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AR Real Estate practice questions

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Question 1Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which estate gives its owner the broadest bundle of property rights, including the right to convey it during life and to pass it to heirs?

  1. Fee simple Correct answer.
  2. A life estate
  3. An estate for years
  4. A periodic tenancy

Explanation

A fee simple estate is potentially perpetual, freely alienable, and inheritable. It is the most complete form of private land ownership. The other choices are limited estates that end on death or at the expiration of a term.

Question 2Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A deed grants property "to Maria for life, then to her son Luis." Maria's interest is best described as which of the following?

  1. A life estate Correct answer.
  2. A reversion interest
  3. A fee simple determinable
  4. A remainder interest

Explanation

The phrase "for life" creates a life estate measured by Maria's lifetime. Luis receives a remainder because his future interest is created in the same deed and is not retained by the grantor. A reversion would stay with the grantor.

Question 3Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which statement best describes a tenancy in common?

  1. Equal shares with a right of survivorship for all owners.
  2. A marital estate that only spouses may create.
  3. Undivided shares that may be unequal and pass to heirs. Correct answer.
  4. Title acquired at the same time from the same source by all.

Explanation

Tenants in common hold undivided interests that need not be equal and have no right of survivorship. Each owner's share passes to heirs or devisees at death. The other choices describe joint tenancy or tenancy by the entirety.

Question 4Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which feature most clearly distinguishes a joint tenancy from a tenancy in common?

  1. The obligation to pay property taxes
  2. The ability to lease an individual share
  3. The requirement of a written deed
  4. The right of survivorship Correct answer.

Explanation

Joint tenants have a right of survivorship, so a deceased joint tenant's interest passes to the surviving joint tenants. Tenants in common have no survivorship right. Both forms can be created by deed, leased, and taxed.

Question 5Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An easement that benefits a particular parcel of land and passes automatically when that parcel is sold is called which of the following?

  1. Appurtenant easement Correct answer.
  2. A profit a prendre in minerals
  3. A revocable personal license
  4. An easement in gross to a person

Explanation

An appurtenant easement benefits a dominant parcel and burdens a servient parcel, and it runs with the land when the dominant parcel is transferred. An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a parcel. A license is revocable permission.

Question 6Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A property owner gives a neighbor oral permission to cross the owner's lot for one week. This permission is best described as which of the following?

  1. An easement by prescription
  2. An easement by necessity
  3. A covenant running with the land
  4. A license Correct answer.

Explanation

A license is revocable permission to use land and creates no interest in the land. It ends when the licensor revokes it or the stated time expires. It does not run with the land.

Question 7Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A new fence is built partly onto a neighboring lot without permission. This situation is best described as which of the following?

  1. An encroachment Correct answer.
  2. A zoning variance
  3. An easement by implication
  4. A nonconforming use

Explanation

An encroachment is a physical intrusion onto another's land, such as a fence or building extending over a boundary. The neighbor may seek removal or damages. Easements and zoning devices do not describe a physical boundary intrusion.

Question 8Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Local zoning ordinances are primarily an exercise of which governmental power?

  1. Police power Correct answer.
  2. Eminent domain
  3. Taxation
  4. Escheat

Explanation

Zoning is adopted under the police power to promote health, safety, morals, and the general welfare. It regulates land use without transferring title. Eminent domain requires a taking with just compensation, and escheat is reversion of property to the state.

Question 9Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

For more than the statutory period, a farmer openly drove equipment across a neighbor's field without permission, and the neighbor did nothing. The farmer likely has acquired which of the following?

  1. Fee simple title by adverse possession
  2. A prescriptive easement Correct answer.
  3. A remainder interest
  4. A revocable license

Explanation

Open, notorious, hostile, and continuous use of another's land for the statutory period creates a prescriptive easement. The use need not be exclusive, which is why an access-type use commonly yields an easement rather than title. Adverse possession would require a stronger possessory claim.

Question 10Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which element of adverse possession requires that the possessor's use be without the true owner's permission?

  1. Open and notorious possession
  2. Continuous possession
  3. Actual possession
  4. Hostile claim Correct answer.

Explanation

The hostility element means the possessor claims the property without the owner's consent. It does not require ill will; it requires use under a claim of right. The other elements describe the physical character and visibility of possession.

Question 11Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A parcel is landlocked after being divided from a larger tract, and no access easement was written. The owner may seek which of the following?

  1. A revocable license
  2. Easement by necessity Correct answer.
  3. A conditional use permit
  4. A zoning variance

Explanation

An easement by necessity is implied by law when a parcel has no access and the strict necessity arose from a common owner's severance of the land. It is not a zoning approval. A variance or conditional use permit addresses land-use regulations, not private access rights.

Question 12Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A city rezones a single lot for commercial use that is inconsistent with the surrounding residential area and with the comprehensive plan. This action is most likely which of the following?

  1. A regulatory taking
  2. Spot zoning Correct answer.
  3. A conditional use
  4. A nonconforming use

Explanation

Spot zoning is the singling out of one parcel for treatment inconsistent with the surrounding area and the comprehensive plan. It may be invalid because it does not serve the broader zoning scheme. A nonconforming use and a conditional use arise under existing zoning rules.

Question 13Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A life tenant strips the property of topsoil and sells it, reducing the value of the remainder. The life tenant has committed which of the following?

  1. Partition
  2. Waste Correct answer.
  3. Adverse possession
  4. Escheat

Explanation

A life tenant may use the property reasonably but may not diminish its value to the prejudice of future interest holders. Removing and selling topsoil is waste. Adverse possession, partition, and escheat involve different legal doctrines.

Question 14Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An owner conveys property "to Ben for life, then to Carla." Carla holds which of the following?

  1. A remainder Correct answer.
  2. An easement
  3. A life estate
  4. A reversion

Explanation

A remainder is a future interest held by someone other than the grantor and created in the same instrument that creates the prior estate. Carla's interest follows Ben's life estate. A reversion would remain with the grantor.

Question 15Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which form of co-ownership can be created only by a married couple and includes a right of survivorship?

  1. A tenancy in common
  2. A joint tenancy with survivorship
  3. A community property estate
  4. Tenancy by entirety Correct answer.

Explanation

Tenancy by the entirety is a marital estate available only to spouses and includes survivorship. Neither spouse can usually convey an interest unilaterally. Joint tenancy can be created by unmarried owners, and community property does not automatically include survivorship.

Question 16Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

In a residential cooperative, a buyer typically receives which of the following?

  1. A life estate in a specified unit
  2. A deed to a specific apartment unit and common elements
  3. Shares in a corporation plus a proprietary lease Correct answer.
  4. A recorded timeshare interval

Explanation

A cooperative corporation owns the building, and the buyer acquires shares in the corporation together with a proprietary lease to a unit. This differs from a condominium, where the buyer receives a deed to the unit. The cooperative interest is personal property tied to the lease.

Question 17Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A condominium owner's deed generally conveys title to the unit and which of the following?

  1. A proprietary lease from a corporation
  2. A life estate in the common areas
  3. A remainder interest in the entire building
  4. An undivided share of common elements Correct answer.

Explanation

Condominium ownership combines a fee interest in the individual unit with an undivided interest in the common elements as a tenant in common with other unit owners. The condominium association governs common areas. A proprietary lease indicates a cooperative instead.

Question 18Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A store operating legally before the area was zoned residential may generally continue as which of the following?

  1. An illegal continuing use
  2. A conditional use permit
  3. A use variance from zoning
  4. Nonconforming use Correct answer.

Explanation

A nonconforming use is a use that existed lawfully before a zoning change and is allowed to continue, though often with limits on expansion or reconstruction. It is not the same as a conditional use permit or a variance.

Question 19Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An area variance is usually granted only when the property owner shows which of the following?

  1. That the lot is landlocked
  2. That all adjoining neighbors consent
  3. That the use will increase local tax revenue
  4. Unnecessary hardship caused by the ordinance Correct answer.

Explanation

A variance requires unnecessary hardship stemming from the ordinance's application to the particular property, and the hardship generally cannot be self-created. Neighbor consent or tax revenue is not the legal test. A landlocked lot may support an easement by necessity, not necessarily a variance.

Question 20Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A church wants to locate in a residential district where such uses are allowed only with special review. The church should seek which of the following?

  1. A spot zoning amendment
  2. A hardship variance
  3. A special use permit Correct answer.
  4. A nonconforming use status

Explanation

A special or conditional use permit authorizes a use that the ordinance allows in the district only after review and with conditions. It is not a variance, which requires hardship. Spot zoning is an improper singling out of a parcel.

Question 21Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

When a local government requires a developer to dedicate land for a park as a condition of subdivision approval, the condition must satisfy which of the following?

  1. A finding that the developer will earn a profit
  2. Only a majority vote of the planning commission
  3. Nexus and rough proportionality to the impact Correct answer.
  4. Written consent from every adjoining landowner

Explanation

Exactions must have an essential nexus to a legitimate government interest and be roughly proportional to the development's impact. This limits the government's ability to demand unrelated concessions. Profitability and neighbor consent are not the constitutional tests.

Question 22Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A regulation that denies an owner all economically beneficial use of land will most likely be treated as which of the following?

  1. A protected nonconforming use
  2. A compensable regulatory license
  3. A categorical taking Correct answer.
  4. A discretionary zoning variance

Explanation

When a regulation deprives land of all economically beneficial use, courts generally treat it as a categorical taking requiring compensation unless background principles of property law already prohibit the use. Partial restrictions are analyzed under a balancing test. A variance or nonconforming use is a zoning concept.

Question 23Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

After the mineral estate is severed from the surface estate, which statement is generally true?

  1. The mineral estate is servient and holds no right of access.
  2. The mineral estate is dominant and may use the surface reasonably. Correct answer.
  3. The surface owner may block every attempt to reach the minerals.
  4. Severance automatically transfers all surface rights to the state.

Explanation

When the mineral estate is severed, it is generally dominant and carries an implied right to use as much of the surface as is reasonably necessary to extract the minerals. The surface owner may not unreasonably interfere but may recover for excessive damage. Severance does not transfer surface rights to the state.

Question 24Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

In deciding whether an item has become a fixture, courts give the greatest weight to which of the following?

  1. The item's color and design
  2. The terms of the owner's mortgage
  3. The parties' intention Correct answer.
  4. The item's original purchase price

Explanation

Intention is the controlling factor in fixture analysis, inferred from the manner of attachment, adaptation to the property, and any agreement between the parties. Purchase price, mortgage terms, and appearance are not the governing test. A fixture becomes part of the real property.

Question 25Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Two tenants in common cannot agree on managing a property. One owner may ask a court for which of the following?

  1. A partition action Correct answer.
  2. A conditional use permit
  3. An escheat order
  4. A prescriptive easement

Explanation

A co-owner may bring a partition action to divide the property in kind or, if that is not practicable, to order a sale and division of the proceeds. Partition is a fundamental right of co-tenants. Escheat, prescriptive easements, and conditional use permits address unrelated issues.

Question 26Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An owner conveys a parcel 'to the city so long as the parcel is used for a public park.' The city later converts the park to a parking garage. The grantor's successor may most likely do which of the following?

  1. Automatically regain title. Correct answer.
  2. Recover damages for breach of covenant.
  3. Sue to quiet title only after a court order.
  4. Exercise a right of entry to retake possession.

Explanation

The phrase 'so long as' creates a fee simple determinable, and the grantor retains a possibility of reverter. When the stated use ends, title returns automatically to the grantor or the grantor's successor.

Question 27Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Ann, Bob, and Carl own a parcel as joint tenants. Ann conveys her interest to Dana. Which statement is correct?

  1. Bob and Carl remain joint tenants; Dana is a tenant in common. Correct answer.
  2. The joint tenancy is destroyed, and all four hold as tenants in common.
  3. Dana becomes a joint tenant with Bob and Carl.
  4. Ann's conveyance is void unless Bob and Carl consent.

Explanation

A joint tenant may convey her interest without the other joint tenants' consent. That conveyance severs the joint tenancy as to the conveyed share, so the grantee holds as a tenant in common while the remaining joint tenants keep their joint tenancy with each other.

Question 28Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An easement that benefits the owner personally rather than a particular parcel is known as which of the following?

  1. A license
  2. An easement in gross Correct answer.
  3. A profit a prendre
  4. An easement appurtenant

Explanation

An easement in gross has no dominant estate and is held by a person, often for utility or recreational purposes. An easement appurtenant, by contrast, benefits a parcel and passes with it.

Question 29Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A owns Lot 1, which has an easement over Lot 2. A then purchases Lot 2. What happens to the easement?

  1. It remains in force because easements run with land.
  2. It converts into a license.
  3. It becomes a prescriptive easement.
  4. It is terminated by merger. Correct answer.

Explanation

When the dominant and servient estates come into common ownership, the easement is extinguished by merger. The unity of ownership makes the easement unnecessary while it lasts.

Question 30Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A right to enter another's land and remove timber is best described as which of the following?

  1. An easement appurtenant
  2. A license
  3. A restrictive covenant
  4. A profit a prendre Correct answer.

Explanation

A profit a prendre is a nonpossessory interest that includes the right to take resources such as timber, minerals, or fish from another's land. An easement appurtenant benefits a parcel but does not itself grant resource removal.

Question 31Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A tenant installs a walk-in freezer in a leased restaurant to store inventory. When the lease ends, the freezer is most likely:

  1. A trade fixture removable absent material damage. Correct answer.
  2. A fixture that the tenant must abandon.
  3. The landlord's property because it is used in a business.
  4. A fixture that passes with the realty because it is attached.

Explanation

Items installed by a tenant for commercial purposes are trade fixtures. The tenant may remove them before the lease ends if removal does not cause material damage to the premises.

Question 32Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which factor is most essential for a covenant to run with the land at law?

  1. The covenant must be enforced by a homeowners' association.
  2. The covenant must be recorded in every county.
  3. The covenant must be supported by consideration paid to the original grantor.
  4. The covenant must touch and concern the land. Correct answer.

Explanation

For a covenant to run with the land, the promise must touch and concern the land, the parties must intend it to run, notice must exist, and there must be privity. Recording and association enforcement may help with notice or administration but are not the essential test.

Question 33Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A court enforces a promise restricting land use as an equitable servitude. The usual remedy is:

  1. Specific performance of a sale
  2. A declaratory judgment only
  3. An injunction Correct answer.
  4. Money damages

Explanation

Equitable servitudes are enforced by injunction because the legal remedy of damages is considered inadequate. Covenants at law, by contrast, typically support an award of money damages.

Question 34Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

When a local government takes private property for a public park, the owner is constitutionally entitled to which of the following?

  1. A tax abatement
  2. Just compensation Correct answer.
  3. A right of first refusal to repurchase
  4. A zoning variance

Explanation

The Fifth Amendment, applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, requires that private property be taken only for a public use and with just compensation. A park is a traditional public use.

Question 35Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

If a person dies intestate with no known heirs, the person's real property generally passes to:

  1. The adjoining landowners by adverse possession
  2. The county by dedication
  3. The state by escheat Correct answer.
  4. The federal government by eminent domain

Explanation

Escheat is the governmental power under which property passes to the state when an owner dies without a will and without heirs. It prevents property from being left without an owner.

Question 36Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

An owner whose land borders a non-navigable stream generally has which right?

  1. The right to sell water to non-riparian users without restriction.
  2. The right to divert all water for any purpose.
  3. The right to exclude upstream owners from using any water.
  4. Reasonable use that does not harm other riparian owners. Correct answer.

Explanation

Riparian owners generally have the right to make reasonable use of the water, provided the use does not unreasonably harm other riparian owners. The reasonable-use standard balances the interests of all owners along the stream.

Question 37Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

Which statement about air rights above a parcel is generally correct?

  1. Air rights may be severed from the surface estate. Correct answer.
  2. Air rights belong to the federal government.
  3. Air rights are limited to the height of existing buildings.
  4. Air rights cannot be severed from the surface estate.

Explanation

Air rights are part of the bundle of ownership and may be severed and transferred separately from the surface, as with transferable development rights. They are not limited to the height of current buildings.

Question 38Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A landowner excavates on her lot, causing the adjacent lot's land to crack and subside. The adjacent owner may generally recover for:

  1. Damage to buildings only, because buildings have no right to support.
  2. Damage to the land itself, which has a right to lateral support. Correct answer.
  3. Nothing, because excavation on one's own land is absolutely privileged.
  4. Damage only if the excavation was negligent and the land was improved.

Explanation

Land in its natural state has an absolute right to lateral support from adjoining land. If excavation removes that support and causes the neighbor's land to subside, the excavator is liable for the damage to the land.

Question 39Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A zoning technique that creates a use classification not tied to a specific parcel and allows it to be located later by special permit is called:

  1. A floating zone Correct answer.
  2. Spot zoning
  3. An area variance
  4. A nonconforming use

Explanation

A floating zone is described in the zoning ordinance but is not mapped to a particular parcel until a developer requests it and the local government approves. This gives flexibility in locating certain uses.

Question 40Real Property Ownership, Interests, and Land Use

A non-navigable creek runs along the eastern edge of Rosa's farm. Over roughly fifteen years, the creek's current slowly and imperceptibly deposits silt along that bank, creating several acres of dry, usable ground attached to Rosa's side. Who owns the newly formed acreage?

  1. The owner of the opposite bank, because the property boundary runs along the thread of the stream and shifts as the stream moves.
  2. No one, because title to land added by natural forces cannot pass without a recorded deed or a court order.
  3. The state, because the beds and banks of all streams are held in trust for public use.
  4. Rosa, under the doctrine of accretion. Correct answer.

Explanation

When water deposits soil gradually and imperceptibly, the addition (accretion) belongs to the riparian owner whose land it touches, with no deed or payment required. This differs from avulsion, where a sudden or violent change in the watercourse leaves the original boundary line unchanged. A boundary that follows the thread of the stream shifts with slow, natural changes, but the deposit on Rosa's side of the creek accrues to Rosa.

Question 41Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

Which fiduciary duty requires an agent to keep the principal fully informed of all facts that are material to the transaction?

  1. Accounting
  2. Reasonable care
  3. Disclosure Correct answer.
  4. Loyalty

Explanation

The duty of disclosure obligates the agent to promptly report to the principal every fact the agent knows that is material to the transaction, including offers and buyer qualifications. It is a separate duty from loyalty and accounting, though all three are fiduciary in nature.

Question 42Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A broker and a property owner sign a written management agreement that spells out the broker's authority, duties, and fee. This arrangement creates which type of agency?

  1. Agency by ratification
  2. Express agency Correct answer.
  3. Agency by estoppel
  4. Implied agency

Explanation

An express agency arises when the parties explicitly agree, orally or in writing, that one will act for the other. A signed management agreement with stated powers and compensation is the classic example.

Question 43Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A property manager deposits tenant security deposits into the brokerage's general operating account and spends them on office expenses. This conduct is best described as:

  1. Escrow reconciliation
  2. Conversion
  3. Trust fund accounting
  4. Commingling Correct answer.

Explanation

Commingling is the improper mixing of client or tenant funds with the broker's own business or personal funds. Security deposits must be held in a separate trust account so they can be identified and returned.

Question 44Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A broker is hired only to lease units and handle day-to-day operations at a specific apartment building. In agency terms, the broker is ordinarily classified as:

  1. A special agent Correct answer.
  2. A subagent
  3. A universal agent
  4. A general agent

Explanation

A special agent is authorized to perform a specific act or a limited range of acts, such as leasing and managing one property. The authority does not extend to all of the owner's affairs.

Question 45Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A management agreement states that it runs for one year. When the year ends and neither party renews it, the agency relationship:

  1. Terminates automatically by expiration of its term Correct answer.
  2. Continues until either party gives thirty days' notice
  3. Continues until it is revoked in writing
  4. Converts into an agency coupled with an interest

Explanation

An agency terminates by operation of law when the term stated in the agreement expires. No notice or revocation is required because the authority granted has simply run out.

Question 46Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

During a listing, a seller's agent learns that the seller must relocate for work and is anxious to sell quickly. The agent shares this with a buyer's agent before any offer is presented. The seller's agent has most likely breached the duty of:

  1. Reasonable care
  2. Obedience
  3. Accounting
  4. Confidentiality Correct answer.

Explanation

Information about a client's motivation, finances, and urgency is confidential and may not be revealed without the client's permission, even to other licensees. Revealing it weakens the seller's bargaining position.

Question 47Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A property management agreement is best characterized as:

  1. A mortgage securing the broker's management fee
  2. A lease between the owner and the tenants
  3. A deed conveying the property to the broker
  4. An employment contract between the owner and the broker Correct answer.

Explanation

The management agreement is a contract for services in which the owner employs the broker to manage the property and the broker accepts a fiduciary role. It creates an agency relationship rather than transferring title or an interest in the real estate.

Question 48Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A property manager must keep complete records of all income and expenses and provide the owner with periodic written statements. This requirement reflects the fiduciary duty of:

  1. Loyalty
  2. Obedience
  3. Accounting Correct answer.
  4. Disclosure

Explanation

The duty of accounting requires an agent to keep accurate records of all funds and property received on the principal's behalf and to report them on request or as agreed. Rent collected, bills paid, and reserves held all fall within this duty.

Question 49Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

A broker represents both the buyer and the seller in the same transaction after both parties give informed written consent. This arrangement is known as:

  1. Dual agency Correct answer.
  2. An agency coupled with an interest
  3. Subagency
  4. Designated agency

Explanation

Dual agency exists when one broker represents two parties whose interests conflict in the same transaction. It is permitted only with full disclosure and the informed consent of both parties, and the broker must remain neutral on points of conflict.

Question 50Agency, Fiduciary Duties, and Property Management

In a designated agency arrangement, the broker in charge appoints one affiliated licensee to represent the seller and another to represent the buyer. Which statement is correct?

  1. Each licensee represents only its designated party Correct answer.
  2. The two licensees become dual agents for both parties
  3. Designated agency is not permitted because it cannot be disclosed
  4. The broker in charge becomes a dual agent in every such transaction

Explanation

Designated agency keeps each client with its own representative inside the firm, so neither licensee owes fiduciary duties to the other side. Confidential information held by one designated agent is not attributed to the other.