Property

Question 1

When can a land lord begin eviction proceedings?

Answer 1

When a tenant continues in possession after the
termination of her right to possession, the landlord has two choices of action:

1. He may treat the hold-over tenant as
   a trespasser and evict her under an unlawful detainer statute, or
2. He may, in his sole discretion, bind the tenant to a new periodic tenancy, in which case the terms and conditions of the expired tenancy apply to the new tenancy.

(if the owner informs the tenant he does not want to create a new tenancy, the LL can begin eviction proceedings)

Question 2

What is an assignee responsible for upon assignment of a lease?

Answer 2

When a leasehold interest is assigned, the assignor and the landlord are no
longer in privity of estate; the assignee is now in privity of estate with the landlord and will be responsible for any covenants under the lease that run with the land when they are assigned the property (not responsible for any covenants before).

Question 3

Ways to sever a joint tenancy

Answer 3

Severed by GSAM
1. Giving it away—can be done via conveyance
2. Signing a contract of sale
3. Actual judicial sale by a creditor
4. granting a Mortgage in a TITLE theory state

Question 4

Landlord’s assignment of rents and reversion interest to a new landlord

Answer 4

The assignee LL is liable to the tenants for performance of all covenants made by the original landlord in the lease, provided that those covenants touch and concern the land (touch and concern=a covenant that inherently relates to the land or the manner the land is used). The burdens of those covenants run with the landlord’s estate and become the burdens of the new landlord.

Question 5

Priority in foreclosure sales

Answer 5

A foreclosure sale wipes out all junior mortgages but does not wipe out senior mortgages.

Question 6

Co Tenant: Ouster

Answer 6

The only way a co-tenant can adversely possess from another co-tenant has performed sufficient acts to constitute ouster.

Question 7

What happens if vendor of land cannot give marketable title but purchaser still wants to proceed with transaction?

Answer 7

If the vendor of land cannot give marketable title but
the purchaser wishes to proceed with the transaction, the purchaser can usually obtain specific performance with an abatement of the purchase price in an amount representing the title defect.

Question 8

Conduits

Answer 8

The landowner, in the absence of a fiduciary relationship with the developer or of any affirmative representations that the landowner knows or discovers to have been false, has no duty to disclose the existence of the conduit except (in some jurisdictions) if he knows that the developer is laboring under a misapprehension as to a basic assumption and the act of nondisclosure is made in bad faith.

Question 9

Owner of defeasible fee: Right to possess land

Answer 9

The owner of a defeasible fee (a fee simple estate of potentially infinite duration) has the same right to
possession and privileges of use as the owner of a fee simple absolute.

(hypo: daughter took oil from land as owner in FSSEI–had right to take the oil)

Question 10

Easement appurtenant

Answer 10

An easement appurtenant has a dominant and a servient estate. The dominant estate benefits from the easement, and the servient estate is burdened with the easement.

Question 11

Easement in Gross

Answer 11

An easement in gross only has a servient estate.

Question 12

Negative easement

Answer 12

With a negative easement, the holder has the right to prevent a property owner from doing something on his land.

Question 13

Easement by estoppel

Answer 13

May be created if an act or representation of the owner of the servient/burdened estate cases justifiable reliance by the owner of the dominant/benefitted, and the owner of the benefitted estate would suffer damages if the easement is not recognized.

(hypo: man wanted to use gravel road and owner of land told him he could)

Question 14

Easement for years

Answer 14

would create an easement for a limited period while still protecting the interest of the grantor.

Question 15

Landlord–Tenant: Duty to repair

Answer 15

At common law, if the lease was silent, the tenant had a duty to repair; not the landlord. However, the tenant’s duty would not extend to rebuilding a multi tenant property destroyed by fire, even if the tenant covenanted to keep the property in good repair.

Question 16

Rule of Convenience

Answer 16

A class closes when a member of the class is entitled to distribution. If the class is closed when the testator died, then all members alive at that time will take, and any members of the class later born or conceived will not take.

Question 17

Tacking: Adverse Possession

Answer 17

Tacking is allowed if the adverse possessors are in privity estate (I.e., an intentional transfer of possession)

Question 18

Constructive Adverse Possession

Answer 18

An adverse possessor who enters under color of title will be deemed in constructive possession of all the property described in the deed so long as the portion of the property constructively possessed is reasonable in proportion to the property actually possessed.

Question 19

Uniform Vender Purchaser Risk Act

Answer 19

Opposite from normal rule that ROL is on buyer between contracting and closing.

Under UVPRA, the ROL is on the SELLER until closing UNLESS, the buyer takes legal title or possession.

Question 20

Right to redeem

Answer 20

The right to redeem CANNOT be waived at the time the mortgage is created.

Question 21

Tenancy by the entirety

Answer 21

A tenancy by the entirety, which is held by a married couple, cannot be severed by just one spouse. It can only terminate by death, divorce, mutual agreement, or a mutual creditor of both executing on its interest.

Question 22

Right to lateral support

Answer 22

Under the majority rule, there can be no liability imposed on an adjacent landowner unless he actually removes a substance of the soil from underneath the plaintiff landowner’s property.

An excavating landowner will be liable in negligence if the neighboring land only suffered damages because it had been improved upon.

Question 23

Co tenant: boundary lines

Answer 23

An in-possession co-tenant can resolve a boundary dispute with a neighbor.

Question 24

Modification of mortgages

Answer 24

If a senior mortgage makes a modification to a mortgage (increasing money amount) the junior mortgage will take priority. if not, then junior mortgage will not have priority.

Question 25

Right of Way Easements

Answer 25

Most right of way easements give an adjacent land owner the ability to get to the public road which means the existence of the easement is visible to anyone who inspects the property.

If prospective buyer can see the easement, courts hold that the buyer will be treated as having agreed in the contract to accept the property subject to the easement.

Question 26

Co-Occupying Adverse Possessors

Answer 26

Adverse possessors who co-occupy a property typically take as tenants in common

(hypo: two men moved onto woman’s land thyey didn’t know and built shack on it for statutory period. One of the men died leaving an heir. Man who is still alive and heir will take property as tenants in common)