The term “de jure” comes from the Latin “by law” or “by right” and is commonly used to describe something that exists according to the law or by right. While the most popular use of the term is in the practice of law and almost always can be replaced by “as a matter of law”, it can also be applied to the real estate market. In both fields, the term “de jure” is contrasted with “de facto”.
The term de jure can be defined as a practice that is legally recognized even if the practice isn’t applied in reality, by law it stands but practice doesn’t do anything to establish it. Something that is legal by law, doesn’t necessarily have to be in fact real. For instance, you can be the legal owner of a car even if you have a driver that’s at the wheel even when you aren’t occupying the car. Similarly, a car rental is the legal owner of the car, but he allows his daughter to drive one car in a de facto manner without any paperwork that attests that she doesn’t have the legal right to that car.
De Jure Possession
When it comes to real estate possession, there are two types of possession that real estate agents and homeowners need to take into consideration. While a de facto possession does not entail any legal right of the property’s inhabitants, the de jure possession is that of the owner of the property.
De jure possession is applicable when the owner of property claims their ownership through legal manners, papers, or contracts that can not be disputed by another party that may claim their right of ownership. This de jure possession does not require physical occupation or possession in order to be enforced. It can not be disputed unless a real estate transaction takes place in which the de jure possession changes hands to the new owner.
Seeing as the de jure possession is linked to the legal right to possess a property, it is not limited to homeownership. For instance, a renter with a lease agreement is also in de jure possession of the property seeing as there is a legal agreement between the owner and the renter that allows the renter to occupy the property.
To make the distinction clear, if the de jure renter invites a friend to stay over and live there, even if the renter leaves for several days and leaves their friend to use the property, the visitor is a de facto possessor of the property, while the renter remains the de jure possessor of the property.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Stature regulating the use of credit information. Allows consumers such as prospective homeowners access to their credit files. It requires a lender to explain how loan interest is ...
Principal highway designed to divert traffic around a major urban area in order to limit congestion and expedite traffic flow. A belt highway is connected to the urban area by main highways ...
lender who charges an exorbitant interest rate, which is typically illegal because it exceeds the interest rate allowed in the state. A borrower may go to a loan shark if he cannot obtain ...
Loan that allows the borrower to pay only the interest for the first few years of the loan. ...
List of architectural design items needing to be corrected and resolved prior to finalizing a building design. ...
Listing of all of the plats of subdivided plots in a jurisdiction showing the location, boundaries, and plat owners. A plat book normally shows other improvements including roads, blocks, ...
In the business world, the definition of override means a salesperson paying a commission to a supervisor or another agent. The meaning of override refers to an arrangement for acquitting ...
Contractual clause allowing one or both parties to terminate the agreement if a specified occurrence takes places. This is a cancellation clause, which allows the agreement to become null ...
Road or highway acting as a frontage boundary. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.