101PD SAMPLEChapter 1 — Property Ownership and Land Use Controls and Regulations CA Real Estate Salesperson Exam Prep · 101PD original text · exam weight ≈ 15% (≈ 22 of 150 questions) Draft v1 — pending owner legal review (RULEBOOK #4). Every section number below is a citation target for questions. How to study this chapter: the exam tests whether you can classify things — is it real or personal property? which estate? which form of title? which kind of encumbrance? Learn the definitions as sorting rules, not vocabulary. Each section ends with an exam tip drawn from how the DRE actually phrases questions. §1.1 Real property vs. personal property Real property is land and whatever is attached to, appurtenant to, or immovable by law from it: the surface, things permanently attached (buildings, fences), things incidental to it (easements, stock in a mutual water company), and the airspace and subsurface within reasonable limits (Civ. Code §§ 658–662). Personal property (also called chattels) is everything else — movable items (Civ. Code § 663). Why it matters: real property transfers by deed and is governed by real estate law; personal property transfers by bill of sale. A mobile home is personal property until it is permanently affixed to a foundation and reclassified. Exam tip: growing crops (emblements) produced by human labor are personal property even before harvest when sold; naturally occurring plants and trees are real property until severed. Severance converts real to personal (cutting the tree); affixation converts personal to real (bolting the shelf to the wall). §1.2 Fixtures and the five tests (M-A-R-I-A) A fixture is an item that was personal property but became real property by being attached to land or a building. Courts weigh five tests: Method of attachment (nailed, cemented, plumbed = fixture; freestanding = not) · Adaptability to the property's use (custom-cut carpet, built-in speakers) · Relationship of the parties (in disputes, courts favor buyer over seller and tenant over landlord) · Intention of the person attaching it (the most important test) · Agreement between the parties (a written agreement controls). Trade fixtures are the exception: items a tenant installs to conduct business (display cases, salon chairs) remain the tenant's personal property and may be removed before the lease ends, provided the tenant repairs removal damage. Exam tip: when a question gives conflicting facts, intention controls among the tests — but a written agreement beats everything. §1.3 Freehold estates An estate is the degree of interest a person holds in real property. Freehold estates are ownership estates of indefinite duration: 1. Fee simple absolute — the greatest interest recognized in law; indefinite duration, freely transferable and inheritable, no conditions (Civ. Code § 762 presumes a fee simple unless a lesser estate is stated). 2. Fee simple defeasible — ownership subject to a condition. A condition subsequent lets the grantor terminate on breach ("on condition that no alcohol is sold"); a determinable fee ends automatically when the stated use stops ("so long as used as a school"). 3.