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. ???????? WHO OWNS THE LAND?