Advanced Title Insurance Underwriting

Question 1

All the following about easements are correct except

(a) All easements are “true” easements
(b) True easements benefit another piece of land
(c) The land that it benefits is called the dominant estate
(d) The land that benefits another is called the servient estate

Answer 1

(a) All easements are “true” easements

Question 2

All the following regarding easements are correct except

(a) They are usually transferred along with fee title
(b) They can be sold separately by the owner of the servient estate
(c) They are subject to being lost through adverse possession
(d) They are assumed by a purchaser of the dominant estate

Answer 2

(b) They can be sold separately by the owner of the servient estate

Even though a grant deed may make no mention of these easements, they are usually automatically transferred along with fee title. As with most interests in land, they are subject to being lost through adverse possession by another or prescription. The owner of the servient estate cannot sell them separately, and they are assumed by any purchaser of the dominant estate.

Question 3

A future or potential easement is called a

(a) Quasi-easement
(b) Quasi-dominant tenement
(c) Quasi-servient tenement
(d) All the above

Answer 3

(d) All the above

Question 4

The open and notorious use of another’s land with the knowledge of the servient estate landowner, and the landowner’s passive failure to stop such use, may establish

(a) An easement by prescription
(b) An easement by presumption
(c) An easement by assumption
(d) None of the above

Answer 4

(a) An easement by prescription

Question 5

Easements such as those for water, oil pipelines, telephone lines and railroad rights-of-way

(a) Are limited to roadways
(b) Are easements in gross
(c) Are not insurable
(d) All the above

Answer 5

(b) Are easements in gross

Question 6

A license

(a) Is permission for a personal right for a party to enter another’s land, in writing or oral
(b) Is irrevocable
(c) Conveys a legal interest in the estate
(d) May be assignable

Answer 6

(a) Is permission for a personal right for a party to enter another’s land, in writing or oral

Question 7

Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs)

(a) Are rights established by government agencies
(b) Are rights established by prior owners of the land that may impose restrictions on its use
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 7

(b) Are rights established by prior owners of the land that may impose restrictions on its use

Question 8

The most common way to locate points on the surface of the earth is by standard reference points in the form of

(a) Geographic coordinates
(b) Metes and bounds
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 8

(a) Geographic coordinates

Question 9

Lines of longitude

(a) Are called meridians
(b) Run vertically and are perpendicular to lines of latitude
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 9

(c) Both a and b

Question 10

The Rectangular Survey System

(a) Was first proposed by George Washington
(b) Established the Public Land Survey System
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 10

(b) Established the Public Land Survey System

Question 11

The base line is

(a) The north-south line that runs through the initial point
(b) Perpendicular to the principal meridian
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 11

(b) Perpendicular to the principal meridian

Question 12

The Points of Beginning

(a) Use coordinates based on an intersection of a specific latitude and longitude
(b) Identified by a permanent steel object driven into the ground by the surveyor
(c) Both a and b
(d) Neither a nor b

Answer 12

(c) Both a and b

Question 13

After completing a survey, the land surveyor (or the civil engineer)

(a) Posts the finding in a conspicuous public place
(b) Files a record of the survey with the secretary of state of California
(c) Files a record of the survey in the county where the survey was made
(d) Publishes the findings in a newspaper of general circulation

Answer 13

(c) Files a record of the survey in the county where the survey was made

Question 14

Any ALTA land survey must meet the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys as adopted by

(a) ALTA
(b) The American Congress on Surveying and Mapping
(c) The National Society of Professional Surveyors
(d) All the above

Answer 14

(d) All the above

Question 15

True easements may consist of rights that may not be obvious, such as easements for

(a) sewer lines.
(b) private utility lines that cross over or under the surface.
(c) the right to receive unrestricted light and air from an adjacent servient estate.
(d) all of these.

Answer 15

(d) all of these.

Question 16

Characteristics of true easements include which of the following?

(a) They may be created by oral agreements.
(b) They must always be created by a deed or a grant.
(c) They must be created by the owner of the servient estate.
(d) They must be created by the owner of the dominant estate.

Answer 16

(c) They must be created by the owner of the servient estate.

Question 17

The open and notorious use of another’s land. or with the knowledge and acquiescence of that servient estate landowner,

(a) is a requirement to establish an easement by prescription.
(b) is a required to occur for three years to create an easement by prescription.
(c) is both a and b.
(d) is neither a nor b.

Answer 17

(a) is a requirement to establish an easement by prescription.

Question 18

An easement by condemnation is

(a) considered an easement in gross.
(b) created under the power of eminent domain.
(c) has no dominant estate.
(d) all of these.

Answer 18

(d) all of these.

Question 19

A true easement prohibits a right to the profits or proceeds from the servient estate land, which is called

(a) profit á prendre.
(b) prescription.
(c) appurtenant.
(d) incorporeal.

Answer 19

(a) profit á prendre.

Question 20

A license is distinguishable from an easement in that it

(a) conveys an interest in the land.
(b) expires with the death of the holder.
(c) is assignable to another.
(d) is irrevocable

Answer 20

(b) expires with the death of the holder.

Question 21

Geographic coordinates

(a) are not commonly used to locate points of the surface of the earth.
(b) consist of the intersection of a latitude and a longitude.
(c) are measured in feet and yards.
(d) are none of these.

Answer 21

(b) consist of the intersection of a latitude and a longitude.

Question 22

The U.S. rectangular survey system, which has been conducted throughout the United States and through the public land survey system,

(a) is the basis for the creation of townships and sections.
(b) established 42 initial beginning points.
(c) is both a and b.
(d) is neither a nor b.

Answer 22

(c) is both a and b.

Question 23

A township

(a) is one-mile square.
(b) is six-miles square.
(c) is six square miles.
(d) has 42 sections.

Answer 23

(b) is six-miles square.

Question 24

The metes-and-bounds description starts at a fixed POB, which refers to

(a) point of beginning.
(b) path of beginning.
(c) point of beacon.
(d) point of base line.

Answer 24

(a) point of beginning.