real property | Legal Information Institute

Real property (land law): an overview

Property refers to the lawful right to own, use, control, and dispose of things (items or attributes/tangible or intangible), including land. A fundamental distinction in property law is between real property (land and things permanently attached to it) and personal property (movable items). Real property includes the surface of the land as well as permanent features above and below it, such as buildings, trees, and mineral deposits.

Within the category of real property, several types of interests are recognized:

Freehold estates. Ownership interests of indefinite duration.
- Examples include: Fee simple absolute, the most complete ownership interest, which is inheritable and unlimited in duration. Life estate, where possession lasts for the lifetime of a specified individual.
Nonfreehold estates. Interests of limited duration, commonly associated with landlord-tenant law.
- Examples include tenancy for years, a tenancy from period to period, a tenancy at will.
Concurrent estates. Property owned or possessed by two or more persons at the same time.
- Common forms include tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety.
Other recognized interests include future interests, and incorporeal interests such as easements.

For the most part, states have exclusive jurisdiction over land within their borders, and state law governs the creation, transfer, and regulation of property interests. Federal law plays a limited role, usually in areas such as taxation, environmental regulation, or constitutional limits on state property rules, e.g. takings clause, due process clause, equal protection clause, etc.