				LAND TITLE

  A short trip through the law dictionary to explore the various forms 
  of title or interest in land.

  ALLODIAL - Free; not holden of any lord or superior; owned without 
  obligation of vassalage or fealty; the opposite of feudal.

  FEUDALISM - The feudal system; the aggregate of feudal principles 
  and usages.  The vassal paid homage and service to the lord and the 
  lord provided land and protection to the vassal.

  FEALTY - In feudal law, fidelity; allegiance to the feudal lord of 
  the manor; the feudal obligation resting upon the tenant or vassal 
  by which he was bound to be faithful and true to his lord, and 
  render him obedience and service.

  FEE - A freehold estate in lands, held of a superior lord, as a 
  reward for services, and on condition of rendering some service in 
  return for it.  The true meaning of the word "fee" is the same as 
  that of "feud" or "fief", and in its original sense it is taken in 
  contradistinction to "allodium", which latter is defined as a man's 
  own land, which he possesses merely in his own right, without owing 
  any rent or service to any superior.

  FEE SIMPLE - The estate which a man has where lands are given to him 
  and to his heirs absolutely without any limit put to his estate.

  ESTATE - The degree, quantity, nature and extent of interest which a 
  person has in real and personal property.  An estate in land, tenements,
  and hereditaments signifies such interest as the tenant has therein.

  TENANT - In the broadest sense, one who holds or possesses lands or 
  tenements by any kind of right or title, whether in fee, for life, 
  for years, at will, or otherwise.  In a more restricted sense, one 
  who holds lands of another.
	Feudal Law - One who holds of another (called "lord" or
       "superior") by some service; as fealty or rent.   

  PATENT - The instrument by which a state or government grants public 
  lands to an individual.
	Land Patent - A muniment of title issued by a government or 
        state for the conveyance of some portion of the public domain.

   			SUMMARY

	Real Estate companies do not sell land.  They sell Estates 
  or interest in land.
	A Fee Simple Title does not create ownership of land; it only 
  conveys a right to use the land, usually with restrictions. 

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		   WHO OWNS THE LAND?