Condominiums

• Each owner owns fee simple title to his or her unit. (Fee simple title is the type of ownership in which the person owns the maximum interest a person can have in a piece of real estate. It entitles the owner to use the property in any manner he see fit, in accordance with state and local laws);
• Each owner pays his/her own taxes and mortgage payments.
• Common elements (pool, halls, etc.) are owned as tenants in common.
• Each pays homeowner's association dues for the common areas.
• Master Deed or Declaration is recorded to show all boundaries of individual units.

Please note that condos and co-ops will be covered in greater detail in a later chapter. Condos and co-ops are two types of Common Interest Developments. You will learn more about the other two types of CIDs in that later chapter, as well.

Time Sharing

"Interval Ownership" is especially popular for vacation resort areas. A buyer purchases ownership of a property for a specific period of time each year. Timeshare "ownership" is fee simple ownership.

Timeshare "use" consists of the right to occupy and use the facilities for a certain number of years. When the time is up, the owner has the right to terminate the use. Timeshare usage is not a fee simple estate.

The Vacation Ownership and Time Share Act of 2004 dictates the California laws in the creation and regulation of time shares in California.