I.

Present Possessory Estates

II. Future Interests
- RAP
- Class gifts: A class is a group of persons having a common characteristic
(children, nephews). The share of each member is determined by the
number of persons in the class. A class gift of a remainder may be vested
subject to open (where at least one group member exists) or contingent
(where all group members are unascertainable). Under the Rule of
Convenience, in the absence of express intent, a class closes when some
members of the class can call for distribution of her share of the class gift.
IE. T devises property to W for life, then to As children. The class closes
upon Ws death.
- Remainders: A remainder is a future interest in a third person that can
become possessory on the natural expiration of the preceding estate. It
cannot divest a prior estate and it cannot follow a time gap after the
preceding estate. A remainder must be expressly created in the
instrument creating the preceding possessory estate. IE. O conveys to A
for life, then to B and his heirs; B has a remainder.
- Executory Interests: are future interests in third parties that either
divest a transferees preceding freehold estate (shifting interests) or
follow a gap in possession or cut short a grantors estate (springing
interests)
III. Co- Tenants
- Tenancy in Common: No unities are required except the unity of
possession. There is no right of survivorship. Tenants can hold
different interests in the property, but each is entitled to possession of
the whole. Interests are alienable, devisable, and inheritable.
- Joint Tenancy: Time, title, Interest, and possession are required to
create a joint tenancy. Tenants must take identical interests, at the
same time, by the same instrument, with the same right to possession.
All interests MUST be in equal shares. There is a right of survivorship
which means that the surviving joint tenants take automatically on the
death of a joint tenant. If the right of survivorship is severed, it
becomes a tenancy in common.
- Tenancy by the Entirety: is a marital estate. It requires the 4 unities
time, title, interest, and possession plus the unity of marriage. An
individual spouse cannot convey, encumber, or execute a deed or
mortgage. Only death, divorce, mutual agreement, or execution by a
joint creditor of both the husband and wife can sever a tenancy by the
entirety.
IV. Landlord Tenant
V. Non-possessory Interests in Land
- Covenants
- Express Easement
- Implied Easement
 - Equitable Servitudes: An equitable servitude is a covenant that,
regardless of whether it runs with the land at law, equity will enforce
against the assignees of the burdened land who have notice of the
covenant. The usual remedy is an injunction. To be bound by a
covenant not in her deed, a grantee must have had notice of the
covenants in the deeds of others in the subdivision. Notice may be
actual, inquiry (neighborhood appears to conform to common
restrictions), or record (prior deed with covenant in grantees chain of
title)
VI. Adverse Possession: Title to real property may be acquired by adverse
possession. Adverse possession results from the operation of the statute
of limitations for ejectment. If an owner does not take action within the
statutory period (20 days) to eject a possessor who claims adversely to
the owner, the title vests in the possessor.
To establish title by adverse possession, the possessor must show (i) an
actual entry giving exclusive possession that is (ii) open and notorious,
(iii) adverse, and (iv) continuous throughout the statutory period.
Actual and exclusive: an adverse possessor will gain title only
to land she actually occupies and the possessor is not sharing
with the true owner or the public
Open and Notorious: Possession is open and notorious when it
is the kind of use the owner would make of the land. The
possessor must be sufficiently apparent to put the true owner
on notice that a trespass is occurring.
Hostile: Hostility is satisfied if the possessor enters without the
owners permission.
Continuous possession: Possession must be continuous
throughout the statutory period and is of the type that the
usual owner would make. An adverse possessor can tack
together successive periods of adverse possession in order to
satisfy the statutory period.
Title acquired by adverse possession is not marketable. To
make it marketable title, there must be a court action to quiet
title.
VII. Rights Instant to Possession
- Water rights
- Use of land
- Lateral Support (support from the sides): A landowner has the right
to have her land supported by adjoining landowners and strict
liability results is the land is not supported. The landowner will be
strictly liable for improvements on the land only if the land would
have collapsed anyway, even without the weight of the improvements.
- Subjacent Support (support of the surface from the bottom):
Problems involving rights of subjacent support arise where the
mineral rights have been legally severed from the surface rights.
Surface owners have the right to have their land supported from the
 bottom and strict liability will result if the land is not supported. This
right extends to the land and to those improvements that were
existing on the land as of the date the mineral rights were severed
- Fixtures
VIII. Land Sale Transactions
- Mortgages
- Recording statutes:
- Equitable conversion: Once a contract is signed, equity regards the
buyer as the owner of the real property. The sellers interest (the right
to the proceeds of sale) is considered personal property. The bare
legal title that remains in the seller is considered to be held in trust for
the buyer. The right to possession follows the bare legal title- thus the
seller is entitled to possession until closing. If property is destroyed
without the fault of either party before closing, the majority rule
places the risk on the buyer. The seller must credit any fire or casualty
insurance proceeds he receives against the purchase price the buyer
is required to pay.
- Titles
- Transfers
- Warranties