A
An abstract may be defined as a "compilation, a synopsis or a statement of all recorded facts which in any material way affect the title to the property abstracted". Such facts are usually arranged chronologically, and are intended to show the origin of the title, including all subsequent transactions of any nature, and a showing of any pending suits, liens, judgments, unpaid taxes and special assessments for improvements. The purpose of the abstract is to afford the prospective buyer, or mortgagee, a speedy, convenient and safe method of ascertaining the condition of the title. By its use the purchaser or attorney may see the exact condition of the title as disclosed by the record, without having to make a specific inspection of the original instruments; or without making a lengthy search of the various records where information concerning the title is found.
An abstract should show all the material parts of each instrument affecting the title or any court proceedings in which the property abstracted is involved.
No abstract is considered complete unless it contains plats showing the acreage of government lots and surveys, platted additions, subdivisions and replats, resubdivisions or amended plats.
Adverse possession is a means of acquiring title to real property, after a lapse of time, based on continued possession.
The requirements for adverse possession are that the possession must be hostile, open and notorious, exclusive and continuous for a period of 18 years or more. Hostile does not mean ill will toward the record owner but that the claimant under adverse possession claims ownership against all others.
Open and notorious possession is evidenced by fencing, erection of buildings, cultivation or other acts customarily incident to the ownership in the use of the land. Such possession cannot be secret. Exclusive possession means there can be no sharing of possession with the holder of the legal title.
Continuous possession must be in the person claiming the property by adverse possession. He cannot relinquish the land to another for any period, as such relinquishment will wipe out all rights to gain title to the property. Continuous possession does not mean that one individual must be in possession for the prescribed 18 years. The land may be sold or devised and if the elements of adverse possession are continued by the purchaser, heirs or devisee, the successive periods of possession are taken or added to each other.
Adverse possession is not a record ownership. After the prescribed period of 18 years has passed (the time allotted to the record owner to oust the party claiming adverse possession), the adverse claimant must bring a quiet title suit against the record owner. A decree in favor of the adverse claimant when recorded establishes his record title.
Adverse possession may be based upon either a claim of right or color of title. Under a claim of right, the claimant enters as an intruder and remains such as against the true owner, without any bona fide belief, necessarily, in his title. Possession under color of title is based upon some written instrument, judgment, or decree of court that gives an appearance of title, but that is not good title in fact. An example is a deed that describes the land and on its face purports to pass the title, but fails to do so because of a want of title in the person executing the deed, or because the deed is voidable.
In counties for which SKLD maintains a set of assessor's (sectional) maps, we assign each individual ownership parcel a unique identifying number, called an ARB (arbitrary) number. Whenever a portion of a parcel is deeded to a new owner, we outline that portion on our maps and assign it a new arb number. SKLD arb numbers are assigned independently of the assessor's parcel numbers for the same parcels.
B
The purpose of bankruptcy is to release the bankrupt from further obligation to pay any indebtedness not satisfied by application of his assets.
The theory of bankruptcy is not for the purpose of indulging the bankrupt or to relieve him of his just debts and obligations, but rather to bring about an equitable adjustment so that each of his creditors may receive a proportionate amount of the assets of the bankrupt and the bankrupt may then be discharged from any further liability from those debts as are listed, thus have an opportunity to begin his business life anew.
C
A condominium is a type of real property in which individuals own a single unit in a multiple unit building such as an apartment building. Basically, the purchaser in a condominium acquires the fee ownership to the air space lying between the walls and the floor and the ceiling of a particular apartment, together with an undivided interest in and to the building in which the apartment is located and an undivided interest in the ground upon which the building is located. This undivided interest is joint ownership of the common elements. General common elements (G.C.E.) include halls, lobbies, driveways and recreational facilities. Limited common elements (L.C.E.) are common elements, the use of which is restricted to certain owners. L.C.E.'s may include parking spaces, storage spaces and balconies.
Certain basic documents must be recorded in order to create a condominium. An Area Plot Plan specifically describing the property and specifically locating the building constructed or to be constructed must be recorded. Condominium developers must also file a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCR) listing regulations the owners must follow, such as the participation in the cost of the maintenance and repair of buildings, the payment of a proportionate amount of the taxes and insurance, the color of exterior drapes, whether children or pets are allowed, and many other related matters.
F
A fixture is something that is fixed or attached as a permanent appendage or as a structural part and therefore becomes real property. A thing is deemed to be affixed to land when it is attached to it by its roots, as in the case of trees, vines or shrubs, or imbedded in it, as in the case of walls, or permanently resting upon it as in the case of buildings or permanently attached to what is thus permanent as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts or screws. One test of whether the item is a fixture is whether the item remains with the building when the building is sold. A bathtub is a fixture because it remains with a house when the house is sold.
G
One who receives title, or a lesser interest, such as a lease, easement, etc., to real or personal property, in whole or in part. Buyers, purchasers, assignees, transferees, mortgagees, and beneficiaries (see Trust Deed) are all Grantees. The party to whom the grant is made is the grantee.
The grantor is one who grants, gives, sells, conveys, or otherwise transfers his, hers, or its interest in real or personal property (in whole or part). The party making the grant is the grantor. Anyone can be a grantor — a person, a company, a state, a sheriff, or a trustee (see Trust and Trust Deed). Sellers, assignors, transferors, mortgagors, and trustors (see Trust and Trust Deed) are all grantors.
I
J
A joint tenancy estate is a single estate held by two or more persons jointly, such joint tenants holding as though they collectively constituted but one person, a fictitious unity. A joint tenancy may exist in any kind of property. The main characteristic of a joint tenancy is the right of survivorship. When a joint tenant dies, his interest in the land is terminated, and the estate continues in the survivor or survivors. One joint tenant cannot dispose of his interest by will. On his death, survivorship immediately accrues and no estate remains in the property upon which the will can operate. The surviving joint tenant holds the whole estate free from debts and creditors' claims against the deceased joint tenant. Upon the death of the last survivor, title vests in his heirs or devisees.
L
A street address adequately describes a parcel of real property for mailing purposes (such as those of the U.S. Postal Service), but a more precise description is required for use on legal documents. Two main types of legal descriptions (legals) exist: metes and bounds and lot-block-subdivision.
Metes and Bounds Legal
A metes and bounds description is one method of describing a parcel of land. "Metes" are measures of length and determine a certain quantity of land, such as square feet, rods, acres, etc. "Bounds" are boundaries, both natural and artificial, that confine that quantity within certain fixed limits.
Example: Beginning at the southeast corner of the intersection of Fulton Blvd & U.S. Highway 95; Thence South 240'; Thence East 120'; Thence North a distance of 150'; Thence West 120' to the point of beginning.
Lot-Block-Subdivision Legal
As you can see from the above example, metes and bounds descriptions become wordy and cumbersome. Parcels of land in officially recognized subdivisions can be described more simply, using the lot, block, and subdivision name. The following provides an example of a lot/block/subdivision legal:
Lot 27, Block 10, PT Barnum's Sub, Denver County
M
N
There are three kinds of notice which the law provides for a prospective buyer of real estate:
Actual — any information the prospective buyer receives that someone else has, or claims to have, some interest in the property. A party in possession would give notice of some claim.
Constructive — notice disclosed by the records. These records would include the county clerk's records, county treasurer's records, and the district and county court records.
Presumptive — that notice which results from information that would lead a prudent or reasonable person to ascertain the possibility of existence of some outstanding claim or right not disclosed of record. The prospective buyer is presumed to have notice of the possibility of existence of a claim and is bound to make some investigation of such mortgage, oil lease, contract, etc.
P
Property is divided into two classes, namely, real or immovable property, and personal or movable property. Real property is a fixed, immovable and permanent thing, whereas personal property is readily movable from place to place, is often easily consumed or destroyed and is regarded as something impermanent or transient. Personal property, also called personalty or chattel, is any temporary or movable thing such as furniture, TV sets, or automobiles. For example, crops growing in the field are real property; when harvested they become personal property. Concrete in a cement truck is personal property; when poured onto a driveway it becomes real property. Personal property is usually regarded as situated at the domicile of its owner, regardless of the actual situs of the property, and is governed by the law of the owner's domicile.
R
Real Property, also called realty or real estate, is land, that which is affixed to land, that which is incidental or appurtenant to land, or that which cannot legally be moved. Real property includes not only the ground or soil, but also things that are attached to the earth, whether by course of nature, such as trees and other vegetation, or by the hand of man, such as a house or other structure. It also includes things that are incidental to the use of land, such as an easement or right of way.
The law provides that a thing is deemed to be affixed to land when it is attached to it by roots, as in the case of trees, vines or shrubs; or embedded in it, as in the case of walls; or permanently resting upon it, as in the case of buildings; or permanently attached to what is thus permanent, as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts or screws. One test of whether an item is a fixture is whether the item remains with the building when the building is sold, such as a bathtub. Improvements, also considered real property, are anything permanently attached to land, such as houses and other buildings, sidewalks, swimming pools, fences, roads or pipelines.
Land in place is immovable and hence is real property, but when it is severed from the earth, as for instance, when a load of gravel or topsoil is removed from a plot of ground, it becomes movable and therefore personal property. Similarly, personal property becomes a part of the land when it is attached thereto with the intention of making it a permanent part of the land. For example, lumber at a lumber yard is personal property; when it is used in the construction of a residence on a parcel of land, it becomes a part of the real property. It is not essential that the article be in actual contact with the soil itself. It may be attached to a building that itself, under the law of fixtures, is considered part of the land.
The distinction between real and personal property is also of importance as to the method of transfer. A voluntary transfer of title to real property can be made only by an instrument in writing, whereas title to personal property generally passes by delivery of possession. Real property is exclusively subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the state within which it is located.
The county recorder assigns a unique number to each document when it is submitted for recording. This "reception number" plus the time and date, which are also stamped on the document, identify the document in the county records. The recorder assigns reception numbers consecutively. If one document was given number 072613, the next document submitted would be given 072614. Some recorders also assign each document a recording book and page, but since reception numbers are the only means of identification used by all counties, SKLD uses reception numbers to identify and track documents.
S
A sectional is a special type of metes and bounds legal description, utilizing the official U.S. grid system survey. A sectional uniquely identifies a parcel of land by describing its borders in relation to previously surveyed section, township, and range lines. In many counties the assessor's office maintains a set of maps (called assessor's or sectional maps) drawn to scale, according to the grid system, which show each individual parcel with an identifying number.
The following is a simplified example of a sectional description:
Beginning at the southeast corner of Section 12, Township 2 North, Range 69 West, thence west along the south line of said section 500', thence north parallel to the east line of said section 300', thence east parallel to the south line of said section 500' to the east line of said section, thence south along said line 300' to the point of beginning.
T
A tenancy in common is characterized by only one unity, that of possession. The cotenants own undivided interests, but unlike a joint tenancy, these interests need not be equal in quantity or duration, and may arise from different conveyances and at different times. There is no right of survivorship; each tenant owns an interest which on his death vests in his heirs or devisees.
Title by escheat is the method by which title to property reverts to the state as the original owner. If a person owning property dies without leaving a will (intestate) and without heirs, title to the property escheats to the State of Colorado. The proposition that title to real estate cannot be held in abeyance but must vest somewhere is the reason for escheat.
TITAN was an online computerized title plant system. A title company searcher entered names, addresses, property, etc., on a computer terminal. The TITAN system automatically searched the entries. When completed, search results could be displayed on the terminal or printed on paper by a line printer. TITAN automatically did some of a searcher's most routine and error-prone work.
Townhouses combine the features of houses and condominiums. The owner has separate ownership of his dwelling and the land immediately beneath it, plus joint ownership of common areas surrounding the dwelling units. Unlike condominiums, townhouses are not stacked one on top of the other in high-rise form. Many townhouses are built like "row houses" with each unit sharing common sidewalls with adjacent units. As in the case of condominiums, common sidewalls are limited common elements.
A trust is a property interest held by one person for the benefit of another. A person creating a trust, called the Trustor or Settlor, conveys property (real, personal or a combination) to an independent agent, the Trustee. It is the trustee's duty to administer the assets of the trust for the benefit of the beneficiary of that trust. This person is normally a third party, but it can be the trustor himself.
U
All subdivided property has an "underlying legal". The underlying legal is the way the property was described before it was subdivided. If Brown's Add subdivided the northeast quarter of Section 20, the underlying legal for any lot and/or block in Brown's Add would be a portion of the northeast quarter of Section 20. If Brown's Condominium re-subdivided Lot 1 of Brown's Add, the underlying legal for any unit in Brown's Condo would be a portion of Lot 1 of Brown's Add.
No terms match your filter.
