OR Bar Property Law 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Oregon's recording act is best characterized as:
- A pure race statute protecting whoever records first regardless of notice
- A pure notice statute protecting a subsequent purchaser without notice
- A race-notice statute protecting a subsequent purchaser without notice who records first (Correct answer)
- A wild deed statute protecting any recorded instrument in the chain of title
Correct answer: A race-notice statute protecting a subsequent purchaser without notice who records first
Oregon's recording statute (ORS 93.640) is a race-notice statute — a subsequent purchaser prevails only if they take without actual or constructive notice of the prior conveyance AND record before the prior grantee.
Question 2: Under Oregon's race-notice statute, a subsequent bona fide purchaser defeats a prior unrecorded deed only if the purchaser:
- Pays fair market value and records first, regardless of actual knowledge of the prior deed
- Has no actual or constructive notice of the prior deed and records their deed first (Correct answer)
- Takes possession of the property before the prior grantee records
- Obtains a title insurance policy covering the prior unrecorded claim
Correct answer: Has no actual or constructive notice of the prior deed and records their deed first
Under a race-notice statute, the subsequent purchaser must both lack actual or constructive notice of the prior conveyance AND record before the prior grantee in order to prevail.
Question 3: Under Oregon's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (ORS 90.300), a landlord must return a tenant's security deposit within how many days after the tenancy ends?
- 14 days
- 21 days
- 31 days (Correct answer)
- 60 days
Correct answer: 31 days
ORS 90.300 requires Oregon landlords to return the security deposit or deliver an itemized written statement of deductions within 31 days after the tenancy terminates and the tenant vacates.
Question 4: A landlord's persistent failure to provide heat and hot water forces the tenant to abandon the premises. This is best described as:
- Actual eviction by the landlord
- Unlawful detainer by the tenant
- Constructive eviction (Correct answer)
- Summary possession proceeding
Correct answer: Constructive eviction
Constructive eviction occurs when the landlord's serious breach of the duty of habitability forces the tenant to vacate, entitling the tenant to terminate the lease and seek damages.
Question 5: In Oregon, the instrument most commonly used to secure a real estate loan is:
- A mortgage creating a lien in favor of the lender
- A deed of trust conveying title to a neutral trustee (Correct answer)
- A land contract retaining title in the seller until payoff
- A UCC-1 financing statement filed with the Secretary of State
Correct answer: A deed of trust conveying title to a neutral trustee
Oregon primarily uses deeds of trust (trust deeds) under the Oregon Trust Deed Act (ORS Chapter 86), which involves a trustor, a trustee holding title, and a beneficiary lender.
Question 6: After a non-judicial trustee's sale of an Oregon trust deed, the former homeowner generally:
- Has a 12-month statutory right to redeem the property by paying the sale price
- Has a 6-month right of redemption available to residential borrowers
- Has no statutory right of redemption once the trustee's sale is completed (Correct answer)
- May redeem within 180 days by paying the outstanding loan balance plus costs
Correct answer: Has no statutory right of redemption once the trustee's sale is completed
Oregon does not provide a post-sale statutory right of redemption in non-judicial foreclosures under ORS Chapter 86; the trustee's sale extinguishes all redemption rights of the former owner.
Question 7: The implied warranty of habitability in a residential lease obligates the landlord to:
- Ensure the property is free from all defects, however minor, throughout the tenancy
- Maintain the premises in a condition fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy (Correct answer)
- Disclose all known defects to the tenant before executing the lease
- Repair any damage caused by the tenant at the landlord's expense
Correct answer: Maintain the premises in a condition fit for human habitation throughout the tenancy
The implied warranty of habitability requires landlords to maintain residential premises in a safe and livable condition — covering essentials such as heat, plumbing, and structural integrity — throughout the lease term.
OR Bar Property Law 3
Oregon's recording act is best characterized as: