Property Ownership, Land Use, and Title Transfer
Estates and co-ownership
Fee simple absolute is the fullest ownership; a life estate ends at death and reverts or passes to a remainderman. Concurrent ownership comes in three flavors. Tenancy in common allows unequal shares and has no survivorship - a deceased co-tenant's share passes to heirs. Joint tenancy requires the four unities (time, title, interest, possession) and carries the right of survivorship. Tenancy by the entirety is available to married couples in New Jersey and provides survivorship plus protection from one spouse's individual creditors.
Encumbrances and title
Liens (mortgages, judgments, mechanics' liens) and easements both burden title but only liens are debts. General warranty deeds carry the broadest covenants; bargain-and-sale deeds carry fewer; quitclaim deeds convey whatever interest the grantor has with no warranty. New Jersey deeds are recorded with the county clerk (mortgages with the county register). New Jersey is a race-notice jurisdiction: a later purchaser for value who records first without notice of a prior unrecorded interest prevails.
Land use
Zoning derives from the police power. Under the Municipal Land Use Law, a use variance (D variance) comes from the board of adjustment, while bulk or dimensional variances (C variances) may come from either the board of adjustment or the planning board depending on the application. Nonconforming uses may continue but generally cannot be expanded without approval; abandonment and discontinuance rules apply. Subdivisions and site plans go through the planning board.
Traps
Don't confuse easement with lien, or joint tenancy with tenancy in common when the deed says "to A and B" without survivorship language. Establishments of adverse possession and eminent domain questions hinge on decades and on compensation, not consent.
Worked example
"To Ann and Bob, husband and wife" creates a tenancy by the entirety in New Jersey; if Ann dies, Bob owns the whole property automatically, with no probate.