Real Estate Legal Issues That People Often Deal With
Virtually everyone has dealt with real estate concerns. Whether you own a property or lease it, whether it is a commercial or residential property, real estate has and will always be an important part of our everyday existence. The breadth and depth of this subject matter is so vast that it is impossible to cover the topic in a quick tutorial like this. With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to draw up a very brief discussion of some aspects of the process of the acquisition, transfer of title, and forms of ownership of real estate.
Transfer of title of real estate may be made by gift, will, or sale. Voluntary transfer of title is normally done by a deed. A deed is a written instrument by which an owner of real property intentionally conveys to a new owner his or her right, title, or interest in a parcel of real property. All deeds must be in writing and must be signed by the grantor (the person conveying the property) to the grantee (the person acquiring the property).
There are legal requirements for a deed to be valid, some of which are:
- grantor, grantee;
- a recital of consideration (ie. moneys exchanging for the value of the property);
- a granting clause (words of conveyance);
- an habendum clause (specifies type of estate to be conveyed and any recorded encumbrance);
- a designation of any limitation on the conveyance of a full free simple estate;
- a legal description of the property conveyed;
- exceptions and reservations affecting the title (“subject to” clause);
- the grantor’s signature; and
- the delivery of the deed and acceptance to pass title.
There are also different types of deeds, some of which are:
- The general warranty deed (which provides the greatest protection of any grant deed) and is probably the most popular form of conveyance. It carries two implied warranties:
- that the owner has the right to convey the property as stated in the deed; and
- that the owner has not encumbered the property except as noted in the deed.
- The quitclaim deed provides the grantee with the least protection of any deed;
- A deed in trust is used to convey real estate to a trustee, usually in order to establish a living trust or land trust;
- A trustee’s deed is a deed of conveyance used normally when a trustee named in a will, agreement, or deed in trust sells or conveys title to real estate out of the trust.
Real estate can be owned in three basic forms which are:
- In severalty, where title is owned by one person or organization; co-ownership where some of the most common forms are tenancy in common;
- Joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, community property and partnership property; and
- Title can be held in trust, some of the more common are the living and testamentary trusts, land trusts or business trusts.
This was only a brief tutorial on dealing with real estate but, since it is such a major part of our everyday existence, I am sure that there are countless other questions that you either have now or may encounter in the future. With real estate being such an important value to our existence, everyone wants to receive what they bargain for and no one wants any unexpected surprises. Once a mistake is made and written into a contract, it is often very costly to fix. The best way to avoid this is to have an introductory meeting with a qualified representative to explore any concerns that you may have before a potential mistake is made. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience if you have any questions.
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