Property Law Flashcards

O conveys Blackacre "to A for life, then to B and her heirs if B survives A." What interest does B hold during A's lifetime?

Answer: A contingent remainder

B's remainder is contingent because it is subject to the condition precedent that B survive A.

A landowner in Ohio openly farms a neighbor's strip of land, believing it is his own, continuously for 21 years. Which element of adverse possession does his mistaken belief affect?

Answer: None — Ohio applies an objective standard of hostility

Ohio, like most states, uses an objective test for hostility, so a mistaken but non-permissive occupation still satisfies the element.

A tenant with a one-year lease remains in the apartment after the term ends, and the landlord accepts the next month's rent check. What tenancy is most likely created?

Answer: A periodic tenancy

Acceptance of rent from a holdover tenant generally converts the tenancy at sufferance into a periodic tenancy measured by the rent payment interval.

A deed is delivered to a grantee but never recorded, and the grantor later sells the same parcel to a bona fide purchaser who records first. Under Ohio's race-notice recording statute, who prevails?

Answer: The bona fide purchaser, because she took without notice and recorded first

Under a race-notice statute, a subsequent purchaser who takes without notice and records first defeats the prior unrecorded deed.

A homeowner grants her neighbor a written easement to cross her driveway. The neighbor later buys the homeowner's lot, then sells it again a year later. What happened to the easement?

Answer: It was extinguished by merger and does not automatically revive

When the dominant and servient estates come into common ownership, the easement is extinguished by merger and is not revived by a later severance.

A buyer signs a contract to purchase a home, and the house burns down before closing through no fault of either party. Under the majority doctrine of equitable conversion, who bears the loss?

Answer: The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing

Under equitable conversion, the buyer holds equitable title from the moment of contracting and therefore bears the risk of loss before closing in majority jurisdictions.

A joint tenant secretly conveys her interest to a third party. What is the effect on the joint tenancy in a lien-theory state like Ohio?

Answer: The conveyance severs the joint tenancy as to that share, creating a tenancy in common with the buyer

An inter vivos conveyance by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy as to that interest, leaving the grantee as a tenant in common.