A lease or tenancy is an interest in personal property or real property given by a lessor to another person (usually called the lessee or tenant) for a fixed period of time, and the lessee obtains exclusive possession of the property in return for paying the lessor a fixed or determinable consideration.

In law, there are two types of property:

• Real property is land or any permanent feature or structure above or below the surface. Ownership of land is an aspect of the system of real property or realty in common law systems (immovables in civil law systems and Conflict of Laws).
• All other property is considered personal property or personalty in common law systems (movables in civil law and Conflict of Laws), and this property is either tangible or intangible, or it is an enforceable right like a patent or other form of intellectual property.

There are three separate levels of rights or interests affecting both forms of property, displayed here in descending order of importance:

• ownership,
• possession or control,
• use.

The legal documents that transfer these rights are respectively: conveyance/transfer, lease/tenancy, and bailment/pledge for tangible personalty, assignments and licenses for intangibles.

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