Black Letter Law

Question 1

A good faith trespasser annexes to a landowner’s property an item that improves the land’s value.

Which of the following is the trespasser most likely to recover from the landowner?

Answer 1

The value added to the land.

Question 2

Voluntary waste occurs when a life tenant ____.

Answer 2

consumes or exploits natural resources on the property (timber, minerals, oil)

Question 3

Ameliorative waste consists of acts that ____.

Answer 3

economically benefit the property

Question 4

A deed will not transfer an interest in land unless it has been delivered by the grantor and accepted by the grantee. Delivery is presumed if the deed is:

Answer 4

(i) handed to the grantee

(ii) acknowledged by the grantor before a notary and recorded

Question 5

A grantee’s return of a deed is ____ reconveyance to the grantor.

Answer 5

not a

Question 6

Title passes to the grantee upon effective delivery, and returning the deed to the grantor has no effect. To effect a reconveyance, the grantee must ____.

Answer 6

execute and deliver a new deed

Question 7

____ is the right of a mortgagor to recover the land by paying the foreclosure sale price after the foreclosure sale has occurred.

Answer 7

statutory redemption

Question 8

____ is the right of a mortgagor to recover the land by paying the amount overdue, plus interest, at any time before the foreclosure sale.

Answer 8

equitable redemption

Question 9

If the government condemns all of the leased land, the tenant’s liability for rent:

Answer 9

is extinguished, and the tenant may be entitled to compensation for the taking, absent a lease provision to the contrary

Question 10

The common law rule with respect to destruction of the leased premises without the landlord’s or tenant’s fault is?

Answer 10

The lease remains effective and the tenant must continue paying rent.

Question 11

Under the doctrine of equitable conversion, equity regards the buyer of land as ____.

Answer 11

owning the real property as soon as the contract is signed

Question 12

A due-on-sale clause permits the mortgagee to demand full payment of a mortgage debt if ____.

Answer 12

the mortgagor transfers her interest without the lender’s consent

Question 13

Due-on-sale clause is designed to:

Answer 13

(i) protect the lender from the mortgagor’s sale to a poor credit risk or to a person likely to commit waste
(ii) allow the lender to raise the interest rate or charge an assumption fee when the property is sold

Question 14

An acceleration clause in a mortgage permits the lender to ____.

Answer 14

declare the full balance of the mortgage due in the event of the mortgagor’s default

Question 15

A forfeiture clause, found in an ____ contract, provides that on the mortgagor’s default, the vendor may ____.

Answer 15

installment land; cancel the contract, retain all money paid, and retake possession of the land

Question 16

In residential leases, a tenant who holds over after termination of a year-to-year periodic tenancy may be held to a new periodic tenancy from ____.

Answer 16

month to month

Question 17

A ____ purchase money mortgage usually has priority over a ____ purchase money mortgage.

Answer 17

vendor’s; third-party lender’s

Question 18

A title insurance policy ensures that ____.

Answer 18

good record title exists as of the policy’s date and defends record title in the event of litigation

Question 19

A title insurance policy protects only the person who ____ and does not run with the land to ____.

Answer 19

owns the policy; subsequent purchasers

Question 20

List all of the remedies a landlord has under modern law when a tenant defaults on her rent obligation:

Answer 20

(a) sue the tenant for rent
(b) evict the tenant
(c) deduct the unpaid rent from the tenant’s security deposit

Question 21

The standard for the implied covenant of marketable title are:

Answer 21

(a) title free from questions that might present an unreasonable risk of litigation
(b) title reasonably free from doubt
(c) title that a reasonably prudent buyer would be willing to accept

Question 22

A seller may avoid liability for some property defects by including in the land sale contract:

Answer 22

A clause identifying the specific defects and disclaiming liability for them.

Question 23

____ the contract will not make the closing date stated in a real estate contract binding.

Answer 23

both parties signing

Question 24

Which of the following always is required in order to transfer legal title to real property?

Answer 24

a living grantee

Question 25

A grantor who conveys a lesser estate than the grantor owns retains ____.

Answer 25

a reversion

Question 26

May a vendor who has accepted late payments for six months on an installment land contract declare a forfeiture if payment is late the seventh month?

Answer 26

No, because the vendor has waived strict performance of the contract.

Question 27

If the proceeds from a foreclosure sale are insufficient to satisfy the debt of a mortgage junior to the one being foreclosed, the ____.

Answer 27

junior mortgagee may sue the mortgagor for the deficiency

Question 28

Is a tenant obligated to repair ordinary wear and tear?

Answer 28

Yes, if the lease contains a covenant to repair that fails to exclude ordinary wear and tear.

Question 29

What is the result of the sudden, perceptible change of a watercourse that serves as a boundary to real property?

Answer 29

No change to the riparian landowners’ property rights.

This process is known as avulsion, and it does not shift the boundary line with the watercourse even if this results in a riparian landowner finding himself landlocked.

Question 30

For purposes of determining title by adverse possession, when is tacking permitted?

Answer 30

To combine the periods of occupancy of an adverse possessor and her transferee.

Question 31

A claimant may establish title through adverse possession by showing:

Answer 31

(i) an actual entry giving exclusive possession that is
(ii) open and notorious
(iii) adverse (hostile) and
(iv) continuous throughout the statutory period.

However, continuous possession need not be accomplished by the same person. If there is privity between successive adverse holders, their periods of adverse possession may be tacked together to make up the full statutory period.

Question 32

Which of the following generally occurs when a mortgagee transfers a promissory note without a written assignment of the mortgage?

Answer 32

The mortgage follows the note.

Question 33

Under ____ statute, a subsequent transferee with notice of a prior conveyance can prevail over the prior grantee.

Answer 33

a race

Question 34

For which type of security interest in land does the debtor transfer title to land to a lender in exchange for a lease with an option to repurchase?

Answer 34

sale-leaseback

Question 35

Vertical privity refers to the relationship between:

Answer 35

An original party to a real covenant and his successor in interest.

Question 36

The burden of the covenant will run with the land if:

Answer 36

1. the covenanting parties intended that successors in interest be bound by the covenant
2. the successor in interest has notice of the covenant
3. there is horizontal privity between the original covenanting parties
4. there is vertical privity between the covenantor and his successor in interest
5. the covenant touches and concerns the land

Question 37

Horizontal privity refers to the relationship between ____.

Answer 37

the original parties to a real covenant

Question 38

Horizontal privity requires that the original covenanting parties ____.

Answer 38

shared some interest in the land independent of the covenant at the time they entered into the covenant (as grantor and grantee)

Question 39

A tenant leases premises that are destroyed without the fault of either the landlord or the tenant.

Under the majority view, which is true in the absence of a contrary lease provision?

Answer 39

The lease may be terminated at the tenant’s option, and the tenant may cease paying rent.

Question 40

Absent a contrary lease provision, if under applicable law the lease remains effective after destruction of the leased premises without the fault of either the landlord or the tenant, the tenant ____ cease paying rent.

Answer 40

may not

Question 41

Which of the following is most likely to result in the seller being liable to the buyer for defects in improvements to real property?

Answer 41

The seller’s disclaimer that the property is sold “as is.”

Question 42

If a mortgagee purports to transfer the mortgage without the note, which of the following is not a possible result?

Answer 42

Payment of the mortgage debt would become due in full.

Question 43

Which of the following acts will not sever a joint tenancy?

Answer 43

Testamentary disposition by one joint tenant.

A will devising a joint tenant’s interest to another is inoperative as to joint tenancy property because when the testator dies (when the will becomes effective), his rights in the joint tenancy property are extinguished, and the will has no effect on them.

Question 44

A claimant occupying only a portion of land may gain title to the whole tract by adverse possession if there is a reasonable proportion between the portion occupied and the whole tract and the claimant has ____ the whole tract.

Answer 44

color of title to

Question 45

Which of the following would charge a purchaser of realty with inquiry notice?

Answer 45

The fact that her grantor’s deed is unrecorded.

Inquiry notice means that a subsequent grantee is held to have knowledge of any facts that a reasonable inquiry would have revealed, even if he made no inquiry. When a grantor’s deed is unrecorded, the grantee is expected - at her peril - to demand a viewing of her grantor’s title documents at the time of the purchase and insist that they be recorded.

Question 46

If the benefited party seeking to enforce an equitable servitude is violating a similar restriction on his own land, which of the following defenses should the burdened party assert?

Answer 46

unclean hands

Question 47

Which of the following acts will terminate a profit but not an easement?

Answer 47

misuse of the interest

Question 48

If L leases property to T, and L subsequently assigns L’s interest to L2, is L2 liable to T on all covenants that are contained in the original lease?

Answer 48

Yes, if the covenants run with the land.

Question 49

In general, a life tenant commits permissive waste when he:

Answer 49

Fails to make required repairs to the land or pay required carrying charges (interest on encumbrances, ordinary taxes).

Question 50

Which of the following is true of a mortgage on property subject to a real estate contract?

Answer 50

The seller may satisfy the mortgage at the closing with proceeds of the sale.

Question 51

Which of the following is the largest estate in property permitted by law?

Answer 51

fee simple absolute

It has an indefinite and potentially infinite duration. The holder can sell it, divide it, or devise it, and it passes to his or her heirs.

Question 52

A conveyance from “O to A” creates a ____ in A if O owned a ____.

Answer 52

fee simple absolute; fee simple absolute

Question 53

A ____ is an estate of potentially infinite duration, but it automatically terminates on the happening of a stated event and reverts to the grantor.

Answer 53

fee simple determinable

Question 54

A conveyance from “O to A for so long as/while/during/until [event]” creates a ____ in A.

Answer 54

fee simple determinable

Question 55

A ____ is an estate that cannot last longer than the life or lives of one or more persons.

Answer 55

life estate

Question 56

A conveyance from “O to A for life” creates a ____ in A.

Answer 56

life estate

Question 57

Life tenants are obligated to make which payments on a mortgage on the land?

Answer 57

only the interest

Question 58

____, if any, are the responsibility of the holder of the future interest (typically a remainder or reversion) that follows the life estate.

Answer 58

principal payments

Question 59

The landowner’s ____ an occupier entered into possession will not prevent the statute of limitations from beginning to run for adverse possession.

Answer 59

filing suit for ejectment after

Question 60

If O conveys property “to A, but if the premises cease to be used for recreational purposes, then to B,” what interests do the parties have in a jurisdiction that follows the common law Rule Against Perpetuities?

Answer 60

A has a fee simple absolute, and B and O have no interest.

Question 61

If a plaintiff seeks an injunction for breach of a promise relating to the use of land, they must show that the promise qualifies as:

Answer 61

An equitable servitude or a real covenant.

Question 62

In commercial leases, a tenant who holds over after termination of a year-to-year periodic tenancy may be held to ____.

Answer 62

a new year-to-year periodic tenancy

Question 63

The Statute of Frauds requires that a memorandum of a land sale contract be signed by:

Answer 63

The party to be charged.

Question 64

Which of the following acts will not sever a tenancy by the entirety?

Answer 64

Execution by a creditor of one spouse.

Question 65

Against whom may a grantee invoke the doctrine of estoppel by deed?

Answer 65

The original grantor only.

Question 66

A leasehold is a ____.

Answer 66

nonfreehold estate in land

Nonfreehold estates in land (leaseholds) give possession of land for a limited time. The tenant has a present possessory interest in the leased premises, and the landlord has a future interest (reversion).

Question 67

What is the effect of an easement holder’s using the easement beyond its legal scope?

Answer 67

The servient landowner may enjoin the use.

Question 68

A deed must identify the parties (grantor and grantee) by ____.

Answer 68

name or other description (“my eldest son”)

Question 69

If a deed is delivered with the identity of the grantee left blank, courts will presume that ____.

Answer 69

the person taking delivery of the deed has the authority to fill in the grantee’s name

Question 70

For purposes of determining title by adverse possession, when does the statute of limitations begin to run against someone who holds a future interest that was created before the adverse possession commenced?

Answer 70

When the interest becomes possessory.

Question 71

May a trespasser remove her annexed chattel from the landowner’s property?

Answer 71

No, regardless of whether the chattel was installed in good faith.

Question 72

If the government condemns only part of leased land, the tenant’s liability for rent:

Answer 72

Is not extinguished, but the tenant may be entitled to compensation for the taking.

Question 73

Absent an agreement to the contrary, if the buyer of land does not tender the purchase price until after the closing date, ____.

Answer 73

whether the buyer is in breach depends on whether the seller has tendered a conveyance of title

Question 74

A grantor hands a deed to a grantee and says, “I want you to hold on to this deed so you can have my land when I die.”

Will a court likely rule that delivery occurred?

Answer 74

No, because the grantor’s statement is admissible to show that the deed was not delivered.

Question 75

As between two mortgages, what is the effect on the junior mortgage when the mortgagor accepts an advance of funds from the senior mortgagee?

Answer 75

The junior mortgage is given priority over the advance if the advance was optional.

Question 76

If a deed never was delivered, but the listed grantee discovers the deed and records it, the deed is:

Answer 76

void

Question 77

In most states, a buyer who has paid only part of the purchase price under an installment land contract is ____.

Answer 77

protected by recording acts only to the extent of payments made

Question 78

____ generally will not be admitted to show oral conditions on the delivery of a deed given to a grantee.

Answer 78

parol evidence

Question 79

Under the doctrine of equitable conversion, if the seller under a real estate contract dies before the closing, ____.

Answer 79

the successors to the seller’s real property must give up legal title at closing

Question 80

Does a restrictive covenant that limits development on the land render title unmarketable?

Answer 80

No, if the buyer waives title defects in the land sale contract.

Question 81

When a landowner owns a chattel that she affixes to the realty, what determines whether the chattel is a fixture?

Answer 81

The objective intention of the annexor.

Question 82

A fixture is a chattel that has been so affixed to the realty that it has ____.

Answer 82

ceased being personal property and has become part of the realty

Question 83

A court will never reform a deed that ____.

Answer 83

has been relied on by a bona fide purchaser

Question 84

Reformation is an equitable action in which the court ____.

Answer 84

rewrites a deed to make it conform to the parties’ intention

Question 85

Reformation will be granted if the deed does not express what the parties agreed to for any of the following reasons:

Answer 85

1. it reflects the parties’ mutual mistake
2. it contains a drafting error
3. it reflects one party’s unilateral mistake—but only if that mistake was induced by the other party’s misrepresentation or inequitable conduct

Question 86

If a real estate contract states that time is of the essence, a party who fails to tender performance on the closing date:

Answer 86

is in total breach and loses her right to enforce the contract

Question 87

A deed must identify the land to be conveyed. When a mistake or inconsistency in the description leaves in doubt the exact location of the property, and the court otherwise lacks clear evidence of the parties’ intent, the following rules of construction apply:

Answer 87

1. natural monuments (“from Moss Lake to the oak tree”) prevail over all other methods of description, including artificial monuments, courses and distances, and quantity measurements
2. artificial monuments (stakes, buildings) prevail over all but natural monuments
3. course measurements ( “North 25 degrees to Main Street”) prevail over distance measurements (“East 45 feet to Grace Street”)
4. all of the foregoing prevail over general descriptions such as name or quantity (“10 acres of land known as Blackacre”)

Question 88

Periods of adverse possession between two successive claimants may be tacked together to make up the full statutory period if ____.

Answer 88

the first adverse claimant purports to transfer the land to the next

Question 89

In mortgage transactions, ____ may transfer their interests to third parties.

Answer 89

both mortgagors and mortgagees

Question 90

What is the result if a landowner timely brings an ejectment action against a would-be adverse possessor, but the judgment is rendered after the statutory period expires?

Answer 90

The judgment relates back to when the complaint was filed.

Question 91

Which of the following deeds is most likely to be set aside as against a bona fide purchaser?

Answer 91

A forged deed.

Question 92

Deeds executed by a ____ or executed under ____ are voidable.

Answer 92

minor grantor; duress

Question 93

Voidable deeds will be set aside only if ____.

Answer 93

the property has not passed to a bona fide purchaser

Question 94

When may the grant of a perpetual easement be enforced as a license?

Answer 94

When it fails to satisfy the Statute of Frauds.

Question 95

A ____ restraint provides that if the grantee attempts to transfer the property, it is surrendered to another person.

Answer 95

forfeiture

Question 96

A ____ restraint provides that any attempted transfer of the property is ineffective.

Answer 96

disabling

Question 97

If a seller refuses to convey land pursuant to an oral land sale contract, a court likely will ____.

Answer 97

award the buyer specific performance if the buyer has paid the purchase price and has taken possession of the land

Question 98

While land sale contracts must be memorialized in writing and signed by the party to be charged to be enforceable under the Statute of Frauds, a court may enforce an oral contract in equity under the doctrine of part performance if the buyer has performed two of the following acts:

Answer 98

1. taken possession of the land
2. made substantial improvements to the land
3. paid all or part of the purchase price

Question 99

How can a landowner prevent an occupier of land from taking title by adverse possession?

Answer 99

obtaining a judgment in an ejectment action

Question 100

Filing a lawsuit for trespass will not ____; the suit must be pursued to judgment.

Answer 100

stop the period from running

Question 101

Someone whose interest in land benefits her in her possession of another tract of land holds ____.

Answer 101

an easement appurtenant

Question 102

The holder of an easement has the right to use another’s land, but has no right to possess that land.

Answer 102

the servient tenement

Question 103

If the holder is not benefitted in her possession of her own parcel, the easement is deemed ____.

Answer 103

in gross

Question 104

If O conveys property “to A for her support until she remarries,” what interest does A have?

Answer 104

fee simple determinable

Question 105

A fee simple determinable is an estate that ____ on the happening of a stated event and ____.

Answer 105

automatically terminates; reverts to the grantor

Question 106

Under ____, a mortgagee may not take possession of the mortgaged property without consent upon the mortgagor’s default.

Answer 106

the lien theory

Question 107

Under ____, followed in a minority of the states, legal title is in the mortgagee until the mortgage has been satisfied or foreclosed.

Thus, the mortgagee is entitled to possession upon ____, which means the mortgagee can take possession as soon as the mortgagor defaults.

Answer 107

the title theory; demand at any time

Question 108

A purchase money mortgage (“PMM”), whether recorded or not, generally will have priority over ____.

Answer 108

a prior claim against the same mortgagor arising before the mortgagor acquired title

Question 109

May the vendor of an installment land contract containing a forfeiture clause reinstate strict performance once she has waived it?

Answer 109

Yes, by giving the purchaser notice and a reasonable time to catch up on payments.

Question 110

The priority of the proceeds from a foreclosure sale is as follows:

Answer 110

1. expenses of the sale, attorneys’ fees, and court costs
2. principal and accrued interest on the loan that was foreclosed
3. any junior interests (mortgages junior to the loan that was foreclosed) in the order of their priority
4. mortgagor

Question 111

What is the usual measure of damages for breach of a real estate contract?

Answer 111

The difference between the contract price and the market value of the land on the date of breach.

Question 112

A cross-easement for support is an ____.

Answer 112

easement implied for adjoining landowners who share a common wall or driveway

Question 113

A complete transfer of a tenant’s entire remaining lease term is an ____ of the lease. The assignee and the landlord are in privity of estate, with each liable to the other on all lease covenants that run with the land (the covenant to pay rent).

Answer 113

assignment

Question 114

Under a ____ statute, a subsequent purchaser who pays valuable consideration and takes without notice of the prior conveyance prevails over a prior grantee who failed to record.

Answer 114

notice

Question 115

If a grantor transfers a deed in exchange for cash, and the grantee promises to return the land when the cash is repaid, a court will likely treat the transaction as:

Answer 115

an equitable mortgage

Question 116

When a grantee assumes a mortgage, he becomes ____ to pay the mortgage debt, and he is also liable for any deficiency judgment that may follow.

Alternatively, the original mortgagor remains ____.

Answer 116

personally and primarily liable; secondarily liable as a surety

Question 117

When a developer subdivides land into several parcels and some of the deeds contain negative covenants, but some do not, negative covenants or equitable servitudes, binding all of the parcels in the subdivision, may be implied under the doctrine of ____.

Answer 117

reciprocal negative servitudes

Question 118

To enforce a reciprocal negative servitude, the court will need to find:

Answer 118

(i) common scheme for development
(ii) notice of the covenants