Private Land Use Controls

Private land use control includes such things as:

A ____ limits the use or appearance of a given property, and it can be placed on an individual property, on an entire subdivision. Both developers and individual owners have the right to place private controls on their own real estate. May run with the land forever and will appear on all future deeds, or it may have a time limit.

___ are contingencies in which a property might be won or lost if the condition is violated. For instance, a grandmother may pass her property on to an heir on the condition that the heir never marries. If the heir does, ownership would be severed.

____ are agreements between two or more parties. If the agreement is violated, ownership—or tenancy, in the case of a lease—can be terminated. Property owners can enforce this agreement through the court system.

____ is the minimum distance which a building or other structure must be set back from a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which is deemed to need protection.

If the property owner violates the condition, the property can ___________. Property owners can enforce covenants through the court system. In fact, they need to be sure to be consistent in their enforcement, or they could lose the covenant through laches.”

This doctrine ays that if you don’t use it, you can lose it. Property owners who are lax in protecting their rights can lose their rights. The courts won’t restrict violators and the covenant terminates.

Examples of deed restrictions

____ is the government’s authority—at the state, local and federal level—to do what it can to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. Included in this power is the government’s authority to tax real estate and personal property to generate funds that support government operations as well as the right to place a lien on property until all taxes are paid.

Land and open space, planning and zoning, and subdivision development are controlled at the ____ level.

___ governments and their planning boards control budgeting, site plan review, and building codes.

____ has control over some public properties

This act regulates land sales across state lines. Administrated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Before anyone signs a purchase contract, the developer has to give the buyer a disclosure document called a ___. The report contains information about the subdivision. The buyer has a seven-day period after receiving the report to cancel the purchase agreement. For those who don’t provide the disclosure, the buyer can rescind the contract just based on that.

a term used to mean the permitted use of a property. For instance, in a single-family zoning district, an as-of-right use of the lot would include the construction of a single-family home.

The power of the government to take private land for public use

When the government actually takes someone’s property, it’s called

When the government takes property under eminent domain

occurs when private property is regulated by a government authority to the detriment of the landowner. For example, say a new law goes into effect, and as a result, a landowner can no longer use the property for economic gain. That constitutes a taking that would be _____

The court ruled that cities can exercise the power of eminent domain to promote private economic development, even though the Constitution prohibits our government from taking private property except for a public use