Disputes About Use of Land Flashcards
Can Cletus terminate an easement granted to Reverend Lovejoy if (1) Cletus gave Lovejoy an easement by written deed w/o consideration on his property, (2) deed didn’t have express limitations, (3) Lovejoy built dirt road on easement, (4) Lovejoy then began offering yoga in addition to meditation classes, which significantly increased traffic, (5) Cletus erected barrier to prevent use of easement?
No - while Cletus can challenge the scope of the easement by objecting to the significantly increased traffic, he cannot terminate the express easement b/c it was in compliance with the SOF
Will Cleveland succeed in getting Peter and Joe to contribute to his cost of repairing a road if (1) Peter’s been using dirt road on Joe’s property w/o his permission for 10Y, occasionally repairing it, (2) Joe never uses the dirt road himself, (3) Joe later gave a piece of his land to Cleveland, including an easement for the dirt road, (4) mudslide damaged the road, which Cleveland took it upon himself to make necessary repairs?
Cleveland won’t be able to get anything from either Joe or Peter - Cleveland has duty to maintain the easement as the owner, and while he can seek contribution, he needed to have given Peter adequate notice and opportunity to participate in the repairs, which he didn’t do, thereby releasing Peter from the obligation to pay - Joe would have had an obligation to contribute too but in this case, he doesn’t use the road
Why would a court rule for Morty if (1) Rick gave one of his two farms to Beth in fee simple w/ deed agreeing to reimburse her for 1/2 cost of reasonable repair of the stone wall dividing their properties, intended to run with the land, (2) Beth never recorded the deed, (3) Beth then gave the land to Jerry in fee simple, (4) Jerry then gave the land to Summer after 30Y, (5) none of these conveyances mentioned the stone wall, but deeds were properly recorded, (6) Summer discovered original deed, built a higher wall for $2K, (7) Summer demanded Morty, who inherited Rick’s farm to reimburse her for $1K?
Summer’s expenditures were not incurred for reasonable repair - the original deed would have required Morty to contribute 1/2 of only reasonable repair expenses, not capital improvement expenditures - covenants themselves however, are valid b/c they were intended to run with the land - the original deed contained the covenant in writing so Morty may not have had constructive notice but that only applies to buyers for value, not owners who inherit the land
Will Marge prevail in a suit against Patty to have the chandelier reinstalled if (1) Clancy Bouvier conveyed house to Jacqueline for life and remainder to Marge, (2) Jacqueline removed light fixture and replaced with chandelier, (3) Jacqueline told Marge and Patty that chandelier should be removed and restore former light after she dies, (4) Jacqueline died and gave entire estate to Patty, who is also personal representative of the estate, (5) Patty as personal representative restored the old fixtures?
No - Patty has the right to remove the chandelier within a reasonable time after Jacqueline’s death b/c as a life tenant, Jacqueline has a right ot annex a chattel like the chandelier - key is that she didn’t intend to make this a permanent annexation so Patty, as Jacqueline’s personal representative, had the right to remove the chandelier within a reasonable amount of time after termination of Jacqueline’s life estate - no accession issue here b/c Jacqueline wasn’t annexing chandelier to someone else’s property that couldn’t then be removed
Who will prevail if (1) Homer wants to build ditches to collect rainwater and funnel it into cisterns to be used for personal purposes, (2) currently this water flows into a tank on Ned’s land who uses the water to operate his leftorium, (3) after learning of Homer’s plans, Ned is filing a lawsuit to stop Homer from building his water collection system?
Homer - he has the right to impound water that falls on his property b/c water is classified as diffused surface water - Homer generally has the right to impound water on his property and make any reasonable use he wants - he’s only subject to restrictions on preventing water from getting onto his property or altering flow of water off his property - prior use only applies to ground water, not surface water
Can zoning board enjoin Apu from converting his gas station to a second Kwik-E mart if (1) gas station was located in area zoned for residential use only, (2) Apu’s gas station was allowed to continue b/c it predated the zoning ordinance?
Yes - Apu cannot switch to another nonconforming use after a zoning ordinance is effective despite having permission to continue nonconforming use by virtue of predating the zoning ordinance - the zoning board however, would not have been permitted to force Apu to stop operating his gas station by virtue of it being non-conforming after they approved his use
Why does Ron Swanson get to keep the profit on a property if (1) Ron entered into an agreement, which was recorded, to remove sand and gravel from a property for his construction business for 20Y, (2) +3Y, Ron bought the property and built a processing plant on the property, (3) +12Y, Ron sold the part where the sand and gravel are located to Leslie Knope but kept the part where his plant was on, (4) Ron must use only the sand and gravel from the property for his specific projects, (5) Leslie refused to let him keep removing the sand and gravel?
Ron’s profit existed by implication - profits can be created exactly the same way that easements do except by necessity - Ron’s profit was terminated by merger when he bought the land to which the profit was tied - his subsequent sale to Leslie does not revive this profit - Ron’s best argument is that the profit exists by implication based on prior use - Ron can’t rely on estoppel b/c estoppel requires that Leslie’s actions caused his reliance
Can a buyer of a plot enforce a covenant not to use pesticides if (1) there was an oral agreement to create covenant by original owners, (2) buyer was orally told about the covenant and relied on it to buy the plot, (3) neighboring farmer, who was also orally told about his obligation when he bought the neighboring plot, orally told buyer that he was going to use pesticides again?
No - the farmer’s promise was not in writing and every equitable servitude must meet the requirements for creation, one of which is that the promise must be in writing
Can Rod enforce a covenant that prevents anyone else in a strip mall from selling left handed goods if (1) when Flanders bought the shop in the mall for his Leftorium, the deed contained a covenant to not allow any other stores in the mall sell left handed supplies, (2) Flanders didn’t record the deed, (3) Flanders subsequently sold the store to Rod, (4) although Rod properly recorded the deed, it did not refer to the covenant, (5) the mall later sold a shop to an office supply store, (6) the office supply store was orally told that it was not allowed to sell left handed office supplies, (7) the office supply store executed the deed but it didn’t have a covenant prohibiting sales of left handed supplies, (8) office supply store started selling left handed supplies after seeing how popular they were?
Yes - the office supply store is a subsequent buyer with actual notice of a covenant - it was specifically told by the strip mall that it cannot sell left handed office supplies before the deed was conveyed and executed - it doesn’t matter that Ned didn’t record the deed w/ the covenant written down or that neither Rod nor the office supply store’s deeds contained the covenant - as long as the office supply store had actual or constructive notice (it didn’t have constructive notice b/c the only deed that contained the covenant was not recorded), it would have had to comply
Can homeowners association bring injunction to prevent Homer from building a planned deck if (1) Homer’s deed and all other deeds require plans to build a deck submitted for approval to HA, (2) HA has express power in all deeds to exercise uncontrolled discretion in approving decks, (3) HA rejected Homer’s plan b/c much larger than other approved decks - asked Homer to reduce size and resubmit, (4) Homer refused and started building anyway?
Yes - even though they have uncontrolled discretion under the deeds, they still must act reasonably - in this case they did b/c they articulated a reasonable basis for rejecting Homer’s deck
Can Kirk legally remove a sculpture he got Bachelor Arm’s permission to install 5Y ago if (1) Kirk has been renting by monthly periodic tenancy, (2) Bachelor Arms raised the rent amount and gave Kirk notice of termination in 2M, (3) Bachelor Arms asked Kirk to take out sculpture in 1W b/c it thought easier to rent, (4) Kirk was unable to w/o destroying it, (5) potential tenant loved sculpture and wanted to rent w/ sculpture, (6) Bachelor Arms told Kirk to leave sculpture intact, (7) Kirk found way to remove sculpture and reconstruct it but would take 2+ days after the end of his lease?
Yes b/c there is no agmt limiting his ability to remove the sculpture - Kirk is entitled to remove a fixture that he attached b/c (1) his apartment can be restored to its former condition, and (2) he is able to remove and restore within a reasonable time b/c (a) Kirk did not breach to cause the termination and (b) the termination wasn’t foreseeable far enough in advance to let Kirk remove the sculpture before the end of his lease
