1. TENANCY IN SEVERALTY: Property owned by one individual or by one corporation is said to be ownership in severalty. If you own property in severalty, you own it by yourself cut off from all others.
2. JOINT TENANCY: This is ownership of property by two or more persons with right of survivorship built in. If two parties own a parcel of property as joint tenants and one of them dies, the survivor owns the property in severalty. If individuals wish to become joint tenants, then the deed must specifically state joint tenants or right of survivorship. If the deed does not indicate this and there is more than one owner, they automatically become Tenants in Common.
South Carolina only recognizes two forms of co-ownership, and they are: Joint Tenancy
and Tenants in Common. Each joint tenant is said to have an undivided interest. Each party has the right to sell their share; however, after the sale they may no longer be joint tenants. If one owner wants to sell and the other owners do not want him to sell; the owner that wants to sell the property can take the others into court and file a suit to partition the land. The right to partition is a legal way to dissolve co-ownership when the parties do not agree to its termination. In other words the court will cut off your share and let you sell it.
The following four unities are required to create a joint tenancy:
a} Unity of Possession: All joint tenants hold an undivided right of possession. Each owns all and no one can find their exact piece of dirt.
b} Unity of Interest: All joint tenants must hold equal interest. If there are two owners, then each must own half, if there are three owners then each one owns one third.
c} Unity of Time: All owners must acquire their interest at the exact same time.
d} Unity of Title: All joint tenants must be named in the same deed.
3. TENANCY IN COMMON: This is the most used form of ownership in South Carolina. It is used for concurrent ownership between two or more parties. Instead of having right of survivorship as with joint tenants, there is right of inheritance. For example, if two people own a piece of property as tenants in common and one of them dies their share goes to their heirs not to the survivor. Unlike joint tenants they need not have equal interest nor do they have to be on the same deed. There is also no requirement that they receive their ownership at the same time, but they do have to have possession. For example, if there are three owners and one owns one half and the other two each own one quarter, the one that owns one half owns one half of every molecule of dirt. The other two would each own one quarter of every molecule of dirt. As with joint tenants, no one can find their exact piece of dirt. No special wording is required to establish a tenancy in common.
4. TENANCY BY THE ENTIRETY: Tenancy by the entirety is not recognized as a form of ownership in South Carolina. Under early common law, a husband and wife were held to be one person. Therefore, ownership of real estate by husband and wife was considered to be owned by one person with right of survivorship.
5. STATUATORY OWNERSHIP: There three forms of Statuatory Ownership, and they are: 
A} SOUTH CAROLINA HORIZONTAL PROPERTY ACT(Condominiums): This legislation is usually called the Horizontal Property Act and it deals with condominiums and the following:
I) Property Rights: The owner of each unit gets a deed to that particular unit. If one person owns it that person would own the unit in severalty. If two or more parties own the unit it may be held as Joint Tenants or Tenants in Common. The owners of the individual units also own a share of the common elements, such as the parking lot, pool, and lawn. All of the owners of the individual units would own the common elements together as Tenants in Common. The owner’s share of the common elements is equivalent to a percentage represented by the owner’s unit in relation to the entire property. This percentage is expressed at the time the horizontal property regime is established, and cannot be altered during the life of the project.
II) Master Deed: The master deed establishes the Horizontal Property Regime. The master deed covers the entire project including all units and all the common elements. The master deed must be recorded.
III) Owners Association: Condominium by-laws provide for the operation of the association by the owners. At least 51% of the members are required to adopt decisions. They are responsible for such things as care, upkeep, services, security, fee collection, etc. Two thirds of the members must agree to changes in the by-laws.
IV) Allienation: Each owner has the right to sell his/her unit.
B} COOPERATIVES: A cooperative development is owned by a corporation in severalty. Each owner owns stock in the corporation, with the right to occupy a unit under a proprietary lease. The corporation is responsible for all taxes, mortgages, and common areas. A cooperative differs from a condominium in that the condo owner gets title to his unit (real property) and is responsible for the taxes and so forth on his individual unit only, and a co-op owner gets stock (personal property) rather than real estate and all shareholders are responsible for the entire project.
C} BUSINESS ENTITIES:
I) Partnership: A partnership is an agreement of two or more co owners to conduct a business 
for a profit. Unlike a corporation, partners are only taxes once. The two types of partnership are:
1. General Partner: A general partner is an active partner and would have unlimited persnal liability for the debts of the partnership. One general partner can personally obligate the other partner(s).
2. Limited Partner: A limited partner is an inactive partner who contributes only money to the partnership. Limited partners have limited liabilities only to the extent of their investment.
II) Corporation: A legal entity created by state law, consisting of individuals, but regarded by law to be an artificial person. The owner’s liability is limited to the amount of his investment. The corporation becomes the liable person and will own property in severalty. The disadvantage is that profits are taxable at corporate and personal income levels.
III) R.E.I.T: Ownership in Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is held in trust form for the beneficiaries by a trustee. Under federal law, an REIT must have 100 or more investors. REIT shareholders are exempt from corporate income tax because it is treated as a trust, not a corporation. Passive Investor is an investor with no management control and invests capital only.
IV) Syndicate: Several people could form a syndicate and own property if they so desired. Two or more people involved in an investment, regardless of their legal association, for structuring or operating a particular business venture. Profits come from buying and selling real estate.
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For more information about Greenville SC Real Estate, or to browse over 12,000 Greenville SC homes for sale, visit Victor Amadi’s real estate website at: www.TheProducerTeam.com or call 864-525-0201
Victor Amadi is a Greenville SC Realtor, and this information although may cover forms of real estate ownership in your area, however, it is based on South Carolina real estate. This information was gathered from different sources, and is an effort to educate consumers on the forms of ownership in SC. Information shared on this blog was deemed reliable at the time of this post, but may change in the future without notice.
I listed a home recently where the lady’s husband had passed away and she wanted to get the home sold because she could not afford to continue making the payments. When we put together the listing documents to put the home on the market, I noticed that her name was on the mortgage but not on the county tax/deed records, so I asked her to contact the register of deeds and closing attorney that closed escrow on the home when they bought it, to make sure that it was deeded as Joint tenants with right of survivorship. She was under the impression that she was on the deed and thought that she automatically had the right to sell the home after her husband passed, but this is not the case.
