Real Property and Guam Land Law
The Real Property section tests estates, future interests, conveyancing, recording, landlord-tenant law, easements, and Guam-specific land issues: Spanish-law roots, Torrens registration, Chamorro Land Trust restrictions, and long-term leasehold practices. Guam's land law is not simply California law copied; local statutes and land tenure history matter.
Estates and future interests
- Fee simple absolute, life estate, leasehold; contingent remainders and executory interests.
- The Rule Against Perpetuities; concurrent estates including joint tenancy and tenancy in common.
Conveyancing and recording
- Deed requirements: writing, identification of parties and land, intent, delivery, and acceptance.
- Warranty versus quitclaim deeds; marketable title; adverse possession.
- Recording acts: race, notice, or race-notice. Check Guam's statute before applying a state rule.
Landlord-tenant and Guam land
- Lease versus license; rent; eviction; implied warranty of habitability.
- Guam has a Torrens land registration system: a certificate of title is generally conclusive.
- The Chamorro Land Trust Commission administers ancestral land for native Chamorros; eligibility and transfer restrictions are significant.
- Long-term leases and military land use are recurring local issues.
Worked example
A seller conveys land to Buyer A by deed, but A does not record. The seller then conveys the same land to Buyer B, who pays value and records without notice of A. Under a notice or race-notice statute, B prevails if B lacked notice at the time of purchase. If Guam's recording statute is race-notice, B must also record first. A's unrecorded interest is void against B. If B had actual notice, B loses. A vague deed description may also fail for lack of identification.
Traps
- Assuming California recording law applies verbatim.
- Ignoring Torrens registration; a certificate of title may be conclusive.
- Missing Chamorro Land Trust eligibility and transfer restrictions.
- Confusing an easement with a license.
A strong answer identifies the estate, the conveyance, the recording act, and the competing equities in sequence.