Ownership & Land Use

Property Ownership & Land Use Controls

Types of property, estates and ownership, and the public/private controls on land.

~8 min read·3 sections·4 key terms

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Real vs. Personal Property

REAL PROPERTY is land and everything permanently attached (buildings, fixtures) plus the bundle of legal rights that go with it. PERSONAL PROPERTY (chattel) is movable — not attached.

A FIXTURE is personal property that has become real property by being permanently attached. Tests for a fixture: method of attachment, adaptation to the property, and the intention of the party. Trade fixtures installed by a tenant for business usually remain personal property.

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Estates & Ownership

• FEE SIMPLE — the highest, most complete ownership; lasts indefinitely and is inheritable. • LIFE ESTATE — ownership for the duration of someone's life. • Ownership forms: SOLE ownership; JOINT TENANCY (equal shares with right of survivorship); TENANCY IN COMMON (unequal shares, no survivorship); and community property in some states.

Right of survivorship in joint tenancy means a deceased owner's share passes automatically to the surviving joint tenants, not to heirs.

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Public & Private Controls

PUBLIC controls (government powers): the acronym PETE — • Police power (zoning, building codes) • Eminent domain (taking private land for public use with just compensation) • Taxation • Escheat (property reverts to the state when an owner dies with no heirs/will).

PRIVATE controls include deed restrictions, CC&Rs, and easements. An EASEMENT is the right to use another's land (e.g. a shared driveway); an ENCROACHMENT is an unauthorized intrusion onto a neighbor's land.

📖 Key Terms

Fee simple: The most complete form of ownership; indefinite and inheritable.
Joint tenancy: Equal ownership with the right of survivorship.
Eminent domain: Government's power to take private property for public use with just compensation.
Easement: A right to use another person's land for a specific purpose.

💡 Exam Tips

▸Fee simple is the highest, most complete form of ownership.
▸Joint tenancy = right of survivorship; tenancy in common = no survivorship.
▸Public powers = PETE: Police power, Eminent domain, Taxation, Escheat.
▸Easement = right to USE; encroachment = unauthorized INTRUSION.