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Welcome to LAWCHEK®
REAL
ESTATE. This
topic addresses various aspects of the law of Real Estate for the
fifty (50) states. Real
Estate is land and anything permanently attached to it, such as
buildings or fences. Such
attachments are sometimes referred to as fixtures.
A fixture is property that has been permanently attached to
the land to such an extent that it is regarded as part of the
land. This topic,
Real Estate, discusses ownership of real estate and rights and
limitations relating to such ownership.
Not discussed here are regulation of and use of land by the
federal, state, or local governments.
The law of Real
Estate has its origins in the development of the English Common
Law. The common law
itself composes a body of law formed by court decisions over the
years. Many of the
terms and concepts contained in the law of Real Estate arose in
this manner. With the
exception of Louisiana, whose laws are derived from the French
Civil Code, the individual states still rely heavily upon the
common law for their laws on real estate.
Over the years, the states have enacted statutes regarding
real estate. These
statutes sometimes codify the common law, modify, and at times
abrogate it. Even
today, however, when a state’s statutes are silent on an issue
of law regarding real estate, the courts will turn to the common
law for an answer.
Black’s
Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition.
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