WV Bar Real Property 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the common law, which future interest is retained by the grantor when conveying a fee simple determinable?
- Right of entry
- Possibility of reverter (Correct answer)
- Reversion
- Remainder
Correct answer: Possibility of reverter
A possibility of reverter automatically returns to the grantor when the condition in a fee simple determinable is violated.
Question 2: A deed conveying land 'to A and the heirs of her body' creates which type of estate under common law?
- Fee simple absolute
- Fee tail (Correct answer)
- Life estate
- Fee simple determinable
Correct answer: Fee tail
The words 'heirs of her body' at common law created a fee tail, an estate that passed to lineal descendants.
Question 3: Which of the following is NOT a requirement for adverse possession in West Virginia?
- Actual possession
- Open and notorious
- Payment of property taxes (Correct answer)
- Hostile and under claim of right
Correct answer: Payment of property taxes
West Virginia does not require payment of property taxes as an element of adverse possession, unlike some other states.
Question 4: Under the recording act in West Virginia, which type of act protects a subsequent purchaser who records first without notice of a prior unrecorded conveyance?
- Pure race statute
- Notice statute
- Race-notice statute (Correct answer)
- Shelter rule statute
Correct answer: Race-notice statute
West Virginia has a race-notice recording act, protecting subsequent bona fide purchasers who both lack notice AND record first.
Question 5: A landlord leases property to a tenant for one year. The tenant remains in possession after the lease expires and pays rent for another month, which the landlord accepts. What tenancy is created?
- Tenancy at sufferance
- Tenancy at will
- Periodic tenancy (Correct answer)
- Term of years tenancy
Correct answer: Periodic tenancy
When a holdover tenant pays rent and the landlord accepts it, a periodic tenancy is created, with the period determined by how rent is paid.
Question 6: Which doctrine allows a court to reform a deed when both parties to a transaction made a mutual mistake about the terms?
- Merger doctrine
- Equitable conversion
- Reformation (Correct answer)
- Estoppel by deed
Correct answer: Reformation
Reformation allows courts to correct written instruments like deeds to reflect the true agreement of the parties when mutual mistake is shown.
Question 7: Under the Statute of Frauds, which of the following agreements for the sale of real property does NOT need to be in writing to be enforceable?
- A two-year lease agreement
- A contract to purchase a home
- A short-term lease for less than one year (Correct answer)
- A deed of conveyance
Correct answer: A short-term lease for less than one year
Under the Statute of Frauds, leases for one year or less are generally exempt from the writing requirement.
WV Bar Real Property 1
Under the common law, which future interest is retained by the grantor when conveying a fee simple determinable?