Property Law Flashcards

O conveys "to A, but if A ever uses the land for commercial purposes, then to B." What interest does B hold?

Answer: A shifting executory interest

A future interest in a third party that cuts short a prior estate upon a condition is a shifting executory interest.

A tenant assigns her lease to an assignee, who later stops paying rent. Absent a release, whom may the landlord sue for the unpaid rent?

Answer: Both the original tenant and the assignee

The assignee is liable through privity of estate while the original tenant remains liable through privity of contract.

A South Carolina residential seller knows the home's crawl space floods every spring but says nothing to the buyer. What best describes the seller's disclosure obligation?

Answer: The seller must complete a statutory disclosure statement revealing known material defects

South Carolina's Residential Property Condition Disclosure Act requires sellers to disclose known material defects on a statutory form.

A fixture dispute arises when a commercial tenant seeks to remove specialized ovens it bolted into a leased bakery before the lease ends. What is the likely result?

Answer: The tenant may remove the trade fixtures if removal occurs before the lease ends and damage is repaired

Trade fixtures installed for a tenant's business may be removed before the tenancy ends provided the tenant repairs any resulting damage.

A grantor delivers a deed to an escrow agent with instructions to give it to the buyer upon full payment. The grantor dies before payment is complete, and the buyer then pays in full. Is the buyer's title valid?

Answer: Yes, because delivery relates back to the deposit in escrow

Under the relation-back doctrine, title passing through a valid commercial escrow relates back to the original deposit, surviving the grantor's death.

Which requirement must a plaintiff seeking to enforce a real covenant at law for money damages prove that a plaintiff seeking an equitable servitude need not?

Answer: Privity of estate

Real covenants enforced at law require horizontal and vertical privity, while equitable servitudes dispense with the privity requirement.

A city condemns a strip of private land for a road and offers compensation based on the land's value years before the taking. The owner objects. What measure of compensation does the Fifth Amendment require?

Answer: Fair market value at the time of the taking

Just compensation under the Fifth Amendment is measured by the property's fair market value at the time of the taking.