Thomas owns a beachfront property in Westerly, Rhode Island, subject to regulation by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). He wants to sell the property and grant the buyer fee simple absolute ownership. A title search reveals that the CRMC has recorded a public access easement along the shoreline of the property. How does this easement affect the buyer's ownership interest?
Correct Answer
B) The buyer receives fee simple ownership, but the property remains subject to the recorded public access easement.
A recorded public access easement granted by or to the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) is an encumbrance that runs with the land. When Thomas sells the property, the buyer receives fee simple ownership of the parcel, but that ownership is subject to the existing easement. The easement does not eliminate fee simple title; it simply limits certain uses of the burdened portion of the property. Under Rhode Island law, CRMC easements for public shoreline access are permanent encumbrances that survive transfers of ownership.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
A life estate is a freehold estate that grants ownership rights for the duration of someone's life.
Real property is immovable land and anything permanently attached to it, while personal property (also called chattels) is movable.
Tenancy by the entirety is a form of co-ownership available only to married couples that includes the right of survivorship and protection from individual creditors. Neither spouse can unilaterally sell or encumber the property.
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