VT Bar VT Bar Property 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A restrictive covenant runs with the land and binds successors if which of the following requirements is met?
- The covenant is oral
- The covenant is in writing, the original parties intended it to run, and there is privity of estate (Correct answer)
- The covenant is reasonable
- The covenant is recorded in the town land records
Correct answer: The covenant is in writing, the original parties intended it to run, and there is privity of estate
For a restrictive covenant to run with the land, it must be in writing, the parties must have intended it to run, it must touch and concern the land, and there must be horizontal and vertical privity of estate.
Question 2: Under Vermont law, a landlord's failure to maintain rental property in a habitable condition gives the tenant which remedy?
- Only the right to terminate the lease
- Only the right to sue for damages
- Rent withholding, repair and deduct, termination, or damages under the implied warranty of habitability (Correct answer)
- No remedy unless the lease expressly provides one
Correct answer: Rent withholding, repair and deduct, termination, or damages under the implied warranty of habitability
Vermont's implied warranty of habitability (9 V.S.A. § 4457) provides tenants with multiple remedies including rent withholding, repair and deduct, lease termination, and damages.
Question 3: A mortgage in Vermont is which type of instrument?
- A title theory mortgage where legal title passes to the lender
- A lien theory mortgage where the borrower retains title (Correct answer)
- An absolute deed conveying ownership
- A lease with purchase option
Correct answer: A lien theory mortgage where the borrower retains title
Vermont follows the lien theory of mortgages, meaning the mortgagor retains legal title and the mortgage creates only a lien in favor of the lender.
Question 4: The Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP) invalidates a future interest that might not vest within which time period?
- 10 years
- 21 years after a life in being at creation (Correct answer)
- A life in being plus 10 years
- 100 years
Correct answer: 21 years after a life in being at creation
The common law RAP voids any interest that might not vest, if at all, within a life in being at the creation of the interest plus 21 years.
Question 5: In Vermont, which document transfers title to real property from seller to buyer?
- A mortgage
- A deed (Correct answer)
- A bill of sale
- A contract of sale
Correct answer: A deed
A deed is the legal instrument that transfers title to real property in Vermont.
Question 6: Under Vermont's Act 250, large-scale land development requires which type of approval?
- A zoning variance
- A conditional use permit
- An Act 250 land use permit (Correct answer)
- A subdivision plat approval
Correct answer: An Act 250 land use permit
Vermont's Act 250 (10 V.S.A. Chapter 151) requires a land use permit for developments meeting certain size thresholds, reviewed under 10 environmental criteria.
VT Bar VT Bar Property 2
A restrictive covenant runs with the land and binds successors if which of the following requirements is met?