Real Property Flashcards
What are the elements of a valid deed? What is required for a signature?
Written
Grantor Identity (and Signature)
Grantee Identity
Words of Transfer
Description
Grantor signature mark is not invalid if it can be shown who made the mark.
Does an Easment Appurtenant need to be identified in deeds that accompany later conveyances?
No.
Can one Tenant in Common bind the other Tenant in Common in an agreement?
No, with regard to agreements regarding their ownership rights.
For Statute of Frauds purposes, does an agreement need to be in one writing?
No.
For example, it can be a letter with a signature and an email response with a signature as long as the other elements are met.
What is a lender in possession?
When a Mortgagor enters an abandoned property to prevent waste, they are a lender in possession.
They are in the “position” of the owner.
What are the grantor’s Covenant of Warranty obligations for a wrongful title claim?
The Covenant of Warranty is not breached by grantor’s refusal to defend a wrongful title claim by a third party.
What is the Doctrine of Equitable Conversion?
Once a contract is signed and each party is entitled to specific performance, equity regards the purchaser as the owner of the real property.
The seller’s interest (the rights to proceeds of the sale) are personal property.
This also affects the passage of title when a party to the contract dies.
What is estoppel by deed?
Applies to validate a deed, typically a warranty deed, that was executed and delivered by a Grantor who had no title at that time, but who represented that he or she had such title and who thereafter would aquire such title.
What is the test for HOA rules adopted by an association later and not contained in the governing documents?
A “reasonableness” standard.
Requires the balancing of utility of the purpose served by the restraint, against the harm that is likely to flow from it’s enforcement.
When does an owner title insurance policy end? Does an owner’s policy run with the land?
When the mortgage is paid off.
No, an owner’s title policy does not run with the land.
May the requirement in a land sale contract of “marketable title” be waived? If so, by who?
Yes, the buyer holds the right to either back out of a contract or waive the right to have marketable title.
Can a debtor and a mortgagor be different people?
Yes.
When does the window for challenging the marketability of title close?
Once the deed has been accepted (at conveyance/closing, the merger doctrine).
Does a life tenant hold the responsibility of paying real estate taxes on a property?
Yes. Failure to keep the property in repair, pay real estate taxes, or pay interest on any mortgage on the property all constitue permissive waste, and a life tenant cannot voluntarily commit permissive waste.
What may the landlord do when a tenant uses a premise for an illegal purpose?
Terminate the lease OR seek damages and injunctive relief.
What is the Doctrine of Equitable Subrogation?
When a person other than the mortgagor pays off a mortgage, they can step into the shoes of the now-paid-off mortgagee.
What are the factors that create an “equitable” mortgage?
(1) The existence of a debt or promise of payment by the deed’s grantor;
(2) The grantee’s promise to return the land if the debt is paid;
(3) The fact that the amount advanced to the grantor/debtor was much lower than the value of the property;
(4) The degree of grantor’s financial distress; and
(5) The parties prior negotiations.
When must a lessor warn a lessee of an existing defect?
When the lessor is aware of the defect and knows that the lessee is not likely to discover the defect on reasonable inspection.
What must be true in order to create an effective death escrow?
(1) The only condition is the grantor’s death; AND
(2) The grantor doesn’t retain the legal right to take the deed back out of escrow.
Are the reduction of property values sufficient to sustain a private nuisance claim?
No, they are not, they do not interfere with the man’s right to use his own land.
Does a restrictive covenant render title unmarketable?
Yes.
When will a liquidated damages clause be allowed in the sale of a land contract?
When it is less than 10% of the purchase price and not a penalty.
When does the implied warranty of habitability or fitness apply to the sale of land?
To a new construction being sold by a builder or developer.
Does seller knowledge of a restrictive covenant after conveyance from buyer without that restrictive covenant incorporate a piece of property into a common scheme?
No, the buyer must have knowledge at the time of purchase.
Must an adverse possessor bring an action to quiet title before they convey their title obtained through adverse posession? When must they bring an action to quiet title?
No, because the adverse possessor has an original title and did not derive their title from the former owner.
In order to make title freely marketable.
In a suit that deals with the land (enforcement of a covenant) what laws apply? In a suit that deals with fraud in the contract, or other issues not directly tied to the land, what law should apply?
The state where the land is located.
The state that is the most interested (maybe where the contract was executed).
