OR Bar Property Law 5

Question 1

Oregon allocates surface water rights primarily under:

Accepted Answer

The prior appropriation doctrine, awarding priority based on first beneficial use

Answer

Oregon follows the prior appropriation doctrine (ORS Chapter 537) — 'first in time, first in right' — under which water rights are based on the date of first beneficial use rather than land adjacency.

Question 2

A commercial building that was lawfully built before a new zoning ordinance was enacted but now violates the current zoning code is best described as:

Accepted Answer

A nonconforming use or structure allowed to continue despite the code change

Answer

A nonconforming use or structure predates the enactment of the zoning ordinance and is grandfathered in, though zoning law typically restricts expansion or reconstruction after substantial destruction.

Question 3

Under Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, a government regulation that denies a landowner all economically beneficial use of their land is:

Accepted Answer

A per se regulatory taking requiring just compensation unless the restriction inheres in background property law

Answer

Lucas established that a regulation eliminating all economic value of land is a categorical regulatory taking requiring just compensation, unless the restriction is grounded in background principles of nuisance or property law.

Question 4

Constructive notice in the recording system means a subsequent purchaser is legally charged with knowledge of:

Accepted Answer

All instruments properly recorded in the chain of title, whether or not actually read

Answer

Constructive notice is the legal imputation of knowledge of all properly recorded instruments in the chain of title, regardless of whether the subsequent purchaser actually searched or reviewed those records.

Question 5

Under the doctrine of merger in easement law, an easement is extinguished when:

Accepted Answer

The same person acquires fee simple ownership of both the dominant and servient estates

Answer

When one person acquires full ownership of both the dominant estate (benefited by the easement) and the servient estate (burdened by it), the easement merges into the fee and is extinguished.

(OR Bar) Oregon Bar Exam Practice Test

(OR Bar) Oregon Bar Exam Practice Test

OR Bar Property Law 5