, real property can be converted into personal property through the process of severance.

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