Closings glossary
Fee simple
Ownership of land held indefinitely and freely transferable, subject only to recorded encumbrances and to government powers such as taxation, zoning and condemnation.
What does fee simple ownership mean?
Quick Answer
The full definition
Ownership of land held indefinitely and freely transferable, subject only to recorded encumbrances and to government powers such as taxation, zoning and condemnation.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside fee simple in the same file.
- Title
- Legal ownership of real property and the rights that come with it. A deed is evidence of a transfer of title, not title itself.
- Tenancy in common
- Co-ownership in undivided shares with no right of survivorship. Each share can be sold, mortgaged or left by will independently of the other owners.
- Tenancy by the entirety
- Joint ownership by spouses with a right of survivorship, where neither can transfer or mortgage the property without the other. It is the default for married New York grantees.
- Land lease
- A building whose land is leased rather than owned. The lease term and rent reset schedule sit in the offering plan and shape much of what the apartments are worth.
- Proprietary lease
- The occupancy lease a co-op corporation grants a shareholder for a specific unit. It is assigned at closing together with the stock certificate for the allocated shares, and its amendments, rather than the original text, carry the building's current rules.
Where does fee simple come up in a New York City closing?
A condominium unit in Astoria is real property held in fee simple, while the co-op two blocks away conveys shares and a lease rather than land.
What else should you read before closing?
Building types
- Standard condoA New York City condominium unit: real property conveyed by deed, recorded in ACRIS, with an undivided interest in the common elements.
- Townhouse and 1-4 family condo declarationA small building divided into condominium units, where outdoor space, party walls, multiple-dwelling registration and the certificate of occupancy ...
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.