MD Bar Property Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Maryland, what is the default form of co-ownership when a deed conveys property to a married couple without specifying the tenancy?
- Tenancy by the entirety (Correct answer)
- Joint tenancy with right of survivorship
- Tenancy in common
- Community property
Correct answer: Tenancy by the entirety
Maryland presumes a tenancy by the entirety when property is conveyed to a married couple, giving each spouse survivorship rights and protection from individual creditors.
Question 2: Under Maryland law, what is the statutory period required to acquire title to land by adverse possession?
- 10 years
- 15 years
- 20 years (Correct answer)
- 25 years
Correct answer: 20 years
Maryland requires 20 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession to acquire title by adverse possession.
Question 3: A grantor conveys 'to A for life, then to B if B survives A.' What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?
- Vested remainder
- Contingent remainder (Correct answer)
- Executory interest
- Reversion
Correct answer: Contingent remainder
B's remainder is contingent because it is subject to the condition precedent that B survive A.
Question 4: Maryland uses which type of recording statute for real property conveyances?
- Pure race
- Pure notice
- Race-notice (Correct answer)
- First in time, first in right with no recording protection
Correct answer: Race-notice
Maryland is a race-notice jurisdiction, protecting a subsequent bona fide purchaser who takes without notice and records first.
Question 5: A landlord in Maryland fails to repair a serious defect that endangers the tenant's health after proper notice. Which remedy allows the tenant to pay rent into court until repairs are made?
- Constructive eviction
- Rent escrow (Correct answer)
- Self-help repair and deduct without limit
- Retaliatory eviction
Correct answer: Rent escrow
Maryland's rent escrow statute lets a tenant pay rent into court when a landlord fails to fix conditions that seriously threaten health or safety.
Question 6: Which of the following is required to create an easement by prescription in Maryland?
- Permission from the servient owner
- Adverse, exclusive, and uninterrupted use for 20 years (Correct answer)
- A written agreement signed by both parties
- Payment of property taxes on the servient estate
Correct answer: Adverse, exclusive, and uninterrupted use for 20 years
A prescriptive easement in Maryland requires adverse, exclusive, and uninterrupted use of another's land for 20 years.
Question 7: O conveys Blackacre 'to A and her heirs so long as the land is used as a farm.' What interest does O retain?
- Right of entry
- Possibility of reverter (Correct answer)
- Executory interest
- Nothing; A has a fee simple absolute
Correct answer: Possibility of reverter
The words 'so long as' create a fee simple determinable, leaving the grantor a possibility of reverter that operates automatically upon breach.
MD Bar Property Law 2
In Maryland, what is the default form of co-ownership when a deed conveys property to a married couple without specifying the tenancy?