Property Reference: L

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | O | P | R | S | T | Z

Land bank

A land bank is a bank that issues long-term loans on real estate in return for mortgages. This term could also apply to the former Federal Land Bank Association in the U.S., which was merged with the former Production Credit Association to from Farm Credit Services.

Land trust

The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. See the article’s talk page for more information.

A land trust is an organization established to hold land and to administer use of the land according to the charter of the organization.

Investment trust companies hold property for investment purposes and non-citizens who want long-term access to land in Mexico often enter real-estate trust agreements, called fideicomiso, with Mexican citizens, but land trust more often refers to a community scale organization. Community land trusts are established to provide low- and middle-income families access to affordable housing and to protect agricultural lands while conservation trusts protect environmentally, historically or culturally valuable places.

Landlord

A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or land which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called the tenant. In the United Kingdom the manager of a Public house is also called the landlord.

In the United States, landlord-tenant disputes are governed by state law (not federal law) regarding property and contracts. State law and, in some places, city law or county law, sets the requirements for eviction of a tenant. Generally, there is limited number of reasons for which a landlord can evict his tenant. Some cities have laws establishing the maximum rent a landlord can charge, known as rent control.

A rental agreement, or lease, is the contract defining such terms as the price paid, penalties for late payments, the length of the rental or lease, and the amount of notice required before either the landlord or tenant cancels the agreement. In general, the landlord is responsible for repairs and maintenance, and the tenant is responsible for keeping the property clean and safe.

Many landlords hire a property management company to take care of all the details of renting their property out to a tenant. This usually includes advertising the property and showing it to prospective tenants, and then, once rented, collecting rent from the tenant and performing repairs as needed.

Agency Law

Agency is an area of law dealing with a contractual or quasi-contractual relationship between at least two parties in which one, the principal, authorizes the other, the agent, to represent her or his legal interests and to perform legal acts that bind the principal. The agent has a fiduciary relationship with and is under a legal duty to act in the best interests of the principal. An agency can be expressly created for various purposes by contract or appointment, but it can also be implied from the conduct of the parties. Both an “attorney-in-fact” and an “attorney at law” agents. In the former the agent is given a “power of attorney” also known as a mandate in civil law jurisdictions.

Lease purchase contract

A lease purchase contract (also known as Lease/Option or Lease Options) is a legal document that combines a basic lease contract with an option-to-purchase contract. The tenant/buyer pays to the landlord/seller a non-refundable option deposit that is applied to the purchase price of the home. The tenant/buyer then pays to the landlord/seller a sum that is typical to the rental amount usually on a monthly basis. A portion of that monthly payment is then applied to the purchase price of the home. During, or at the end of the lease period, the tenant/buyer has exclusive right to buy the home under the terms to which both parties have previously agreed.

Leasing

Elements of leasing are present value, future or residual value, interest and duration.

Leasing allows a company or entity to have the benefits of using equipment without the requirements of ownership. This might offer the company the tax benefits of writing the use of the equipment as an operating expense versus depreciating it as an asset.

Leasing goods are mobile (automobiles, ships, aircraft, IT equipment) as well as immobile (buildings).

Lien

In law, lien is the broadest term for any sort of charge or encumbrance against an item of property that secures the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation.

Liens can be consensual or non-consensual. Consensual liens are imposed by a contract between the creditor and the debtor. These liens include:

* mortgages;
* security interests;
* chattel mortgages

Non-consensual liens typically arise by statute or by the operation of the common law. These liens give a creditor the right to impose a lien on an item of real property or a chattel by the existence of the relationship of creditor and debtor. These liens include:

* tax liens, imposed to secure payment of a tax;
* attorney’s liens, against funds and documents to secure payment of fees;
* mechanic’s liens, which secure payment for work done on property or land;
* judgment liens, imposed to secure payment of a judgment
* maritime liens, imposed on ships by admiralty law.

Liens are also “perfected” or “unperfected.” Perfected liens are those liens for which a creditor has taken the steps required by law to give third parties notice of his interest in the property in which a lien is claimed. The fact that an item of property is in the hands of the creditor usually constitutes perfection. Where the property remains in the hands of the debtor, some further step must be taken, like recording a notice of the security interest with the appropriate office.

Perfecting a lien is an important part of the task of protecting the secured creditor’s interest in the property. A perfected lien is valid, even against a trustee in bankruptcy; an unperfected lien is not.

Life estate

A life estate, at common law is an estate in real property that ends at death.

Since it ends at death, and the owner of the life estate cannot leave it to his heirs or convey a larger interest in the land than what the owner actually owns, a life estate is not an estate of inheritance. Life estates are measured either by the life of the owner of the estate, or by the life of some other person; these latter are called life estates pur autre vie, Law French for “during someone else’s life.”

Although life estates are still created today, often as part of tax planning devices, life estates are more commonly embodied as trusts.

Lis pendens

Lis pendens is a notice of litigation which is recorded with the title of real property. This notice secures a plaintiff’s claim on the property so that the sale, mortgage, or other encumbrance of the property will not diminish plaintiff’s rights to the property, should plaintiff prevail in its case.