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NCA Property Law study materials
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NCA Property Law practice questions

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Question 1Property Law

Which type of property interest is a leasehold estate?

  1. A life estate
  2. A freehold estate
  3. A future interest
  4. A chattel real Correct answer.

Explanation

A leasehold is classified as a chattel real because it is an interest in land that is less than freehold and is treated as personal property. Freehold estates, by contrast, are of indefinite duration and historically passed by feoffment. A life estate is a freehold estate measured by a person's life, not a leasehold.

Question 2Property Law

A deed must satisfy which requirement to be valid at common law?

  1. Recording in the county registry
  2. Delivery with present intent Correct answer.
  3. Adequate consideration stated
  4. Notarization by a public official

Explanation

At common law a deed becomes effective only upon delivery by the grantor with present intent that it operate immediately. Notarization and recording are statutory formalities affecting proof and priority, not basic validity. Consideration is not required for a deed, because a deed is a conveyance rather than a contract.

Question 3Property Law

What does the recording act term 'notice' protect in a race-notice jurisdiction?

  1. A prior unrecorded grantee regardless of knowledge
  2. A grantor who retains an unrecorded interest
  3. A subsequent purchaser who records first without knowledge Correct answer.
  4. A subsequent purchaser who takes with knowledge but records first

Explanation

A race-notice statute protects a later purchaser who both takes without notice of the prior interest and records before the earlier grantee does. The two elements, good faith and prior recording, must be satisfied together. A purchaser with actual or constructive notice cannot prevail even if first to record.

Question 4Property Law

Which covenant in a deed assures that the grantor has not conveyed the property to anyone else?

  1. Covenant of quiet enjoyment
  2. Covenant against encumbrances
  3. Covenant of further assurance
  4. Covenant of seisin Correct answer.

Explanation

The covenant of seisin warrants that the grantor owns the estate being conveyed and has not already conveyed it to another. The covenant against encumbrances addresses liens and easements, not duplicate conveyances. Quiet enjoyment and further assurance protect possession and title defense rather than current ownership.

Question 5Property Law

An easement created by implication arises most typically from which situation?

  1. A long period of adverse use by a neighbor
  2. A prior use that was apparent, continuous, and reasonably necessary Correct answer.
  3. A municipal ordinance requiring access
  4. A written grant signed by the servient owner

Explanation

An implied easement arises when land is divided and a use that existed before severance was apparent, continuous, and reasonably necessary to enjoyment. The implication rests on the parties' presumed intent at the time of severance. Express grant and prescription are distinct methods requiring a writing or statutory period of adverse use.

Question 6Property Law

Which form of concurrent ownership includes a right of survivorship?

  1. Tenancy in common
  2. Tenancy by the entirety in all states
  3. Joint tenancy Correct answer.
  4. Community property

Explanation

A joint tenancy carries the right of survivorship, so a deceased joint tenant's share passes automatically to the surviving tenants. Tenancy in common has no survivorship feature and passes by will or intestacy. Community property governs spousal property but does not itself create survivorship.

Question 7Property Law

What is required for title by adverse possession?

  1. Continuous possession for the statutory period Correct answer.
  2. A recorded deed
  3. Permission from the record owner
  4. Payment of back taxes only

Explanation

Adverse possession requires actual, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous, and hostile possession for the statutory period. Payment of taxes may be an additional statutory requirement in some states but is not the universal test. Permission negates hostility, and a deed is unnecessary for adverse possession.

Question 8Property Law

A life tenant who commits waste may be liable for which remedy?

  1. Loss of the reversion
  2. Damages to the remainderman Correct answer.
  3. Criminal trespass
  4. Treble damages automatically

Explanation

A life tenant must preserve the property for the remainderman, and voluntary or permissive waste gives the remainderman a claim for damages or an injunction. The life tenant does not forfeit the reversion, which belongs to another. Treble damages and criminal trespass are not the standard civil remedy for waste.

Question 9Property Law

A grantor conveys 'to A for life, then to A's heirs.' What interest do A's heirs hold during A's life?

  1. A reversion
  2. Nothing, because heirs are unascertainable Correct answer.
  3. A contingent remainder
  4. A vested remainder

Explanation

Under the doctrine of worthier title, a remainder to the grantor's own heirs is disregarded and the grantor keeps a reversion. If the heirs are those of the grantee A, the remainder is contingent because no one is an heir of the living. The question's phrasing about heirs generally means the heirs have no present vested interest.

Question 10Property Law

A buyer signs a contract to purchase a home but the seller later refuses to close. Which remedy is most characteristic of real estate contracts?

  1. Ejectment
  2. Specific performance Correct answer.
  3. Replevin
  4. Quiet title

Explanation

Because land is unique, courts routinely grant specific performance to compel a seller to convey under a valid land sale contract. Replevin recovers personal property, ejectment recovers possession from a trespasser, and quiet title resolves competing claims. Money damages are available but are considered inadequate for land.

Question 11Property Law

A deed describes property as 'my lot on Elm Street' without a lot number or metes and bounds. What is the likely result?

  1. The deed is void for vagueness
  2. The deed is valid if the land can be identified with certainty Correct answer.
  3. The deed conveys a life estate
  4. The deed conveys only an easement

Explanation

A deed must contain a description sufficient to identify the land with reasonable certainty, and extrinsic evidence may supply missing details. A generic reference can be valid if it points to identifiable property. If the description is truly impossible to apply, the deed fails for uncertainty.

Question 12Property Law

Under a notice statute, a subsequent purchaser prevails over a prior unrecorded interest if the purchaser:

  1. Takes with notice and records first
  2. Records first, with or without notice
  3. Pays more than the prior grantee
  4. Takes without notice, regardless of recording Correct answer.

Explanation

A pure notice statute protects a later purchaser who takes without notice of the prior interest, even if the later purchaser never records. Recording matters only in race and race-notice jurisdictions. Paying a higher price is irrelevant to priority.

Question 13Property Law

A landowner grants a neighbor 'the right to cross my land to reach the highway.' What interest has been created?

  1. A license
  2. A profit
  3. A fee simple determinable
  4. An easement appurtenant Correct answer.

Explanation

A right of way benefiting the neighbor's land is an easement appurtenant, because it attaches to and benefits a dominant parcel. A profit allows taking resources from the land, and a license is revocable permission. A fee simple determinable is a possessory estate, not a use right.

Question 14Property Law

A tenant rents an apartment under a one-year lease and the landlord sells the building mid-term. What happens to the lease?

  1. The lease terminates on sale
  2. The lease converts to a tenancy at will
  3. The new owner takes subject to the lease Correct answer.
  4. The tenant must renegotiate with the buyer

Explanation

A leasehold is an estate that runs with the land, so a purchaser of the reversion takes subject to the existing lease. The new landlord succeeds to the original landlord's rights and duties. The tenant's term is unaffected by the transfer of the reversion.

Question 15Property Law

What distinguishes a tenancy by the entirety from a joint tenancy?

  1. It can be severed unilaterally by one spouse
  2. It exists only between married persons Correct answer.
  3. It lacks a right of survivorship
  4. It requires a written agreement

Explanation

Tenancy by the entirety is a marital estate available only to spouses in jurisdictions that recognize it, and it includes survivorship plus protection against one spouse's creditors. A joint tenancy may be held by any persons and can be severed by one co-tenant's conveyance. Both carry survivorship.

Question 16Property Law

A neighbor openly parks on another's land for the statutory period without permission. What interest may arise?

  1. An easement by prescription Correct answer.
  2. A license
  3. An easement by necessity
  4. A fee simple by prescription

Explanation

Continuous, open, adverse use for the statutory period creates a prescriptive easement, which is a right of use rather than ownership. Adverse possession of the fee requires possession of the whole parcel to the exclusion of the owner. Easements by necessity arise from landlocked severance, not from long use.

Question 17Property Law

A testator devises 'to my brother B, but if the land is ever used for a tavern, then to the town.' What estate does B hold?

  1. Fee tail
  2. Life estate
  3. Fee simple subject to executory limitation Correct answer.
  4. Fee simple absolute

Explanation

B holds a fee simple subject to an executory limitation, because a third party, the town, holds an executory interest that will divest B on the stated event. The town's interest is not a reverter, since it does not return to the grantor's heirs. A fee simple absolute would be free of the condition.

Question 18Property Law

Which covenant runs with the land at law so as to bind successors?

  1. A covenant touching and concerning land with horizontal and vertical privity Correct answer.
  2. A covenant lacking privity of estate
  3. A covenant benefiting only the original promisee
  4. A personal covenant to pay a debt

Explanation

For a covenant to run with the land at law, it must touch and concern the land, the original parties must intend it to run, and there must be horizontal and vertical privity. A personal covenant does not touch the land. Lack of privity or a benefit limited to the original promisee prevents running.

Question 19Property Law

A landowner grants a mortgage and later sells the property. What is the buyer's position regarding the mortgage?

  1. The buyer becomes the mortgagee
  2. The mortgage is automatically void
  3. The buyer takes free of the mortgage
  4. The buyer takes subject to the mortgage unless it is satisfied Correct answer.

Explanation

A recorded mortgage runs with the land, so a purchaser takes subject to it unless the debt is paid and the lien released. The buyer does not become the lender. A mortgage is not voided by a sale of the property.

Question 20Property Law

A grantor conveys land 'to A and his heirs, but if alcohol is sold on the premises, the grantor may re-enter.' What interest does the grantor hold?

  1. A vested remainder
  2. An executory interest
  3. A possibility of reverter
  4. A right of entry Correct answer.

Explanation

A right of entry, also called a power of termination, follows a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent and allows the grantor to reclaim the estate. A possibility of reverter follows a fee simple determinable, which ends automatically. An executory interest belongs to a third party, not the grantor.

Question 21Property Law

A property is held by O, who conveys 'to A for life, then to B if B survives A, then to C.' B predeceases A. Who takes after A dies?

  1. O's heirs
  2. C Correct answer.
  3. B's heirs
  4. A's estate

Explanation

B's interest is a contingent remainder because survival of A is a condition precedent. When B dies before A, the contingency fails and the remainder never vests, so the alternative remainder to C takes. C's interest is an executory interest or alternative remainder that becomes possessory.

Question 22Property Law

A developer records restrictions limiting all lots to single-family homes. A buyer purchases a lot with notice. What is the buyer's obligation?

  1. None, because the buyer did not sign the restrictions
  2. Bound only after a court order
  3. Bound only if the restriction appears in the buyer's own deed
  4. Bound if the scheme is common to the subdivision Correct answer.

Explanation

A common scheme of development creates reciprocal negative servitudes that bind purchasers with notice even absent a signature. Because the restrictions appear in the chain of title, the buyer has constructive notice. Individual deed recitals are not required when the scheme is uniform.

Question 23Property Law

A creditor seeks to reach a debtor's joint tenancy interest. What is the general rule?

  1. The creditor automatically becomes a joint tenant
  2. The creditor has no remedy against a joint tenant
  3. The creditor can seize the whole property
  4. The creditor can force a partition and reach the debtor's share Correct answer.

Explanation

A joint tenant's interest may be reached by creditors through execution and partition, which severs the joint tenancy as to that share. The creditor does not become a co-tenant automatically but may obtain the debtor's severable share. The entire property is not subject to the debt.

Question 24Property Law

A landowner's property is landlocked after a severance. What easement may the owner claim?

  1. An easement in gross
  2. A profit a prendre
  3. An easement by prescription
  4. An easement by necessity Correct answer.

Explanation

An easement by necessity arises when a parcel is landlocked because of a common ownership severance, giving a right of access over the servient land. It requires strict necessity at the time of severance. Prescription requires adverse use, and an easement in gross lacks a dominant parcel.

Question 25Property Law

A tenant transfers the entire remaining lease term to another party. What has occurred?

  1. A sublease
  2. A license
  3. An assignment Correct answer.
  4. A novation

Explanation

An assignment transfers the tenant's entire remaining term, leaving the assignee in privity of estate with the landlord. A sublease transfers less than the full term, retaining a reversion in the original tenant. A license is mere permission and a novation substitutes a new contract party.

Question 26Property Law

Which type of deed offers a grantor's promise that the grantor holds title and has the right to convey it, but makes no promise about encumbrances?

  1. General warranty deed
  2. Special warranty deed
  3. Quitclaim deed
  4. Bargain and sale deed Correct answer.

Explanation

A bargain and sale deed typically contains no covenants of warranty against encumbrances, though it implies that the grantor holds title and the right to convey. A quitclaim transfers whatever interest the grantor may have with no promises at all. General and special warranty deeds contain express covenants that go beyond this limited assurance.

Question 27Property Law

A grantor delivers a deed to a grantee but the grantee does not record it. The grantor then conveys the same parcel to a second buyer who pays value and records first. In a race-notice jurisdiction, who prevails?

  1. The first grantee, because delivery already transferred title
  2. The second buyer, if without notice and recording first Correct answer.
  3. The first grantee, because the second buyer had constructive notice
  4. The state, because the deed was never recorded

Explanation

A race-notice statute protects a subsequent purchaser who takes without notice of the prior conveyance and records before the earlier grantee does. The first grantee's failure to record leaves the second buyer able to qualify if genuinely without notice. If the second buyer had actual, inquiry, or record notice, the protection would fail.

Question 28Property Law

An owner holds title as a joint tenant with two others. The owner dies, leaving a will that devises her share to her son. What happens to her interest?

  1. It passes to the surviving joint tenants Correct answer.
  2. It passes to her son under the will
  3. It escheats to the state
  4. It becomes a tenancy in common with the survivors

Explanation

The defining feature of a joint tenancy is the right of survivorship, which operates automatically on a joint tenant's death. Because the interest ends at death, nothing remains for the will to pass to the son. Severance during life, not a later devise, is what would defeat survivorship.

Question 29Property Law

A tenant signs a two-year lease at a fixed rent. Six months later the landlord raises the rent without any lease provision allowing it. What is the tenant's best response?

  1. Accept, because landlords may raise rent at will
  2. Refuse, because the lease fixes rent for its term Correct answer.
  3. Pay the increase to avoid eviction
  4. Renegotiate or vacate within thirty days

Explanation

A lease for a stated term at a stated rent is a contract that binds the landlord for that term. The landlord cannot unilaterally raise rent during the term absent a clause permitting increases. The tenant may treat the demand as ineffective and continue paying the agreed rent.

Question 30Property Law

A landowner gives a neighbor a written, recorded right to use a path across the landowner's parcel forever, but the right benefits the neighbor personally rather than the neighbor's land. What interest was created?

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

Explanation

An easement in gross benefits a particular person rather than a dominant parcel, so it lacks a dominant estate. An easement appurtenant, by contrast, benefits and passes with the land it serves. A license is revocable and not an interest in land, and a profit includes rights to remove resources.

Question 31Property Law

A buyer and seller sign a purchase agreement that states the price and closing date but omits any property description. The buyer later sues for specific performance. What is the likely outcome?

  1. The buyer wins, because price and date are stated
  2. The buyer loses unless the seller signed first
  3. The buyer wins if the buyer paid a deposit
  4. The buyer loses, because the writing lacks a description Correct answer.

Explanation

The statute of frauds requires a land sale contract to identify the land with reasonable certainty. A writing that omits any description cannot be specifically enforced on its own terms. Price and closing date do not cure the missing essential term.

Question 32Property Law

A landowner dies intestate, survived by a spouse and two children. Under the traditional common-law rule, how does the real property descend?

  1. Entirely to the eldest child
  2. Equally among the children, with the spouse taking no share Correct answer.
  3. Entirely to the surviving spouse
  4. Equally among spouse and children

Explanation

At traditional common law, dower and curtesy gave a surviving spouse a life estate, while the fee descended to the children in equal shares. Modern statutes vary widely and often give the spouse a share, but the question invokes the traditional rule. The eldest child had no primogeniture preference in this context.

Question 33Property Law

A landowner builds a fence that encroaches two feet onto a neighbor's parcel. The neighbor sues. Which remedy is a court most likely to order?

  1. Criminal penalties
  2. Automatic transfer of the neighbor's parcel
  3. Removal of the encroachment Correct answer.
  4. Forfeiture of the landowner's title

Explanation

Encroachment is a trespass, and the usual remedy is an injunction requiring removal or an award of damages. Courts may deny removal where the hardship is disproportionate and the encroachment was innocent, but removal is the standard equitable response. Forfeiture and transfer of title are not remedies for encroachment.

Question 34Property Law

A landowner rents a house to a tenant under a written lease for a fixed term. The lease expires and the tenant remains in possession while continuing to pay rent, which the landlord accepts. What tenancy has arisen?

  1. Periodic tenancy Correct answer.
  2. Tenancy at will
  3. Tenancy for years
  4. Tenancy at sufferance

Explanation

When a tenant holds over after a term ends and the landlord accepts rent, a periodic tenancy arises based on the rent period. A tenancy at sufferance exists only while the landlord has not consented to the holdover. Acceptance of rent converts the situation into a periodic tenancy.

Question 35Property Law

A property owner grants a neighbor an easement for a driveway. The neighbor later sells the benefited parcel. What happens to the easement?

  1. It converts to a fee interest
  2. It becomes a license
  3. It passes with the benefited land Correct answer.
  4. It terminates because the original holder left

Explanation

An easement appurtenant runs with the dominant estate, so it transfers automatically when that parcel is conveyed. It is not personal to the original grantee. Termination requires abandonment, merger, prescription, or release, none of which occurred.

Question 36Property Law

A landowner grants a mortgage to a bank. The landowner later defaults, and the bank forecloses. A junior lienholder exists. What happens to the junior lien in a properly conducted foreclosure?

  1. It survives the foreclosure
  2. It is extinguished but attaches to surplus proceeds Correct answer.
  3. It transfers to the purchaser
  4. It is automatically paid in full

Explanation

A foreclosure action generally joins junior lienholders, whose interests are extinguished by the sale. Those lienholders retain a right to any surplus proceeds in order of priority. A junior lien that is not joined, however, may survive the foreclosure.

Question 37Property Law

A seller agrees in writing to sell a parcel to a buyer, but before closing the seller conveys the parcel to a third party who has no notice of the contract. The buyer sues. What is the buyer's strongest theory?

  1. The buyer is a bona fide purchaser
  2. The contract automatically conveys legal title
  3. The buyer holds equitable title from the contract date Correct answer.
  4. The third party is a trespasser

Explanation

Under the doctrine of equitable conversion, a binding land sale contract gives the buyer equitable title as of the contract date. That interest can support a claim against a later transferee with notice, though a truly protected bona fide purchaser may prevail. Legal title, however, remains with the seller until closing.

Question 38Property Law

A landlord fails to repair a leaking roof despite repeated written notice, and the apartment becomes uninhabitable. Under the implied warranty of habitability, what remedy may the tenant pursue?

  1. Evict the landlord
  2. Withhold rent or repair and deduct Correct answer.
  3. Take title to the building
  4. Cancel the mortgage

Explanation

The implied warranty of habitability requires landlords to maintain habitable premises, and breach permits remedies such as rent withholding, repair and deduct, or damages. These remedies are subject to statutory procedures and notice requirements. The tenant gains no ownership interest and cannot affect the landlord's financing.

Question 39Property Law

A grantor conveys 'to A so long as the land is used for farming.' A later conveys the parcel for a shopping center. What is the grantor's position?

  1. The grantor has no interest left
  2. The grantor may re-enter and terminate A's estate Correct answer.
  3. The grantor holds a vested remainder
  4. The grantor holds an easement

Explanation

The phrase 'so long as' creates a fee simple determinable in A and a possibility of reverter in the grantor. When the stated condition ends, the estate terminates automatically and the grantor may re-enter. A right of entry, by contrast, accompanies a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent.

Question 40Property Law

Two cotenants own a parcel as tenants in common. One cotenant exclusively occupies the whole parcel and pays all taxes. The other cotenant demands a share of the rents. What is the general rule?

  1. The occupying cotenant must pay the other's share of taxes only
  2. The occupying cotenant owes no accounting
  3. The occupying cotenant gains title by exclusivity
  4. The occupying cotenant must account for rents received from third parties Correct answer.

Explanation

A cotenant in exclusive possession generally owes no rent to co-owners for personal occupancy absent ouster. If the occupying cotenant collects rents from third parties, however, those proceeds must be shared. Taxes paid may be credited in an accounting or partition.

Question 41Property Law

A landowner wants to give a neighbor permission to cross the land for a year, revocable at any time. What interest best fits this arrangement?

  1. A restrictive covenant
  2. An easement by necessity
  3. A license Correct answer.
  4. An easement by prescription

Explanation

A revocable permission to enter land is a license, which creates no interest in land and ends when revoked or when the grantor transfers the property. Prescriptive easements require adverse use for the statutory period. Easements by necessity arise from severance and landlocking, and covenants restrict use rather than grant entry.

Question 42Property Law

A landowner's property lies uphill of a neighbor's. After a heavy rain, water naturally drains onto the lower parcel and damages the neighbor's garden. Under the common-law rule of surface water, is the uphill owner liable?

  1. No, because water is never a nuisance
  2. No, because the owner made no artificial change to drainage Correct answer.
  3. Yes, because the neighbor suffered damage
  4. Yes, because any water crossing a boundary is a trespass

Explanation

At common law, a landowner may generally allow surface water to follow its natural course without liability to lower owners. Liability may arise, however, when the owner alters drainage through artificial channels or improvements that concentrate flow. The mere natural flow described here does not create liability.

Question 43Property Law

A testator leaves a life estate to a spouse with a remainder to the testator's children. The spouse wants to sell the fee. What must occur for a buyer to obtain clear title?

  1. Only the spouse must sign the deed
  2. The executor alone may convey the fee
  3. All remainder holders must join or be bound Correct answer.
  4. The court must always order a sale

Explanation

A life tenant holds only a possessory estate for life and cannot convey a fee simple that binds the remaindermen. To pass clear fee title, the life tenant and all remainder holders must join in the conveyance, or their interests must be separately extinguished. A court sale may be possible in some jurisdictions but is not automatic.

Question 44Property Law

A developer records a declaration creating a common scheme for a subdivision, including assessments for maintaining a private park. A later buyer purchases a lot with record notice. What is the buyer's obligation?

  1. The buyer owes only if personally signing
  2. The buyer's obligation ends at closing
  3. The buyer is bound by the covenants and assessments Correct answer.
  4. The buyer may ignore the declaration

Explanation

Recorded declarations creating a common scheme bind subsequent purchasers who take with notice, because the covenants run with the land or are enforced in equity. The obligation passes automatically with the lot. Personal signature is unnecessary where the recorded scheme provides notice.

Question 45Property Law

A landowner holds a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent. The condition is breached, and the grantor waits beyond the statutory period before asserting a right of entry. What is the likely result?

  1. The fee automatically shifts to the grantor
  2. The grantor gains a fee simple absolute
  3. The condition is void for vagueness
  4. The right of entry is lost by lapse of time Correct answer.

Explanation

A right of entry is a future interest that may be lost if not timely exercised, because statutes may bar stale claims and courts disfavor forfeiture. Unlike a possibility of reverter, the estate does not shift automatically on breach; the holder must act. Waiting too long can extinguish the right.

Question 46Property Law

A landowner leases commercial space and the lease requires the landlord's consent before assignment, with no stated standard. The tenant seeks consent for a creditworthy assignee, and the landlord refuses arbitrarily. What is the prevailing modern rule?

  1. The landlord may refuse for any reason
  2. The tenant may assign regardless of the clause
  3. The lease terminates automatically
  4. The landlord's refusal must be reasonable Correct answer.

Explanation

Where a lease requires consent to assignment but sets no standard, most modern courts imply a duty of good faith and reasonableness, especially for commercial leases. Arbitrary refusal may therefore be a breach. Older rules allowed arbitrary refusal, but the modern trend rejects that approach.

Question 47Property Law

A landowner discovers a neighbor has used a shortcut across the parcel openly and continuously for the statutory period under a mistaken belief that the path was public. The landowner sues to bar use. What is the likely result?

  1. The neighbor has a prescriptive easement Correct answer.
  2. The neighbor has acquired title by adverse possession
  3. The use must stop because it was mistaken
  4. The neighbor has only a license

Explanation

Open, notorious, continuous, and adverse use for the statutory period creates a prescriptive easement. A mistaken belief that the path was public does not defeat the adverse character of the use in most jurisdictions. The remedy is an easement for passage, not a transfer of title to the land.

Question 48Property Law

A grantor conveys a parcel 'to A and B as joint tenants.' Later A conveys her interest to C. What is the resulting ownership structure?

  1. B and C hold as tenants in common Correct answer.
  2. C holds a life estate
  3. A and B remain joint tenants
  4. B and C hold as joint tenants

Explanation

A conveyance by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy as to that share, destroying the right of survivorship for the transferred portion. The grantee takes as a tenant in common with the remaining joint tenant. B and C therefore hold as tenants in common.

Question 49Property Law

A landowner grants a right to take gravel from a parcel and to sell it. What interest has been created?

  1. A profit à prendre Correct answer.
  2. A license
  3. An easement in gross
  4. A covenant

Explanation

A profit à prendre grants the right to enter land and remove resources such as minerals, timber, or gravel. It resembles an easement but includes a right to take something from the land. A mere right of passage without removal would be an easement.

Question 50Property Law

A landowner's parcel is bounded by a navigable river. The state claims ownership of the riverbed. Under the equal footing doctrine, what is the general rule for title to the bed?

  1. The federal government retains the bed
  2. The state owns the bed in trust for the public Correct answer.
  3. The riparian owner owns the bed to the thread of the stream
  4. The bed is owned by the adjacent county

Explanation

For navigable waters, the state generally holds title to the bed under the equal footing doctrine, subject to a public trust for navigation and fishing. Riparian owners may hold to the ordinary high-water mark but not to the bed of a navigable stream. Non-navigable streams follow a different rule.