Property Rights, Ownership, and Title Registration
Estates and forms of co-ownership
- Fee simple absolute is the largest estate; a life estate ends at death and leaves a remainder or a reversion.
- Tenancy in common: no survivorship, unequal shares permitted, freely inheritable.
- Joint tenancy: requires unity of time, title, interest, and possession; carries the right of survivorship, which is severed if one joint tenant conveys.
- Tenancy by the entirety: spouses only in many states; survivorship plus protection against one spouse's individual creditors.
Encumbrances
- An easement appurtenant benefits a neighboring parcel; an easement in gross benefits a person or entity.
- Liens follow priority rules: property tax liens commonly outrank earlier-recorded mortgages, and mechanic's liens may relate back to the start of work.
- Restrictive covenants run with the land when there is intent, notice, and a touch-and-concern relationship.
Recording and title assurance
- Race, notice, and race-notice statutes protect a later bona fide purchaser who takes without notice.
- A forged deed is void and passes nothing, even to a good-faith purchaser.
- Owner's title policy: one premium at closing, coverage at the purchase price, survives the owner's death. Lender's policy: declining balance, protects only the lender.
Worked example
An owner grants a neighbor a written driveway easement but never records it, and the drive is not visible. The owner then sells to a buyer who inspects, sees no driveway, asks no questions, and gets a clean record search. The buyer takes free of the easement because the buyer is a bona fide purchaser without actual, inquiry, or record notice.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing severance of joint tenancy (one joint tenant's conveyance destroys survivorship) with tenancy in common.
- Assuming title insurance covers zoning, permits, or unrecorded claims.
- Treating a quitclaim grantee as automatically able to claim bona fide purchaser status.