Real Property Law Flashcards
7 cards from real NYLE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Real Property Law flashcards as text
A purchaser of New York real property discovers a prior unrecorded deed in the chain of title only after closing. Under the recording act, the purchaser is protected if they:
Answer: Had no actual or constructive notice and recorded first
New York's race-notice recording statute protects a bona fide purchaser for value who takes without notice and records before the prior claimant.
Under New York law, a landlord's failure to maintain a residential rental unit in habitable condition may give the tenant the right to:
Answer: Withhold rent and assert the breach of the warranty of habitability as a defense or counterclaim for a rent abatement
RPL 235-b implies a warranty of habitability in every residential lease. On breach, the tenant may withhold rent and raise the breach as a defense or counterclaim to a nonpayment proceeding, seeking a rent abatement; New York has no general statutory repair-and-deduct remedy.
Which of the following is NOT a method by which an easement can be terminated in New York?
Answer: Non-use for 10 years
In New York, mere non-use of an easement does not extinguish it; termination requires abandonment (non-use plus intent to abandon) or another recognized method.
Under New York's mortgage foreclosure law, a judicial foreclosure sale must be confirmed by:
Answer: The court that issued the foreclosure judgment
New York requires judicial foreclosure, and the court retains jurisdiction to confirm (or refuse to confirm) the foreclosure sale to protect against unconscionably low bids.
A deed restriction prohibits the use of land for commercial purposes. If a subsequent owner uses the land commercially, the prior owner's remedy under New York equity is:
Answer: An injunction to enforce the equitable servitude
An equitable servitude (restrictive covenant enforceable in equity) allows the original covenantee or successors to seek injunctive relief against violating owners.
In New York, which party bears the risk of loss if a house is destroyed by fire after the contract is signed but before closing, when neither legal title nor possession has passed and the contract is silent?
Answer: The seller, under General Obligations Law 5-1311
GOL 5-1311 (Uniform Vendor and Purchaser Risk Act) places the risk of material loss on the vendor while neither legal title nor possession has been transferred to the purchaser; the purchaser may recover amounts paid. Once title or possession passes, the purchaser bears the risk. This displaces the common-law equitable conversion rule.
Under New York law, a mechanic's lien filed by a contractor must generally be enforced by commencing a foreclosure action within:
Answer: 1 year of filing
New York's Lien Law requires a mechanic's lien claimant to commence a foreclosure action within one year of filing the notice of lien, or the lien is extinguished.