MA Bar Property 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Massachusetts's recording act, which type of act does Massachusetts use to protect subsequent purchasers?
- Pure race statute
- Race-notice statute (Correct answer)
- Pure notice statute
- Shelter doctrine only
Correct answer: Race-notice statute
Massachusetts is a race-notice jurisdiction: a subsequent purchaser is protected against prior unrecorded interests only if they recorded first AND took without notice of the prior interest.
Question 2: An easement appurtenant benefits:
- A specific individual personally, regardless of land ownership
- The dominant tenement and runs with the land (Correct answer)
- The public generally
- The servient estate owner
Correct answer: The dominant tenement and runs with the land
An easement appurtenant is attached to and benefits the dominant estate, running with that land so that subsequent owners of the dominant parcel automatically hold the easement.
Question 3: Under the implied warranty of habitability in residential leases, a landlord's duty requires:
- The premises to be in perfect condition at all times
- Maintaining the premises in a condition fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy (Correct answer)
- Only repairing defects the tenant reports in writing
- Only compliance with local building codes at lease inception
Correct answer: Maintaining the premises in a condition fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy
The implied warranty of habitability requires landlords to maintain rental property in a condition fit for human habitation throughout the lease, covering essential facilities and compliance with housing codes.
Question 4: Under a purchase and sale agreement in Massachusetts, the seller typically must deliver marketable title. Marketable title means:
- Title insured by a title insurance company
- Title free from reasonable doubt, liens, and encumbrances that would subject a buyer to litigation (Correct answer)
- Title recorded in the registry of deeds for at least 10 years
- Title approved by the local municipality
Correct answer: Title free from reasonable doubt, liens, and encumbrances that would subject a buyer to litigation
Marketable title is title that a reasonable purchaser would accept—free from reasonable doubt, significant encumbrances, and risk of litigation.
Question 5: A life tenant has the right to use the property but is prohibited from committing waste. Which of the following is permissive waste?
- Voluntarily destroying improvements on the property
- Failing to maintain the property, allowing it to fall into disrepair (Correct answer)
- Granting a lease longer than the life tenant's interest
- Opening a new mine on the property
Correct answer: Failing to maintain the property, allowing it to fall into disrepair
Permissive waste occurs when a life tenant fails to take reasonable steps to maintain the property, allowing deterioration that reduces its value for the remainderman.
Question 6: A zoning variance is granted when a property owner shows:
- The current zoning is inconsistent with neighboring parcels
- Strict application of the zoning ordinance would cause unnecessary hardship unique to the property (Correct answer)
- The property could be more profitable under different zoning
- A majority of neighbors support the change
Correct answer: Strict application of the zoning ordinance would cause unnecessary hardship unique to the property
A variance requires proof that strict zoning compliance would cause unnecessary hardship unique to the property—not shared by the neighborhood generally—and that the variance would not harm the public interest.
MA Bar Property 2
Under Massachusetts's recording act, which type of act does Massachusetts use to protect subsequent purchasers?