Property Issue Statements

Front 1

Opening Argument

Back 1

The common law of property and (if residential landlord/tenant law is involved) the Washington Residential Landlord Tenant Act apply.

Front 2

Easement

Back 2

• An easement (appurtenant or in gross) is an assignable, nonpossessory right to cross over or use the servient tenement’s land of another created by prescription, implication, necessity, or express grant.

Front 3

Prescriptive Easement

Back 3

• A prescriptive easement must be continuous for the statutory time, hostile to the true owner’s interest, and the use must be open and notorious so the owner has actual or constructive notice.

Front 4

License

Back 4

• A license is a non-exclusive, non-assignable, personal, permissive right to use or come onto the property of another.

Front 5

Profit

Back 5

• A profit is the right to go upon land of another and take some resource therefrom, but overuse, waste, or excessive taking is not allowed.

Front 6

Nuisance

Back 6

• A nuisance is a substantial and unreasonable interference with comfort or use of a person’s property.

Front 7

Covenant

Back 7

• A covenant is a promise in a deed burdening the servient tenement for the benefit of the dominant tenement; enforceability requires a writing, intention that the promise run with the land, and an effect that touches and concerns the land. An equitable servitude imposes similar restrictions based upon actual or constructive notice of the burden.

Front 8

Zoning

Back 8

• Zoning is used to regulate property use and control development. It is a quasi-judicial government function requiring that notice be given to affected parties providing the right to be heard. There must be an appearance of fairness in the decision-making process. Judicial review requires standing, exhaustion of administrative remedies, ripeness, and that the agency has issued a final determination.

Front 9

Nonconforming Property

Back 9

• A nonconforming property use was legal when built, but does not meet the current zoning code. It is allowed to remain as long as the nonconforming use is continuous (“grandfathered”). The use cannot be substantially expanded or changed to a different nonconforming use. An intensification of the same use is usually allowed (if in existence when zoning ordinance was adopted and it does not impact the neighbors) as opposed to a different use (gravel mining to coal mining). If the nonconforming use is abandoned, the grandfather protection lapses and may not be revived.

Front 10

Warranty Deed

Back 10

• A warranty deed contains the grantor’s covenant that they have title of seisin, authority and right to convey, free of encumbrance and marketable title, enjoyment and peaceful possession, and they will defend the buyer.

Front 11

Quitclaim Deed

Back 11

• A quitclaim deed conveys all the ownership legal and equitable rights the grantor has in the property without any covenants or implied warranties.

Front 12

Recording Statute

Back 12

• Washington’s recording statute is race-notice and the first bona fide purchaser (BFP) who files the deed at the recording office prevails. A BFP must take for value, in good faith, and have no record or inquiry notice.

Front 13

Adverse Possession

Back 13

• Adverse possession can ripen into a title of record through quiet title action if the possession is exclusive, continuous for 10 years (or 7 years if under “color of title”), hostile to the true owner, and open and notorious to assure the property owner has actual or constructive knowledge of the adverse possession.

Front 14

Lease

Back 14

• A lease gives the tenant/lessee (T) a nonfreehold possessory estate with the landlord/lessor (LL) retaining a reversionary interest at the end of the lease. It establishes a tenant’s right to use property for a period of time in exchange for rent. Commercial use is governed by the common law; residential leases are dictated by Washington’s Residential Landlord Tenant Act (RLTA).

Front 15

Repairs

Back 15

• After T gives the LL written notice of a needed repair and the LL fails to remedy within a reasonable time, the T may terminate the rental agreement and move out, make the repairs and deduct it from the rent, or seek a judicial determination.

Front 16

Estates

Back 16

• The classification of an interest in land is determined by the granting language used to convey the property. With the exception of a fee simple absolute, all present interests in land are accompanied by future interests in the same land. The SOF requires transfers (deeds) and encumberances (mortgages) of real property to be in writing.