real property Flashcards
A plaintiff must prove racial intent or purpose in order to establish a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. What must a plaintiff show to establish racial discrimination under the Fair Housing Act?
the plaintiff needs to show a disparate racial impact
A sublessee is not liable to the landlord for rent or any other covenants in the lease unless what happens?
If the sublessee expressly assumes the rent covenant (or any other covenants), then the sublessee becomes personally liable to the landlord.
What kind of tenants have the right to unilaterally partition a piece of property?
A tenant in common or a joint tenant may unilaterally partition property.
(NOTE: A tenant by the entirety does not have this right.)
Why is the following grant a fee simple absolute rather than a fee simple determinable?: Grantor conveys Blackacre “to B to be used for a horse farm.” B does not use Blackacre as a horse farm.
Grantor’s language merely indicates his desire, intent, or purpose for which the property should be used rather than imposing a condition that could limit the duration of the estate.
What is marketable title?
Marketable title is title free from defects (such as undisclosed easements, future interests) regardless of the type of deed.
Essentially, it is title that is free from an unreasonable risk of litigation.
What are the prerequisites for creating an easement by necessity?
The dominant and servient estates must have been under common ownership in the past, and the necessity arose when the property was severed (which rendered the dominant property virtually useless without the benefit of an easement across the servient estate).
What two possible components denote a contingent remainder?
The remainder is created in an unascertainable grantee,
OR
if it is subject to a condition precedent to the grantee’s taking.
Groundwater is natural water that flows or lies under the surface and either percolates to the surface naturally or is tapped by a well. What are the four doctrines that govern groundwater rights?
- Prior-appropriation
- Correlative-rights
- Reasonable-use
- Common-law doctrine of absolute ownership
In most states, there is a presumption that a conveyance to two or more persons creates what kind of tenancy?
Tenancy in common (which requires only the unity of possession).
Which covenant is a promise by the landlord not to interfere with the tenant’s possession of the leased premises?
The implied covenant of quiet enjoyment, which is implied in every lease.
How is the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment breached?
This warranty is breached only when the conduct of the landlord or someone with superior title prevents the tenant from possessing the leased premises.
What was the common law Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP) designed to do?
RAP was designed to prevent interests from being created in the too distant future.
Tip: RAP is concerned with contingent interests that may remain contingent beyond the lives in being, plus 21 years. In other words, RAP settles the time within which a contingent remainder must vest in order to be valid. An interest is too remote if it depends upon a contingency, which could possibly happen after the specified period of lives in being, plus 21 years.
In a lien theory state (which is the majority), a mortgage interest is treated as a lien that does not affect a joint tenancy until foreclosure. What does a mortgage do to a joint tenancy in a title theory state?
In a title theory state, the joint tenancy is severed upon the granting of the mortgage, and the interest is converted into a tenancy in common.
A covenant running with the land means that subsequent owners may be burdened by or may have to enforce the covenant. What are the 6 requirements for a burden to run with the land?
- Writing to satisfy Statute of Frauds (exception implied reciprocal servitude)
- Intent
- Notice
- Horizontal Privity
- Vertical Privity
- Touch and Concern
What happens when a casualty occurs during the time between execution of a land-sale contract and closing, and the seller is carrying insurance?
Any insurance proceeds the seller receives must be credited against the buyer’s purchase price.
What estate requires clear language that the interest is measured in terms of a life, not a number of years?
A life estate is a present possessory estate that is limited in duration by a life. Upon the end of the measuring life, title reverts to the grantor or specified remainderman.
What is a novation?
A novation is an agreement by the landlord to release the original tenant from liability after an assignment or sublease.
Note: Absent a novation, the original tenant remains liable to the landlord for the entire duration of the lease.
What are the six covenants of title that a grantor guarantees with a general warranty deed?
SIX Covenants of a General Warranty Deed
Present covenants:
1) Covenant of seisin,
2) Covenant of the right to convey
3) Covenant against encumbrances
Future covenants:
4) Covenant of quiet enjoyment
5) Covenant of warranty
6) Covenant of further assurances
What future interest, held by a third party, is not a remainder, and generally cuts short the prior interest upon the occurrence of a specified condition?
an executory interest
For a deed to be effective, what must the grantor and grantee do?
In general a deed transfers title only when
1. The grantor INTENDS to convey an interest,
2. The grantor DELIVERS a deed to the grantee, AND
3. The grantee ACCEPTS the deed.
Tip: When comparing and contrasting questions about delivery, always look to facts indicating the grantor’s INTENT.
What is a major difference between a vested remainder subject to open and a contingent remainder?
A vested remainder subject to open is transferred to a group rather than individual, and at least one member of the group is individually ascertainable and entitled to the remainder interest.
A contingent remainder is created in a grantee who is unascertainable.
What happens when an attempt to create an easement fails due to the Statute of Frauds?
A license results when there is a failed attempt to create an easement.
Example: Grantee receives a license when grantor orally conveys an easement for more than one year.
What are the four exceptions to the Statute of Frauds writing requirement?
- Partial performance
- Full performance
- Detrimental reliance
- Admission
When reading a question involving future interests, when are you safe from having to consider the Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP)?
RAP is not an issue when analyzing future interests that revert to the grantor (i.e., reversion, possibility of reverter, right of reentry).
What are the two types of executory interests?
(1) Shifting executory interest
(2) Springing executory interest
What is a shifting executory interest?
divests the interest of the grantee by cutting short a prior estate created in the same conveyance. The estate “shifts” from one grantee to another on the happening of the condition.
What is a springing executory interest?
divests the interest of the grantor or fills a gap in possession in which the estate reverts to the grantor.
What is a wild deed?
A wild deed is a recorded deed that is not within the chain of title (i.e.,recorded and indexed, but not in the correct way to give subsequent purchasers notice).
What are the requirements for adverse possession?
Possession must be Continuous, Actual, Open and Notorious, Hostile, and Exclusive for the statutory period.
Mnemonic: ANOCHE (“last night” in Spanish)
(Note: Government-owned land cannot be adversely possessed.)
If a buyer is purchasing property using an installment land contract, when does she obtain legal title?
Buyer obtains legal title upon final payment under the installment payment plan.
What is a retaliatory eviction?
A retaliatory eviction is the unlawful eviction of a residential tenant by a landlord in response to the tenant complaining, in good faith and with reasonable cause, about a housing, building, or safety code violations.
What does it mean if a remainder is subject to a condition precedent?
The condition must first be met or satisfied for a remainderman to ever take possession.
Example: Carlos conveys his bakery “to A for life, then to B if B eats cake every day for one year.” B’s remainder is contingent because she must eat cake every day for one year before she can take possession.
What are the three common types of concurrent estates?
(1) Tenancy in common
(2) Joint tenancy
(3) Tenancy by the entirety
What unities are required for a tenancy in common?
unity of possession
What unities are required for a joint tenancy?
unities of possession, interest, time, and title (PITT)
What unities are required for a tenancy by the entirety?
unities of person, possession, interest, time, and title
What durational language is often used with a fee simple determinable?
“So long as”, “while”, “during”, “until”
