Nevada Revised Statutes - 1995
Do you own a home? If you don’t pay your property taxes, government will auction it off in order to pay the taxes! How can they do that? The same way gov has the authority to do everything… because you’ve entered into some agreement with them, explicitly or implicitly, and it gives them jurisdiction over you.
Jurisdiction (from Latin juris 'law' + dictio'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice.
If you have your mortgage loan application handy, look for a small box, usually near the top of the first page, that says something like Title type, and it will have two options, one being ‘Fee Simple’. All mortgages today will have that option selected. What does it mean?
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 trite 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. 2Bl. Comm. 105. See Wendell v. Craudall, 1 N. y. 491. In modern English tenures, “fee” signifies an estate of Inheritance, being the highest and most extensive interest which a man can have in a feud; and when the term is used simply, without any adjunct, or In the form “fee-simple,” it imports an absolute inheritance clear of any condition, limitation, or restriction to particular heirs, but descendible to the heirs general, male or female, lineal or collateral. 2 Bl. Comm. 100.
Which sounds better? Well, with fee simple you are under an obligation to pay the loan off, and the annual property taxes, and if you don’t, you’re out on the street! Allodial title is the best but is not an option if you haven’t paid off the loan. After all, the fact that gov can auction off your home if you don’t pay your property taxes is the ‘incentive’ to do so!
The rights of the fee-simple owner are limited by government powers of taxation, compulsory purchase, police power, and escheat, and may also be limited further by certain encumbrances or conditions in the deed…
Allodial title constitutes ownership of real property (land, buildings, and fixtures) that is independent of any superior landlord.
You don’t really own it as long as you owe the lender… and rightfully so.
More to come…