Real Estate Law

Units

1. 1

   Property rights and estates

   4 lessons

   1. Real and personal property, fixturesSort things into real property and personal property, and decide whether an object attached to a building is a fixture using the three tests of annexation, adaptation and intent.
   2. Freehold estatesDefine the fee simple absolute, the two kinds of fee simple defeasible (determinable and subject to condition subsequent) and the life estate, and tell them apart by the words of the grant and by how each can end.
   3. Future interestsName the future interest that follows each present estate (reversion, possibility of reverter, right of entry, remainder, executory interest) and say who holds it.
   4. Easements, licenses and covenantsDistinguish an easement (appurtenant or in gross) from a license and from a covenant running with the land, say how an easement is created, and name the requirements for a covenant to run.
2. 2

   Concurrent ownership and common interests

   4 lessons

   1. Tenancy in common and joint tenancyCompare the tenancy in common and the joint tenancy by their undivided shares, the four unities and the right of survivorship, and say what each owner's death does under each form.
   2. Tenancy by the entirety and community propertyDescribe tenancy by the entirety and community property, say how each protects or shares what spouses own, and compare them with joint tenancy and tenancy in common.
   3. Co-owner rights, partition and transferState each co-owner's right to possess the whole, account for rents and carrying costs by shares, say how a joint tenancy is severed, and trace partition in kind or by sale from a dispute to the division of proceeds.
   4. Condominiums, cooperatives and HOAsContrast what a condominium owner, a cooperative shareholder and a member of a homeowners association each owns and owes, and compute an owner's share of common expenses from a percentage interest.
3. 3

   Contracts and agency

   4 lessons

   1. Elements and statute of fraudsCheck a purchase agreement against the required elements of a contract (offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity, legal purpose) and decide whether the statute of frauds makes it enforceable.
   2. The purchase agreement and contingenciesRead the main terms of a residential purchase agreement (price, earnest money, closing date) and track its inspection, appraisal and financing contingencies on a timeline, including the date the buyer's earnest money becomes at risk.
   3. Breach and remediesChoose the remedy for a buyer's or a seller's breach of a purchase agreement: money damages, liquidated damages, specific performance or rescission, and compute the damages in a simple case.
   4. Agency, brokerage and listing agreementsDescribes seller, buyer and dual agency, fiduciary duties of loyalty and disclosure, and listing agreements and when a commission is earned, with a diagram of principal, agent and third party and a timeline of listing, procuring cause and closing.
4. 4

   Deeds, title and recording

   4 lessons

   1. Deeds and their requirementsLists the elements of a valid deed: grantor, grantee, description, words of conveyance, signature, delivery and acceptance, with an annotated deed form and a table of warranty, special warranty and quitclaim deeds.
   2. Legal descriptionsTeaches metes and bounds, the rectangular government survey and lot and block descriptions, with a drawn parcel showing bearings and distances and a section map with township and range grid.
   3. Recording acts and priorityExplains race, notice and race-notice statutes and bona fide purchasers, with a timeline of two conveyances from one grantor and a table showing who wins under each statute.
   4. Title search, chain of title and title insuranceTraces the chain of title through the grantor-grantee index, defects and liens, and what a title policy covers and excludes, with a chain-of-title diagram from patent to current owner marking a gap.
5. 5

   Mortgages and foreclosure

   4 lessons

   1. Mortgages, deeds of trust and the noteSeparate the promissory note from the security instrument, compare a two-party mortgage with a three-party deed of trust, contrast lien theory and title theory, and explain due-on-sale clauses and the assignment of loans.
   2. Judicial and nonjudicial foreclosureDistinguish foreclosure by court action from foreclosure under a power of sale, trace each process from default to sale, and say which one a mortgage or a deed of trust usually leads to.
   3. Deficiency judgments and redemptionSplit a foreclosure sale's proceeds among the costs and the liens in order, compute a deficiency or a surplus, apply a fair-value limit, and tell equitable redemption from statutory redemption.
   4. Lien priority, junior liens and mechanics' liensRank the liens on a property by the first-in-time rule and its exceptions (property tax liens, purchase-money priority, subordination and mechanics' liens), and pay a short sale price down that ranking.
6. 6

   Landlord and tenant law

   4 lessons

   1. Leasehold estates and lease termsDescribes term of years, periodic, at-will and holdover tenancies, notice rules and the statute of frauds, with a timeline of each tenancy type and a table of how each ends.
   2. Habitability, quiet enjoyment and constructive evictionExplains the implied warranty of habitability, covenant of quiet enjoyment, constructive eviction and rent withholding, with a flowchart from defect to remedy and a table of tenant options.
   3. Assignment, sublease and security depositsDifferentiates assignment from sublease, privity of contract and estate and deposit rules, in a diagram of landlord, tenant and subtenant lines and a table of continuing liability.
   4. Eviction and remediesDescribes grounds for eviction, notice to cure or quit, summary proceedings and the bar on self-help, with a flowchart from breach to possession order and a timeline of notice periods as an example.
7. 7

   Land use, zoning and takings

   4 lessons

   1. Police power and zoning lawCovers Euclid v. Ambler and the police power, nonconforming uses, variances, special permits and rezoning, with a zoning map of districts and a flowchart of a variance request.
   2. Eminent domain and just compensationExplains the Fifth Amendment takings clause, public use, Kelo and fair market value as compensation, with a parcel map of a highway taking and a timeline from notice to payment.
   3. Regulatory takingsApplies Penn Central balancing, Lucas total loss and Loretto physical invasion, plus exactions under Nollan and Dolan, with a decision flowchart of takings tests and a spectrum of regulation severity.
   4. Private land use controls and nuisanceReviews covenants, servitudes, restrictive covenants and nuisance law as private controls, with a subdivision map of lots bound by a covenant and a table comparing covenants and zoning.
8. 8

   Environmental, fair housing and closing

   4 lessons

   1. Environmental law and CERCLAExplains CERCLA strict, joint and several liability for current and past owners, innocent purchaser and bona fide prospective purchaser defenses and Phase I assessment, with a diagram of liable parties around a contaminated site.
   2. Seller disclosure and inspectionCovers seller disclosure of material defects, lead paint disclosure, as-is clauses and caveat emptor, with a table of what must be disclosed and a flowchart of a buyer's claim for nondisclosure.
   3. Fair housing lawCovers the Fair Housing Act's protected classes, discrimination in sales, rental and lending, disparate treatment and impact and exemptions, with a table of protected classes and a flowchart of a complaint process.
   4. Closing and escrowWalks through escrow, the closing documents, prorations, the settlement statement and delivery of the deed, with a transaction flowchart from signing through escrow to recording and a settlement table.