Real Property Flashcards
freehold estates
- fee simple
- life estate
- fee tail
fee simple absolute (FSA)
- potentially infinite duration
- must be fully alienable, no direct restraints on transfer of ownership
- any attempt to put a direct restraint on alienation is void and ignored (if a tries to sell farm, then to b)
- modern exception uphold the right of first refusal as a valid form of restriction on alienation
- creation: at common law “to A” was life estate not there is a presumption that “to A” or “to A and her heirs” creates a fee simple unless there is language with clear intent otherwise
Fee tail
- at common law: a device to lock the property into the grantee’s family
- created by using very precise language “to A and the heirs of his body” or “ to A and his bodily heirs”
- modern presumption of FSA unless the bar exam asks you to apply common law rule
life estate
may be expressly granted or implied
- life estate is never measured by time, ONLY measured by life
- implication “to A after the death of my wife, G”
life estate pur autre vie
- measured by the life of another (to A for the life of B)
- at common law, if A dies first, seisin is found to be vacant and anybody can take
- modern rule: if A dies before the measuring life, the life estate passes to the estate of the deceased and continues until the measuring life dies
- if the measuring life dies first: the life estate terminates
transfer of the life estate
can sell the life estate but only for the measuring life. if the life tenant dies before the measuring life dies, the estate passes to the estate of the life tenant and continues until the measuring life dies
life estate and restraint on alienation
the modern rule allows provisions that terminate the life estate if the life tenant attempts to convey the life estate
the law of waste
generally: the life tenant must maintain the estate
1. maintain expresses both a minimum and maximum that the life tenant can do to the land
three kinds of waste:
1. voluntary waste
2.permissive waste
3. ameliorative waste
voluntary waste
- any affirmative action beyond the right of maintenance that causes harm to the premises
2, maintain means the life tenant may continue the normal use of the land - any change of use is voluntary waster for which the tenant may be liable to the holder of the future interest
- open mines doctrine: depletion of natural resource constitutes waste unless consumption of such resources constitutes the normal use of the land as in the care of a coal mine or a granite quarry (sale of harvestable crops is not waste)
permissive waste
failure to maintain: tenant must do three things to avoid liability
1) repairs: life tenant has the obligation to make ordinary repairs but not to replace
- this is limited to the amount of rents and profits received form the land or reasonable rental value of the land if the tenant is not using it
- if the tenant is not using or receiving income-no repair obligation
2. taxes: tenant must pay all taxes on the property subject to the limitation of the amount or rent and profits received from the land
- the holder of a future interest on the land must ensure that taxes are paid becuause a tax sale will eliminate the future interest
3) mortgage debt: life tenant must pay interest on any mortgage indebtedness but not the principal. future interest holder pays the principal
4. insurance: life tenant does not have to insure the property but may do so
ameliorative waste
- occurs when the life tenant alters the property substantially but the activity increases the value of the land
- if changed conditions have made the property generally worthless, then the life tenant can alter the property without incurring liability to the future interest holder
seisin
- all freehold estates carry the concept of seisin
- the holder of seisin is the taxpayer
- at the moment that each and every conveyance is made, the law wants to know who has seisin at all times and under all possible circumstances
future interest
- the interest exists now but possession will not take place (if at all) until sometime in the future
- becomes possessory later
future interest retained by the grantor
reversion, possibility of reverter, and right of entry
furutre interests given to the grantee
remainder and exclusionary interest
reversion
a reversion in the grantor arises whenever the grantor conveys away less than the full durational estate that the Grantor had
O to A for life-A has a life estate and O has a reversion
possibility of reverter
whenever the grantor conveys fee simple determinable, the grantor retains a possiblity of reverter
ex. o to A and his heirs for so long as no liquor is consumed on the premises
Magic words:
so long as
while
during
until
right of re-entry or power of termination
whenever a grantor conveys a fee simple on condition subsequent, grantor keeps a right of entry
1. title does not go back to the grantor automatically when the condition is broken
2. instead o must do something to retake the property
3. title stays with the grantee until the grantor exercises his right of entry
4. have to expressly reserve the right to reenter
ex. o to A and his heirs provided however that if liquor is ever consumed on the premises then O or O’s heirs shall have the right to re-enter and retake the premises
Magic Words:
provided however,
but if
on condition that
transferability of future interests
all future interests in the Grantor are vested so they are not subject to rule against perpetuitites, they are freely transferable on death and reversion, possibility or reverter but not right of entry is freely transferable inter vivos
vested remainder in the grantee
- a future interest in a third party grantee that come naturally and immediately on the termination of the preceding estate
- either vested or contingent
- vested if nothing stands in the way of its becoming possessory on the natural expiration of the preceding estate
ex. o to A for life and then to B and heirs
contingent remainder in grantee
- if there is a condition that the grantee must satisfy before his interest will become possessory, then contingent remainder
ex. o to A for life then to B and his heirs if B survives A - at common law, if the condition was not met, the property goes back to grantor by reversion
- modern: property goes by to grantor in FS subject to an executory interest and B holds the executory interest
class gifts: vested remainder subject to open
- where the remainder interest is conveyed to a group of unnamed persons whose members are not yet fully known, the class remains open to allow for future persons who qualify as members by satisfying the class description
- ex. o to a for life then to A’s children
class gifts the time for vesting and the rule of convenience
- under the rule of convenience the class closes for a class gift whenever any class member is entitled to a distribution. this is a rule of construction not a rule of law
executory interest
operates to cut short the state that comes before it, also called vested remainder subject to total divestment
- look for but if and then too
- punctuation rule: pay attention to punctuation to help determine if a contingency is made part of the fist estate or if it is made part of the gift over following the earlier estate
- ex. o to A so long as the property is used for residential purposed and if the property is ever used for other than residential purposes to B and heirs
future interests and the law of waste
- executory interests do not have standing to sue for waste but remainders do
defeasible fees
- fee simple determinable
- fee simple subject to a condition subsequent
- fee simple subject to an executory interest
the rule against perpetuities
no interest will be valid unless it must vest, if it is going to vest, within 21 years after the death of some life in being who was alive at the moment the conveyance was made
- ALWAYS applies to executory interest and contingent remainders and vested remainder subject to open
- ex. o to a and his heirs so long as no liquor is consumed on the premises and if liquor is ever consumed on the premises title shall go to b and his heirs (RAP applies and B’s interest is voided)
- if RAP applies, cross out language that violates the rule and see what is left
rule against perpetuities at time of conveyance
generally the validity of an interest if determined at the time of the conveyance and the interest creation.
- if the transfer is by will, the RAP is as of the time of the testators death
- if by deed: apply the RAP as of the time the deed takes effect
- uniform statutory rule against perpetuities: many states have adopted this reform against RAP, provides for an alternative 90 year vesting period. thus it is a wait and see approach to determine if vesting actually occurs within 90 years
ohio RAP reform
- wait and see statute-the validity of the interest following a life estate is determines on the basis of facts as they exist at the end of the life estate, not at the time of conveyance
- cy pres- invalid interest is reformed to carry out the grantor’s intent as nearly as possible
perpetuities savings clause
- language expressly included in order to not violate the RAP and make sure that vesting will occur in a certain time period
- ex. o to a for so long as no liquor is consumed on premises, if liquor is consumed within the lifetime of a or b or within 21 years after the death of the survivor of a and b, then in that event title shall pass to b and his heirs
the right of first refusal and the RAP
contingent interest in property such as options and rights of first refusal violate the RAP if they could possible be exercised outside the time period of the rule
the charity to charity exception RAP
if both transferees are charities, the RAP does not apply
class gifts and RAP
- age contingency beyond 21 years in a open class is not valid because of RAP however if a class gift has an age contingency of 21 or younger RAP is not violated because any child born at the time the conveyance is made will reach the contingent age before RAP
- if the RAP operates to void a gift to any member of the class, all of the class members lose
fertile octogenarian rule
presumes that a woman can have another child regardless of her age or medical condition
joint tenancy: four unities
All must be present for a joint tenancy to be created:
- Unity of Time: all have to have vested at the same time
- Unity of title: the grant to all joint tenants must be by the same instrument
- Unity of interest: all joint tenants must take the same kind and same amount of interest
- Unity of possession: must have identical rights of possession
Language of conveyance and creating a joint tenancy
- Generally: the language of the conveyance must clearly reflect the grantor’s intent to create a joint tenancy
- when the intent is unclear, the modern rule is to presume a tenancy in common
magic words for creating a joint tenancy
- as joint tenants
2. right of survivorship
joint tenancy carries a right of survivorship t/f
true
right of partition and joint tenancy
- voluntary termination of the joint tenancy
- if any of the joint tenants wants to be relieved of common ownership he can do so by asking that the property be partitioned
- partitioning can occur by voluntary agreement or by a judicial action
severance of joint tenancy
- involuntary termination of joint tenancy
- occurs when any of the 4 unities are disturbed
- cannot be severed by will
- can be severed by a contract of sale: severance occurs on the day the contract was signed not closing because of the law of equitable conversion
mortgage and severance of joint tenancy
- Lien theory: there is no severance of the joint tenancy because the lien attached to the title but the title is not transferred
- title theory: minority rule: there is a severance of the joint tenancy beucase when the mortgage is executed the title passes from the mortgagor to the mortgagee
creditors sale and interest in joint tenancy
there is no severance until the judicial sale takes place, if the debtor dies before the sale there is no severance and title passes to surviving joint tenants
tenancy in common
- no unities are required except the unity of possession
- each co tenant is entitled to possess the whole of the property
- this is the default tenancy
- the estate is freely alienable so each tenant can do what they want
- any tenant can force a partition
- there is no right of survivorship
tenancy by the entirety
- 4 unities plus marriage
2. at common law, any grant of a concurrent estate to a husband and wife would give rise to a tenancy by the entirety
termination of the tenancy by the entirety
- death
- mutual agreement in writing
- divorce
- execution by a joint creditor
possession and co owners
each co tenant has the right to possess the whole of the property
accountability to other so tenants
generally each co tenant for not have to account for the other for his share of profits with four exceptions
- outster: accounting is required if one co tenant is either keeping another co tenant off the property or claiming a right of exclusive possession
- agreement to share
- lease of property by a co-tenant to a third party
- depletion of natural resources
contribution
- concerns the right of one co-tenant to force the other co tenant to pay their fair share of some expenditure on the property
- the right depends on what type of expenditure was made:
improvements: no: any monies expended for non necessary improvements are not subject to contribution (b/c can be recouped later at the sale of property)
repairs?: yes if necessary
mortgage?: yes, required for mortgage on the property that has been signed by cotenants
taxes: yes required toward all governmentally imposed obligations such as property taxes or assessments for curbs, streets, sewers etc
non-freehold estates
- estate of years or tenancy for years
- periodic tenancy
- tenancy at will
- tenancy at sufferance
tenancy for years
- must specify a beginning and end date, it is measured by a fixed period of time
- statute of frauds: if over 1 year, must be in writing
- notice requirement: no notice is required to terminate
periodic tenancy
- repeating
- the estate rolls on and on until one party gives the other proper notice
- creation by express agreement, implication or operation of law
- implication: lease is silent as to duration it is presumed to be a periodic tenancy measured by the rent payment
- operation of law: statute of frauds failure or holdover tenant
holdover tenant periodic tenancy
- a tenant who remains on the property after the lease has expired
- when the landlord accepts a rent check from a holdover, a periodic tenancy is created by operation of law for the period specified in the rent check
termination of a periodic tenancy
- proper notice is required
- must satisfy two independent criteria: enough time and effective date
- enough time: the amount of tim equal in length of the priod of the tenancy except in year to year which requires only 6 months
- effective date: has to specified in the notice and must be at the end of the period of the tenancy
- private agreement can modify the notice requirement
tenancy at will
- either party can terminate at any time
- notice: may be terminated by either party giving the other notice and a reasonable time to vacate the leased premises
- termination by operation of law: death of either party, waste by the tenant, assignment by the tenant, transfer of title by by landlord and lease by landlord to a third party
tenancy at sufferance
- refers to the bare possession that a tenant has of the property when that tenant wrongfully holds over
- the landlord has two options: sue to evict or impose a new periodic tenancy
tenancy at sufferance: landlord sues to evict
sue in trespass and treat as a wrongdoer and to recover the damages
tenancy at sufferance: landlord imposes a new periodic tenancy
- if the old expire tenancy was for less than a year they new tenancy will be measured by the period covered by the rent payment. in the case of residential property, the new period is usually month to month
- in commercial property, if the old expired tenancy was for a year or more, the new periodic tenancy will be year to year
- the landlord may not impose a new periodic tenancy if it is not reasonable under the circumstances (tenants moving truck is a few hours late)
raised rent situation
if the landlord gives the tenant notice of the increase in rent before the expiration of the lease then the landlord may properly demand payment of the higher rent amount if the tenant holds over
duties of the tenant
- duty to pay rent
2. duty to maintain premises
tenant duty to maintain premises: lease is silent
- tenant is still subject to common law duty not to commit waste
- under the modern majority view if the leased premises are detroyed wtihout the tenant;s fault the tenant generally will be given the option to terminate the lease
duty to maintain premises: lease includes tenant covenant to repair
- an express covenant by a tenant to repair and maintain the leased premises makes that tenant an absolute insurer of the property with the exception that at common law the tenant was not responsible for the ordinary wear and tear
- the modern majority view is that once the tenant covenants to repair the tenant is liable for everything including ordinary wear and tear unless the parties agreement expressly excludes this responsibility from the tenants repair covenant
- under the modern majority view if the leased premises are destoryed without the tenants fault, the tenant will generally not be required to rebuild the structure-even if the lease includes the tenant;s covenant to repair unless the lease expressly includes this type of repair
landlord remedies when the tenant fails to pay rent
- at common law, the landlord could sue for damages, however, the landlord was allowed to collect only the amount in arrears and could not terminate the lease
- today however all states allow the landlord to sue for damages and terminate the lease thereby evicting the tenant from the property
- ohio law: ohio law requires the landlord to provide a three day notice of eviction to the tenant
landlord remedy: tenant unjustifiably abandons:
landlord has two options:
1. LL accepts the tenants offer of abandonment
- LL relents premises, holding the tenant liable for any deficiencies
landlord accepts the offer of abandonment
can treat the abandonment as the tenants offer of surrender of the leasehold
1. landlord accepts by retaking the the premises and thereby terminating the lease, tenant has no further rent obligations
landlord relents premises holding the tenant liable for any deficiency
- the LL may elect to re-rent the premises on the tenants account in order to mitigate damages and hold the tenant liable for any deficiecy
- at common law-landlord had no duty to mitigate
- modern majority rule: landlord must make a reasonable effort to relet the property in order to mitigate the damages
- if the rent that the landlord can get is less than what the defaulting tenant had originally promised to pay, the original tenant will be liable for any deficiency
duty of Landlord
- duty to deliver the possession of the leased premises
- duty regarding condition (implied warranty of habitability)
- implied covenant of quiet enjoyment
duty to deliver possession of the leased premises
the landlord must deliver the possession of the leased premises to the tenant when the lease begins if landlord cannot deliver actual possession then he is in breach of the lease
implied warranty of habitability
- Common law rule: landlord has no duty to deliver the leased premises in a habitable condition-lease involves transfer of possessory interest in the property
- Modern rule: implied warranty of fitness or habitability: applies only to residential property
- obligates the landlord to provide and to maintain leased premises that are reasonably suited for residential use (generally basic human habitation)
- ohio follows this rule
- retalitory eviction: if the tenant lawfully reports landlord for housing code violations the landlord is barred from penalizing the tenant
tenant remedies for landlord breach of implied habitability
- tenant can move out and end the lease
- tenant can stay on the property and sue for damages
- growing number of states allow the tenant to make reasonable repairs and deduct this cost from future rent payment (repair and deduct)
implied covenant of quiet enjoyment
- general rule: every lease includes the landlord’s implied promise not to interfere with the tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the leased premises
- included in every lease, residential commercial or otherwise
- the landlord may breach in one of three ways:
total eviction, partial eviction, or constructive eviction
breach the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment: total eviction
total eviction: landlord enters apartment and throws the tenant off the premises
breach of implied covenant of quiet enjoyment: partial eviction
partial eviction:
1) occurs where the landlord physically excludes the tenant from only some portion of the leased property (a direct physical interference)
Ex. if the landlord changes the locks on the basement and tells the tenant he is storing things there…tenant can stay on what is left and stay for free
- a partial eviction may occur where some third party, who holds paramount title, retakes the property and physically excludes the tenant from that portion of the leased premises
Generally, when the tentant is partially evicted by someone other than the LL the rent is proportionately reduced to reflect the amount taken
constructive eviction
- does not involve actual physical exclusion
- when the LL fails to provide some service that the LL is obligates to provide and that failure makes the property uninhabitable
three requirements for constructive eviction
- it must be the landlord’s failure to provide a service, not a third party
- there must be a substantial interference with the tenant’s quiet enjoyment of the property (invasion of cockroaches)
- tenant must abandon within a reasonable time
assignment of a lease
can transfer the entire remaining interest
sublease
transfer only a part of the remaining lease and the property reverts back to the original tenant
assignment: liability of successive assignees for payment of rent
- a tenant is liable to the landlord for rent if there is either privity of contract or privity of estate
- privity of estate only exists between the present landlord and the present tenant
- privity of contract exists only when there is an agreement between the landlord and the particular tenant from whom the landlord seeks to recover the rent
assignee;s liability on the other lease covenants
- covenant to pay rent always runs with the land and therefore is enforceable based on either privity of estate or contract
- as to other covenants contained in the lease: generally, the covenant will run with the land if it touches and concerns the land
- use of common sense approach for touch and concern test: does the covenant make the land more valuable or more useful?
liability of successive landlords on the lease
- the original LL continues to be liable to the original tenant because of privity of contract
- successor landlord may be liable to original tenant if there is either privity of contract or privity if estate AND the lease covenant runs with the land3. the successive landlord must expressly assume the obligation and agree to be bound by the terms of the lease
sublease: subtenant’s liability for rent
- general rule: landlord can recover rent from anyone with whom he is in privity
- in the case of a sublease the sub-leasor keeps the estate and it is not transferred to the subleasee so there is no privity of estate or contract between the LL and the subleasee
nonassignment clauses in a lease
- says that the tenant may not assign or sublet without the express permission or consent of the landlord
- validity of the non-assignment clause
even though a form or restraint on alienation, all courts find it valid and enforceable but it will be strictly construed (nonassignment will not include sublease and vice versa) - violation of the nonassignment or non sub lease merely makes the attempted transfer voidable at the option of the landlord
effect of landlordS consent to assignment
permission given once means that the non assignment or non sublease is waived altogether unless the landlord states otherwise at the time of first permission
partial condemnation of leasehold interest
if only a portion of the property is taken, the tenants have to continue to pay rent for that portion of the property taken by the state but the tenant will get an amount equal to the rent that was to be paid over the remainder of the lease for that portion of the property from the condemnation award
full condemnation of the leasehold
- the tenant do not have to continue to pay rent because complete taking extinguishes the lease and the tenant is excused from any further rent
- the tenant will share in the condemnation award only to the extent tha the fair rental value of the property exceeds the amount of rent due under the lease
tort liability of landlord and tenant
Common law: no duty imposed on the landlord to tenant for injuries sustained on the premises during the period of the lease
the landlord can covenant to repair as part of the lease term
there are 5 exceptions to the common law
5 exceptions to common law landlord tort liability
- latent defect
- short term lease of a furnished dwelling
- common passageways under the landlords control or dominion
- negligent repairs undertaken by the landlord
- public use exception
latent defects
- landlord is under a duty to disclose latent defect which the landlord either knows or has reason to know of
- a latent defect is one that a tenant does not know of and a reasonable person in the tenant’s position would not discover
- the landlord must disclose the defect but is under no duty to repair
short term lease of a furnished dwelling
the rental a furnished dwelling for a short term makes the landlord liable for defect even if the landlord neither knows or has reason to know of such defects
short term is 3 months or less