As with many of my elective courses, this program was inspired by a student. It’s not unusual that real estate students and brokers have questions when we get to issues of joint ownership of property. Many of are clients are in second marriages, divorced, widowed, or living with partners, and their questions are often highly personal and relevant to their own lifestyles and relationships.

While I am not an attorney, I try to help my students untangle those complex concepts surrounding such ownership as estate by entirities, joint tenancy, and tenancy in common as well as the rather abstract issues of title and ownership. When I discuss those topics, love (or its absence) has everything to do with the decision that we make regarding holding title with others.

Title is also an abstract concept and challenging to grasp, particularly because title concepts are rooted in archaic language and customs that date back to feudal England.

It is the purpose of this course to help real estate licensee grasp the concept of title as well as to provide insight into the process of title assurance, so that real estate consumers can rest easy that whatever ownership interests they are acquiring are both marketable and insurable.