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Property-Only practice questions

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Question 1Property Ownership and Interests

A fee simple absolute estate in land is best described as which of the following?

  1. An estate that automatically reverts to the grantor after a fixed term of years
  2. An estate that endures indefinitely with no attached condition and is freely inheritable Correct answer.
  3. An estate held subject to a mandatory future condition that may terminate it
  4. An estate that lasts only for the life of the current holder

Explanation

Fee simple absolute is the largest estate recognized at common law: it has no fixed duration, no terminating condition, and passes by inheritance or devise. Because it is absolute, no future interest remains in the grantor after conveyance.

Question 2Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor conveys "to Alma and her heirs, but if the property is ever used for commercial purposes, the grantor may re-enter and retake it." What estate does Alma hold?

  1. Life estate pur autre vie
  2. Fee simple subject to condition subsequent Correct answer.
  3. Fee simple determinable
  4. Fee simple absolute

Explanation

Language creating a right of re-entry on breach signals a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, and the grantor keeps a power of termination. A determinable estate would instead use words such as "so long as" or "until" that end the estate automatically.

Question 3Property Ownership and Interests

Which of the following is a future interest retained by a grantor rather than created in a third party?

  1. Possibility of reverter Correct answer.
  2. Estate in reversion following a term of years
  3. Remainder
  4. Executory interest

Explanation

A possibility of reverter is retained automatically by the grantor when conveying a fee simple determinable. Remainders and executory interests are held by grantees, while a reversion arises only when the grantor keeps a leftover portion of the estate.

Question 4Property Ownership and Interests

Two siblings own a parcel as joint tenants with right of survivorship. One sibling conveys her interest to a stranger while both are alive. What is the result?

  1. The joint tenancy continues unchanged because conveyances are void
  2. The remaining sibling automatically owns the whole parcel
  3. The joint tenancy is severed and the parties hold as tenants in common Correct answer.
  4. The stranger becomes a joint tenant with the remaining sibling

Explanation

A joint tenant's unilateral conveyance of her share destroys the four unities and severs the joint tenancy as to that share. The grantee and the remaining owner then hold as tenants in common, with no right of survivorship between them.

Question 5Property Ownership and Interests

Under the traditional common law, a tenancy by the entirety can be created only between which parties?

  1. Any two persons who take title together with equal shares
  2. Business partners who expressly agree to a right of survivorship
  3. A parent and adult child who share a residence
  4. A husband and wife who take title as a married couple Correct answer.

Explanation

Tenancy by the entirety is a marital estate requiring unity of person, so it arises only when spouses take title together. It also requires the unities of time, title, interest, and possession shared with joint tenancy.

Question 6Property Ownership and Interests

A landowner grants a neighbor "the right to cross my driveway to reach the public road, to run with the neighbor's land." What interest has been created?

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

Explanation

An easement appurtenant benefits the holder's use of a particular parcel, here the neighbor's land, and passes with that land. An easement in gross benefits a person without a dominant estate, and a profit involves taking resources from the land.

Question 7Property Ownership and Interests

A person who wrongfully possesses another's land without permission and without color of title holds what type of possession?

  1. Adverse possession under color of title
  2. Possession under a claim of right Correct answer.
  3. Tacking possession
  4. Possession by a cotenant

Explanation

Possession under a claim of right describes an occupant who treats the land as her own without any written instrument. Color of title requires a defective written document, and tacking refers to combining successive periods of possession.

Question 8Property Ownership and Interests

A deed is delivered to a grantee but the grantor never signs it and no acknowledgment is attached. Which statement is most accurate?

  1. The deed conveys title but is unrecordable and vulnerable to later purchasers
  2. The deed is valid only if recorded within thirty days
  3. The deed is valid against all later purchasers regardless of recording
  4. The deed is invalid because a signature is essential to a valid conveyance Correct answer.

Explanation

Under ordinary U.S. deed-execution requirements, the grantor's signature is essential to convey title. Delivery does not cure the missing signature. Acknowledgment is a separate issue that ordinarily affects recordability, so the unsigned deed cannot be treated as a valid but merely unrecordable conveyance.

Question 9Property Ownership and Interests

An owner holds title to a lakeside parcel but the state holds an easement allowing the public to walk along the shore. The owner's estate is best characterized as which of the following?

  1. Fee simple absolute burdened by an easement Correct answer.
  2. Life estate with a remainder
  3. Fee simple subject to an executory limitation
  4. Fee simple determinable

Explanation

The owner retains full fee simple title, but the public easement is a nonpossessory interest that burdens the land without reducing the estate's duration. An easement does not make the fee defeasible or convert it into a life estate.

Question 10Property Ownership and Interests

Grantor conveys "to Beth for life, then to Beth's heirs." What interest do Beth's heirs hold during Beth's lifetime?

  1. A contingent remainder subject to survival
  2. A vested remainder in fee simple Correct answer.
  3. A remainder in fee simple subject to open
  4. Nothing, because the heirs are unascertainable until Beth dies

Explanation

Under the doctrine of worthier title, a remainder to the grantor's own heirs is void, but here the remainder is to the life tenant's heirs, who are ascertained at Beth's death. Because the heirs are not yet determined, the interest is a contingent remainder in fee simple, not a vested one, so the best option among those given is that the heirs take nothing until ascertainment.

Question 11Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor delivers a deed "to Carla for life, then to the first of Carla's children to graduate from college." Carla has one child who has not yet graduated. What is the state of title?

  1. Carla has a fee simple determinable and the child has a possibility of reverter
  2. Carla has a fee simple subject to executory limitation
  3. Carla has a life estate and the grantor has a reversion Correct answer.
  4. Carla has a life estate and the child has a vested remainder

Explanation

The remainder in the child is contingent because the condition of graduation is unfulfilled, and no one is yet ascertained to take. If the contingency fails entirely, the grantor's reversion fills the gap, so the grantor retains a reversion during Carla's life estate.

Question 12Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor conveys land "to the city, but if the land is ever used for anything other than a park, the grantor or the grantor's heirs may re-enter." The grantor later dies intestate. Who holds the power of termination?

  1. The state, because the condition concerns public use
  2. The grantor's heirs, because the interest is inheritable Correct answer.
  3. The city, because the condition merged into the fee
  4. No one, because the power terminated at the grantor's death

Explanation

A power of termination, also called a right of entry, is a transferable and devisable future interest held by the grantor. If the grantor dies, the interest passes to heirs or devisees, who may enforce the condition.

Question 13Property Ownership and Interests

A husband and wife hold title as tenants by the entirety. The husband alone executes a mortgage on the property without the wife's joinder. What is the effect?

  1. The mortgage is valid but only during the husband's lifetime
  2. The mortgage conveys a valid half interest in fee simple
  3. The mortgage is void as to the wife's interest and generally unenforceable against the property Correct answer.
  4. The mortgage severs the tenancy and creates a tenancy in common

Explanation

A tenancy by the entirety protects each spouse from unilateral encumbrance, so one spouse cannot mortgage the property without the other's consent. A mortgage executed by only one spouse is generally invalid as to the property, though some jurisdictions allow it to reach the debtor spouse's survivorship interest.

Question 14Property Ownership and Interests

Three people take title as joint tenants. One dies, leaving her interest by will to a friend. What happens to that interest?

  1. The friend receives a one-third interest as tenant in common
  2. The decedent's estate holds the share until probate closes
  3. The surviving joint tenants take the decedent's share by survivorship Correct answer.
  4. The friend receives a one-third interest as joint tenant

Explanation

The right of survivorship operates automatically at a joint tenant's death, so the decedent's share never passes through the will. The two survivors continue as joint tenants in the whole, and the friend takes nothing.

Question 15Property Ownership and Interests

A tenant in common pays the entire property tax bill on the jointly owned parcel. What is the tenant's usual right against the co-tenant?

  1. No right, because each co-tenant must pay all taxes
  2. Contribution for the co-tenant's proportionate share Correct answer.
  3. Reimbursement only if the co-tenant occupied the property
  4. A lien on the co-tenant's share that matures after five years

Explanation

A co-tenant who pays more than her share of carrying costs such as taxes or mortgage interest is generally entitled to contribution from the others. The paying tenant may also seek a lien on the others' shares in a partition action.

Question 16Property Ownership and Interests

An easement is granted "to the utility company, its successors and assigns, for power lines across the parcel." The utility later sells its business. What type of easement is this, and does it transfer?

  1. An easement in gross that is commercial and therefore assignable Correct answer.
  2. An easement appurtenant that passes automatically with the dominant estate
  3. An easement by necessity that ends when the need ceases
  4. A prescriptive easement that cannot be transferred

Explanation

An easement benefiting an entity rather than a parcel is an easement in gross, and a commercial easement in gross is generally assignable. The express reference to successors and assigns reinforces transferability.

Question 17Property Ownership and Interests

A landowner has used a path across a neighbor's land openly and continuously for the statutory period, believing he had a right to do so. The neighbor now sues to bar the use. What is the likely result?

  1. The landowner has an easement by necessity
  2. The landowner has a prescriptive easement because the use was open, continuous, and adverse Correct answer.
  3. The landowner has only a revocable license
  4. The landowner has acquired fee title by adverse possession

Explanation

Open, continuous, adverse use for the statutory period creates a prescriptive easement limited to the use made, not full ownership. A belief in the right to use is consistent with adverseness in most jurisdictions, though some require intentional trespass.

Question 18Property Ownership and Interests

A recorded covenant restricts lots in a subdivision to single-family residential use. A buyer purchases a lot with actual notice of the restriction. Which statement is correct?

  1. The covenant is unenforceable because it restricts alienation
  2. The covenant is void unless the buyer signed the original declaration
  3. The covenant binds only the original developer
  4. The covenant binds the buyer because it runs with the land and is enforceable by other lot owners Correct answer.

Explanation

A covenant that touches and concerns the land, shows intent to bind successors, and provides notice runs with the land at law. Other lot owners in a common scheme may enforce it as a reciprocal negative servitude, even against a purchaser who did not sign.

Question 19Property Ownership and Interests

An owner grants a neighbor an express easement for drainage. The neighbor later sells her parcel. What happens to the easement?

  1. It passes with the dominant estate if it is appurtenant Correct answer.
  2. It terminates because easements are personal to the original grantee
  3. It becomes an easement in gross upon sale
  4. It converts into a license

Explanation

An appurtenant easement benefits the dominant parcel and passes automatically when that parcel is conveyed, even if the deed does not mention it. Only an easement in gross is personal to the holder.

Question 20Property Ownership and Interests

A mortgagor defaults and the lender forecloses. A junior lienholder is joined in the foreclosure action. What is the effect on the junior lien?

  1. The junior lien is automatically assigned to the purchaser
  2. The junior lien is extinguished by the foreclosure Correct answer.
  3. The junior lien survives foreclosure and remains on the property
  4. The junior lien converts into an ownership share

Explanation

A foreclosure extinguishes all liens junior to the foreclosing mortgage if those lienholders are joined as parties. Senior liens survive because the foreclosure does not affect interests ahead of the mortgage.

Question 21Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor deeds land "to Dana and the heirs of Dana's body." Under the traditional rule in most jurisdictions today, what estate does Dana hold?

  1. A fee simple absolute Correct answer.
  2. A fee simple subject to executory limitation
  3. A life estate with a remainder to Dana's issue
  4. A fee tail

Explanation

Most states have abolished the fee tail and converted it into a fee simple, often by statute. Even where the fee tail survives, a common conversion treats the first taker as holding a fee simple.

Question 22Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor conveys Blackacre "to Evan for life, then to the oldest of Evan's children then living." Evan has two children, one older. What interest does the older child hold?

  1. A vested remainder subject to open
  2. An executory interest
  3. A contingent remainder because the taker is unascertained
  4. A vested remainder subject to divestment Correct answer.

Explanation

The older child is presently ascertained and ready to take on Evan's death, so the remainder is vested. Because a younger child could later become the oldest living child at Evan's death, the older child's interest is subject to divestment.

Question 23Property Ownership and Interests

A developer records a declaration imposing identical setback and use restrictions on all 100 lots, then sells them over several years. A remote purchaser of lot 47, with record notice, wants to build a commercial kennel. Which doctrine most directly allows other lot owners to enforce the restriction?

  1. Reciprocal negative servitude Correct answer.
  2. Easement by estoppel
  3. Doctrine of merger
  4. Rule against perpetuities

Explanation

A common scheme of development creates reciprocal negative servitudes, allowing any lot owner to enforce the restrictions against another. The doctrine requires a general plan, notice, and comparable burdens on the lots.

Question 24Property Ownership and Interests

A landowner dies intestate survived by a spouse and two children from a prior marriage. Under a typical statute, how does the property descend?

  1. Entirely to the two children in equal shares
  2. To the spouse and children in shares set by the statute, often with the spouse receiving a specified portion Correct answer.
  3. To the state by escheat because of the blended family
  4. Entirely to the surviving spouse

Explanation

Intestacy statutes distribute property according to a fixed formula that varies by jurisdiction, often giving the surviving spouse a share and the children the remainder. The presence of children from a prior marriage does not trigger escheat.

Question 25Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor conveys "to the Fairview School Board so long as the parcel is used for a school, and if it ceases to be so used, to the City Library." The school board later closes the school. Who takes the parcel?

  1. The City Library, by executory interest Correct answer.
  2. The school board retains a fee simple absolute
  3. The grantor, by possibility of reverter
  4. The grantor, by right of re-entry

Explanation

The grantor created a fee simple determinable in the school board followed by an executory interest in the library. When the durational event occurs, the estate shifts automatically to the holder of the executory interest without any action by the grantor.

Question 26Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor conveys a parcel "to the Rivera Community Trust, its successors and assigns, so long as the land is used as a community garden." The trust later converts the parcel into a paved parking lot. What interest did the grantor retain in this conveyance?

  1. A right of entry, which the grantor must affirmatively exercise by re-entering the land
  2. An easement of way, because the grantor retains access across the parcel
  3. A possibility of reverter, which becomes possessory automatically upon the breach of the stated condition Correct answer.
  4. A reversion, since the trust's estate is measured by the life of the garden

Explanation

A fee simple subject to a condition subsequent differs from a fee simple determinable: the latter ends automatically when the stated event occurs, leaving the grantor a possibility of reverter that needs no action to become possessory. The words "so long as" are the classic durational language creating a determinable fee. Because the trust's estate terminated by its own terms, the grantor's interest arises without any entry or lawsuit.

Question 27Property Ownership and Interests

A grantor executes and delivers a deed conveying a farm "to my brother Luis and his heirs, but if the farm is ever sold outside the family, then to the town library." Luis wishes to mortgage the farm to a bank. Which statement best describes Luis's estate?

  1. Luis holds a fee simple subject to an executory limitation, and the library holds a shifting executory interest Correct answer.
  2. Luis holds a fee simple absolute, because the executory limitation is void as a restraint on alienation
  3. Luis holds a life estate pur autre vie, with the library holding a vested remainder
  4. Luis holds a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, and the grantor retains a right of entry

Explanation

Language granting a fee to one person but providing that the estate passes to a third party on a stated event creates a fee simple subject to an executory limitation. Because the future interest is held by someone other than the grantor and cuts short Luis's estate, it is a shifting executory interest in the library. Luis's estate is fully transferable and mortgageable while the condition remains unfulfilled, though the bank takes subject to the executory interest.

Question 28Property Ownership and Interests

Two siblings inherit a house as tenants in common, each holding an undivided one-half interest. One sibling wants to sell the house; the other refuses and continues living there alone. What is the refusing sibling's ownership interest and the usual remedy for the seller?

  1. The refusing sibling owns the whole house by survivorship, and the seller has no remedy until the occupant dies
  2. The refusing sibling owns a life estate measured by occupancy, and the seller holds only a remainder
  3. The refusing sibling owns an undivided half interest, and the seller may bring a partition action to sever the cotenancy Correct answer.
  4. The refusing sibling owns a divided half of the house and the seller may partition the structure physically as of right

Explanation

Tenants in common each own an undivided fractional share with no right of survivorship, and each may convey or encumber that share freely. A cotenant who cannot agree on sale may bring an action for partition, which results either in a physical division or, more commonly for a single house, a court-ordered sale with the proceeds split. Co-occupancy alone gives the occupying cotenant no greater estate than the others.

Question 29Property Ownership and Interests

An owner deeds a parcel "to the Alvarez family trust for twenty years, then to my niece Priya." The trust operates a nursery on the parcel and, in year five, assigns its entire interest to a landscaping company for the remaining fifteen years. Which statement is correct?

  1. The assignment is invalid because the trust's estate is a fee simple subject to an executory limitation
  2. The assignment is valid, but Priya may terminate it because the transfer triggered the rule against perpetuities
  3. The assignment is valid, and Priya's remainder becomes possessory when the twenty-year term ends Correct answer.
  4. The assignment is invalid because a term of years cannot be transferred without the grantor's consent

Explanation

An estate for a fixed term of years is freely alienable unless the creating instrument restricts transfer, so the trust may assign the balance of its term. Priya holds a vested remainder that becomes possessory automatically when the term expires, regardless of who holds the leasehold. The rule against perpetuities is not implicated because Priya's interest must vest, if at all, at the end of a fixed twenty-year term.

Question 30Property Ownership and Interests

A landowner grants a neighbor an easement "for the passage of drainage water through the existing culvert across the landowner's parcel." The neighbor later widens the culvert and pipes additional runoff from a newly paved parking area. The landowner sues to enjoin the expanded use. What is the likely result?

  1. The landowner prevails, because express easements for drainage are limited to the exact volume of flow existing at creation
  2. The neighbor prevails, because an express drainage easement carries with it any use reasonably related to draining the parcel
  3. The landowner prevails, because an express easement may not be used beyond the scope defined by its terms without consent Correct answer.
  4. The neighbor prevails, because the servient owner may not interfere with an easement once it has been recorded

Explanation

The scope of an express easement is fixed by the language of the grant and the circumstances at creation, and the holder may not materially enlarge the burden on the servient estate. Increasing flow by paving new areas and enlarging the culvert exceeds a grant limited to water passing through the existing culvert. The servient owner may therefore enjoin the expanded use while the original drainage right continues.

Question 31Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A deed conveys Blackacre 'to Ana and her heirs, but if Ana ever sells liquor on the premises, then to the City of Riverton.' Which interest does the City of Riverton hold?

  1. A remainder subject to a condition precedent
  2. A fee simple subject to an executory limitation Correct answer.
  3. A reverter in the grantor's heirs
  4. An easement in gross for municipal purposes

Explanation

A fee simple subject to an executory limitation is created when a grantee holds a fee simple that is automatically divested in favor of a third party upon a stated event. Here the City is a third-party holder whose interest shifts automatically if Ana sells liquor, so the City holds a shifting executory interest. The City's interest is not a remainder because it does not follow a preceding freehold estate in the same grant.

Question 32Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

Omar grants Beth 'an easement for access to the lake across the north strip of my parcel.' Omar later sells the servient parcel to Priya, who builds a fence blocking the strip. Which statement is correct?

  1. The easement remains enforceable against Priya as an appurtenant easement Correct answer.
  2. The easement is void against Priya because it was not in her deed
  3. The easement binds Priya only if it was recorded before her purchase
  4. Priya may block the easement because she had no notice of it

Explanation

An express easement appurtenant runs with the land and binds successors to the servient estate who take with notice, actual, inquiry, or record. Because the easement was created in a writing and Priya took the burdened parcel subject to that interest, her fence is an interference with Beth's rights. The servient owner cannot unilaterally extinguish an easement by obstructing it.

Question 33Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

Which fact pattern creates an easement by necessity rather than an easement by implication from prior use?

  1. A driveway used openly for years continues after the owner sells the back lot
  2. A neighbor crosses a field with the owner's written permission each season
  3. A landlocked parcel is severed from a public road by a single owner's conveyance Correct answer.
  4. A utility company holds a recorded right to string lines over farmland

Explanation

An easement by necessity arises when strict necessity exists at the time of severance, most commonly where a conveyance leaves a parcel landlocked with no access to a public road. Implication from prior use instead requires a preexisting, apparent, and continuous use that the parties expected to continue, not strict necessity.

Question 34Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A mortgage lender records its deed of trust in January. In March, a judgment creditor dockets a lien against the same borrower. In June, the borrower grants a mechanic's lien claimant a recorded lien for work begun in February. Which priority rule governs between the mortgage and the mechanic's lien?

  1. First in time, so the January mortgage always prevails
  2. The mechanic's lien may relate back to the start of work and prime the mortgage Correct answer.
  3. Recording order, so the June mechanic's lien is last
  4. The judgment lien takes priority over both because it is judicial

Explanation

Many jurisdictions give mechanic's liens a relation-back priority to the commencement of visible work, which can prime a mortgage recorded after that work began. The mortgage recorded in January is prior to work begun in February, so relation back would not defeat it here, but the governing principle is relation back, not pure recording order. Priority among liens is resolved by statute and equity, not by a single first-in-time rule.

Question 35Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A property owner dies intestate leaving a surviving spouse and two adult children. Under a typical intestacy statute, which interest does the surviving spouse receive in the decedent's solely owned real property?

  1. A statutory share, often a fractional fee or a life estate plus a share Correct answer.
  2. A dower right measured by the value of the personalty
  3. A life estate with remainder to the children
  4. A fee simple absolute in all the real property

Explanation

Intestacy statutes typically give the surviving spouse a statutory share, frequently a fractional fee interest or a life estate in addition to a share of the residue, with the remainder passing to the children. The exact fraction varies by jurisdiction and by the number of children. The spouse does not automatically take everything when children survive.

Question 36Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

Rosa holds a life estate in a farm, remainder to her nephew. Rosa leases the farm for ten years and then dies in year two. Which statement about the lease is correct?

  1. The lease ends automatically when Rosa dies Correct answer.
  2. The lease is void because a life tenant cannot lease
  3. The lease continues only if the remainderman ratified it in writing
  4. The lease continues against the remainderman for its full term

Explanation

A life tenant may lease only for the duration of the measuring life; the leasehold cannot outlast the estate from which it was carved. When the life tenant dies, the lease terminates and the remainderman takes possession free of it. The tenant's remedy is against the life tenant's estate, not the remainderman.

Question 37Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A developer records a plat showing that every lot is restricted to single-family residential use. A buyer purchases a lot with actual knowledge of the restriction. Which doctrine most directly supports enforcement by any lot owner against the buyer?

  1. Easement by prescription
  2. Rule against perpetuities
  3. Equitable servitude running with the land Correct answer.
  4. Adverse possession

Explanation

A common scheme of development creates reciprocal negative servitudes, often enforced as equitable servitudes, allowing any lot owner to enforce the restriction against a purchaser with notice. The remedy is typically injunctive rather than damages. Actual or record notice satisfies the notice element.

Question 38Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor who owns a homestead. The state constitution protects the homestead from forced sale except for taxes, purchase money, and mechanics' liens. Which statement is correct?

  1. The creditor may force a sale if the debtor has other assets
  2. The judgment lien attaches but cannot be enforced while the homestead exemption applies Correct answer.
  3. The judgment lien attaches to the homestead and may be foreclosed immediately
  4. The judgment is void because homesteads are absolutely immune from all liens

Explanation

A judgment lien typically attaches to the debtor's real property, including a homestead, but foreclosure is barred while the homestead exemption protects the property. If the homestead protection later lapses, the previously attached lien may be enforced. The exemption limits remedy, not the attachment itself.

Question 39Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A landowner grants a neighbor 'the right to use my gravel road for ingress and egress to the neighbor's parcel.' The grant is silent on maintenance. Who bears the cost of reasonable repairs?

  1. The easement holder alone, because she uses the road
  2. The servient owner alone, because the road is on her land
  3. Neither party, because maintenance is not implied
  4. Both parties share the cost in proportion to their use Correct answer.

Explanation

When an express easement is silent on maintenance, the holder of the easement has a duty to contribute to reasonable repair costs, and the burden is generally apportioned according to relative use. The servient owner may also use the road and shares in the cost of necessary repairs. Neither party may make improvements that unreasonably increase the burden.

Question 40Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A seller conveys a parcel while retaining an adjacent parcel and reserves 'a perpetual right to cross the conveyed parcel to reach the highway.' The reservation is not mentioned in the buyer's deed. Which is the strongest basis for the buyer to defeat the reservation?

  1. The reservation is a reservation in favor of a stranger to the deed Correct answer.
  2. The reservation is unenforceable because it is perpetual
  3. The reservation is void because easements cannot be reserved
  4. The reservation fails because the buyer lacked notice

Explanation

At common law a grantor could not reserve an easement in favor of a third party who was a stranger to the deed, though modern statutes and case law often relax this rule. A reservation in favor of the grantor herself is generally valid. The stranger-to-the-deed doctrine is the doctrinal ground most directly aimed at this reservation.

Question 41Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A bank holds a first deed of trust. The borrower later grants a second deed of trust to another lender. The first lender forecloses. What happens to the second deed of trust?

  1. It converts into an unsecured claim against the property
  2. It survives foreclosure and remains on the property
  3. It is extinguished by the foreclosure sale Correct answer.
  4. It is automatically subordinated to the foreclosure purchaser

Explanation

A foreclosure of a senior lien extinguishes junior liens on the property, and the junior lienholder's claim shifts to the surplus proceeds of the sale. The purchaser at the senior foreclosure takes free of the junior deed of trust. The junior lender retains only a personal claim against the borrower for any deficiency.

Question 42Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

Two cotenants own a property as tenants in common. One cotenant occupies the whole property and pays all taxes and mortgage interest. The other cotenant sues for an accounting. Which amount is the occupying cotenant entitled to offset?

  1. Nothing, because cotenants owe no accounting to each other
  2. The cost of voluntary improvements that increased the property's value
  3. Necessary taxes and mortgage interest paid to preserve the property Correct answer.
  4. Full fair rental value of the other cotenant's share

Explanation

A cotenant in exclusive possession generally owes the nonpossessing cotenant a share of the reasonable rental value, but may offset necessary expenses such as taxes, mortgage interest, and repairs needed to preserve the property. Voluntary improvements are not fully offsettable absent agreement or court approval. The accounting nets these items.

Question 43Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A utility company holds an easement in gross for power lines across a farm. The farmer sells the farm to a new owner. Which statement is correct?

  1. The easement is personal to the original farmer and ends on sale
  2. The easement terminates because it is not appurtenant
  3. The easement converts into a license on transfer of the servient land
  4. The easement continues because it is held by the utility, not tied to any dominant parcel Correct answer.

Explanation

An easement in gross benefits its holder rather than a dominant parcel, and it is not defeated by transfer of the servient estate. Commercial easements in gross are generally assignable and survive changes in ownership of the burdened land. The utility's right continues until released, abandoned, or terminated by law.

Question 44Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A homeowner fails to pay a contractor for a kitchen remodel. The contractor files a mechanic's lien but misses the statutory deadline for filing suit to enforce it. What is the likely result?

  1. The lien remains valid indefinitely until the debt is paid
  2. The lien converts into a judgment lien automatically
  3. The lien is extinguished and the contractor retains only a contract claim Correct answer.
  4. The lien is extended by the pendency of negotiations

Explanation

Mechanic's lien statutes contain strict deadlines for perfecting and enforcing the lien, and failure to sue within the statutory period extinguishes the lien. The contractor may still sue on the underlying contract, subject to its own limitations period. The lien does not survive indefinitely or convert automatically.

Question 45Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A testator devises Blackacre 'to my brother for life, then to my brother's children who survive him.' At the testator's death, the brother has two living children. Which interest do the children hold?

  1. A contingent remainder in a class Correct answer.
  2. A remainder subject to a condition subsequent
  3. An executory interest shifting from the brother
  4. A vested remainder subject to open

Explanation

A remainder in favor of a class described as the life tenant's children who survive him is contingent because the members cannot be finally ascertained until the brother dies. Survivorship is a condition precedent to vesting. Because the remainder follows a life estate in the same grant, it is a remainder rather than an executory interest.

Question 46Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A landowner grants a neighbor an easement 'for so long as the neighbor maintains a fence along the boundary.' The neighbor later removes the fence and stops using the path. Which doctrine most directly terminates the easement?

  1. Merger
  2. Prescription
  3. Abandonment by nonuse alone
  4. Express durational limitation Correct answer.

Explanation

The words 'for so long as' make the easement determinable: its duration depends on continued fence maintenance. When the neighbor removes the fence, the express limitation fails and the easement ends by its terms. A condition subsequent would ordinarily require affirmative termination; mere nonuse alone is not the terminating event.

Question 47Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A homeowner's association seeks to enforce a covenant requiring roofs to be cedar shake against a buyer whose deed omitted the restriction but whose subdivision plat recorded it. Which requirement is most likely satisfied?

  1. Horizontal privity between the original covenanting parties
  2. Notice through the recorded plat Correct answer.
  3. Touch and concern the land
  4. Vertical privity between the successor and the original party

Explanation

For an equitable servitude to bind a successor, the successor must have notice, and recording the plat supplies constructive notice even if the individual deed omits the restriction. Horizontal and vertical privity are elements of real covenants at law, while equitable servitudes require notice and intent. Touch and concern is also required, but the question asks which requirement the recorded plat most directly satisfies.

Question 48Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A grantor conveys a parcel 'to A and her heirs, but if the land is ever used for commercial purposes, the grantor may re-enter and retake the land.' Which estate did A receive?

  1. Life estate with remainder to the grantor
  2. Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent Correct answer.
  3. Fee simple absolute
  4. Fee simple determinable

Explanation

Language giving the grantor a right of entry upon a stated event creates a fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, and the grantor retains a power of termination. A fee simple determinable instead uses words such as 'so long as' or 'while' and leaves the grantor a possibility of reverter. The distinguishing feature is the express right of re-entry.

Question 49Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A debtor owns two parcels, Parcel A and Parcel B. A creditor records a judgment lien against the debtor in the county where both parcels sit. The debtor then sells Parcel A to a bona fide purchaser for value. Which statement is correct?

  1. The judgment lien automatically shifts entirely to Parcel B
  2. The judgment lien is extinguished as to Parcel A if the purchaser took without notice and the statute protects BFP purchasers Correct answer.
  3. The judgment lien remains attached to Parcel A because it was recorded first
  4. The purchaser takes subject to the lien because judgment liens cannot be avoided

Explanation

Whether a judgment lien follows property into the hands of a subsequent purchaser depends on the jurisdiction's recording statute and whether the purchaser had notice. In many states a BFP who purchases before the lien is enforced takes free of the lien. The lien does not automatically concentrate on the remaining parcel.

Question 50Encumbrances, Liens, and Easements

A developer sells lots subject to a covenant that 'no lot shall be used for a commercial kennel.' A buyer of Lot 7, whose deed omits the covenant, learns of it from neighbors. The developer never imposed the restriction on Lot 8. Which argument most strongly defeats enforcement against the Lot 7 buyer?

  1. The common scheme was not uniform because a lot was exempted Correct answer.
  2. The buyer lacked horizontal privity with the developer
  3. The covenant violates the rule against perpetuities
  4. The covenant does not touch and concern the land

Explanation

Enforcement of reciprocal negative servitudes under a common scheme requires that the restriction be imposed on a sufficiently uniform set of lots. A deliberate exemption of a lot can defeat the inference of a common scheme, at least as to that lot. The touch and concern and privity elements are generally satisfied for use restrictions.