Closings glossary
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.
What is tenancy in common?
Quick Answer
The full definition
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.
Also called: TIC.
Where does tenancy in common come up in a New York City closing?
Three siblings inherit a Queens two-family as tenants in common, and one wants out, so a partition action becomes the way the building gets sold.
What else should you read before closing?
In the glossary
- Tenancy by the entiretyJoint ownership by spouses with a right of survivorship, where neither can transfer or mortgage the property without the other. It is the default f...
- Fee simpleOwnership of land held indefinitely and freely transferable, subject only to recorded encumbrances and to government powers such as taxation, zonin...
- TitleLegal ownership of real property and the rights that come with it. A deed is evidence of a transfer of title, not title itself.
- DeedThe instrument that conveys real property. Signature, acknowledgment and delivery make it effective between the parties, while recording is what pr...
- Chain of titleThe sequence of recorded conveyances of a property, from an earlier known owner to the present one. Gaps and defective links in the chain are what ...
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