CO Bar Property Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A grantor conveys land "to A for life, then to B if B survives A." What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?
- A contingent remainder (Correct answer)
- A vested remainder
- An executory interest
- A reversion
Correct answer: A contingent remainder
B's remainder is contingent because it is subject to the condition precedent that B survive A.
Question 2: A neighbor openly uses a path across another's Colorado land continuously for 20 years without permission. What has the neighbor most likely acquired?
- A prescriptive easement (Correct answer)
- Fee simple title by adverse possession
- A license
- An easement by necessity
Correct answer: A prescriptive easement
Open, continuous, adverse use (not possession) for the statutory period creates a prescriptive easement, not title.
Question 3: Under a race-notice recording statute, a subsequent purchaser prevails over a prior unrecorded deed only if the purchaser does what?
- Takes without notice and records first (Correct answer)
- Records first, regardless of notice
- Takes without notice, regardless of recording
- Pays the highest price for the land
Correct answer: Takes without notice and records first
A race-notice statute protects a subsequent bona fide purchaser only if she both lacks notice and wins the race to record.
Question 4: Two joint tenants own Blackacre. One secretly conveys her interest to a third party. What is the state of title after the conveyance?
- The third party and remaining owner hold as tenants in common (Correct answer)
- The third party and remaining owner hold as joint tenants
- The conveyance is void without the co-tenant's consent
- The remaining owner takes the whole by survivorship
Correct answer: The third party and remaining owner hold as tenants in common
A joint tenant's inter vivos conveyance severs the joint tenancy as to that share, creating a tenancy in common with the grantee.
Question 5: A tenant with a valid one-year lease remains in possession after the term ends, and the landlord accepts the next month's rent. What tenancy is created in most jurisdictions?
- A periodic tenancy measured by the rent payment (Correct answer)
- A new one-year term of years
- A tenancy at will
- A tenancy at sufferance that continues indefinitely
Correct answer: A periodic tenancy measured by the rent payment
Accepting rent from a holdover tenant generally creates a periodic tenancy based on how rent is paid.
Question 6: A deed contains the covenant of seisin, covenant against encumbrances, and covenant of right to convey. These covenants are classified as what?
- Present covenants breached, if at all, at delivery (Correct answer)
- Future covenants that run with the land
- Equitable servitudes
- Implied warranties of habitability
Correct answer: Present covenants breached, if at all, at delivery
Seisin, right to convey, and against encumbrances are present covenants breached only at the moment of delivery.
Question 7: A buyer signs a contract to purchase a home, and the house burns down before closing through no one's fault. Under the majority equitable conversion rule, who bears the risk of loss?
- The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing (Correct answer)
- The seller, because legal title has not yet passed
- Both parties share the loss equally
- Neither; the contract is automatically rescinded
Correct answer: The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing
Under equitable conversion, the buyer holds equitable title once the contract is signed and therefore bears the risk of loss.
CO Bar Property Law 2
A grantor conveys land "to A for life, then to B if B survives A." What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?