Property Flashcards
Land Conveyance - MEE#1
(1) Is a Deed Valid
To be valid, a deed must:
1. be in writing
2. sufficently describe the land
3. identify the grantor and grantee
4. evdience an intention to convey the land; and
5. be signed by the grantor
The parties maybe identified by name or by describing them in some other way
If the grantee’s name is left blank, some courts presume that the person taking delivery has authority fill it it in, and if he does so, the deed is valid.
Adverse Possession - MEE#1
(2) Acquiring Land by adverse possession?
To establish title by adverse possession, the possession must be:
1. actual and exclusive
2. open and notorious
3. adverse (hostile/under claim of right)
4. continuous throughout the statutory period
Exclusive possession means not sharing possession with the true owner or the general public
Possession is open and notorious when it is such as the usual owner would make of the land and is sufficient to put the true owner on notice of the possession
Posssession is hostile when it is without the owner’s consent; it does not matter whether the possessor believes he is on his own land or knows he is trespassing
Continuous possession is possession that the average owner would make of the property
Adverse Possession - MEE#1
(3) Superior Title Under Notice Statute
Under a notice statute, a subsequent bona fide purchaser prevails over a prior grantee regardless of whether he records.
A BFP is a purchaser who takes for valuable consideration and without notice of a prior claim at the time of the conveyance.
1. Actual notice is what the purchaser actually knows
2. Record notice is notice that the law imputes to the purchaser if a prior deed was properly recorded in the grantee’s chain of title.
3. Inquiry notice is notice of what the purchasser would have discovered by inquiring into the property
Subsequent purchasers are not protected by the recording act against, and thus take subject to, interests that arise by operation of law
