SAEE SAEE Property Rights and Legal Considerations 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A property owner builds a fence that encroaches 2 feet onto a neighbor's land. After 15 years of open, notorious, and continuous use without the neighbor's objection, the fence builder may acquire legal title through:
- Adverse possession (Correct answer)
- Eminent domain
- Easement by necessity
- Constructive notice
Correct answer: Adverse possession
Adverse possession allows a person to claim title to land they have openly and continuously occupied for the statutory period without the owner's permission.
Question 2: Which type of deed provides the GREATEST protection to a buyer because the grantor warrants title against all defects, even those arising before the grantor owned the property?
- Special warranty deed
- General warranty deed (Correct answer)
- Quitclaim deed
- Bargain and sale deed
Correct answer: General warranty deed
A general warranty deed guarantees the title against all defects and encumbrances throughout the entire chain of title, not just during the grantor's ownership.
Question 3: A homeowner receives notice that the city plans to widen a road, requiring acquisition of a 10-foot strip of their front yard. The city must pay the owner fair market value under the legal principle of:
- Police power
- Escheat
- Just compensation (Correct answer)
- Subordination
Correct answer: Just compensation
The Fifth Amendment requires the government to pay just compensation when taking private property for public use through eminent domain.
Question 4: An appraiser discovers that a property has a recorded easement allowing a utility company to run power lines across the backyard. This type of encumbrance is BEST described as:
- An easement in gross (Correct answer)
- An easement appurtenant
- A license
- A profit à prendre
Correct answer: An easement in gross
An easement in gross benefits a specific entity (the utility company) rather than a neighboring property, making the company the holder regardless of land ownership.
Question 5: Under USPAP, which of the following would constitute a 'departing from' assignment condition that an appraiser must disclose?
- Using the sales comparison approach only
- Declining to inspect the subject property interior
- Providing a range of values instead of a point estimate
- Limiting the scope of work at the client's request (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Limiting the scope of work at the client's request
When a client requests a limited scope of work that departs from USPAP's typical requirements, the appraiser must clearly disclose this limitation in the report.
Question 6: A landlord and tenant sign a lease that does not specify an end date but requires monthly rent payments. This arrangement is classified as a:
- Tenancy for years
- Tenancy at sufferance
- Periodic tenancy (Correct answer)
- Tenancy at will
Correct answer: Periodic tenancy
A periodic tenancy automatically renews for successive periods (month-to-month in this case) until either party provides proper notice to terminate.
Question 7: Which legal concept describes the right of a mortgage lender to sell a mortgaged property through court action when the borrower defaults on the loan?
- Defeasance
- Judicial foreclosure (Correct answer)
- Lis pendens
- Statutory redemption
Correct answer: Judicial foreclosure
Judicial foreclosure is the court-supervised process by which a lender enforces its lien rights and sells the collateral property after a borrower's default.
SAEE SAEE Property Rights and Legal Considerations 4
A property owner builds a fence that encroaches 2 feet onto a neighbor's land.
After 15 years of open, notorious, and continuous use without the neighbor's objection, the fence builder may acquire legal title through: