Blog

If you are using your own calculator, hold your permissible calculator up to the webcam, so its front/model number is clearly visible. If you are not using a permissible calculator, regardless of your uploaded pdf’s content, your Worksheet Grade will be a 0.

With your webcam, show BOTH sides of your blank answer sheet, to the camera.

I have not collaborated with others nor used any technological resources during this quiz. My answers are my own and were completed independently.  If the bold statement above is true, select “These answers are mine”. 

“Every conveyance of real estate shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser who takes without notice and provides value, unless the conveyance first is recorded.” This statute is an example of which type of recording act?

A seller contracted to convey her property to a buyer for $75,000. A title search revealed the following: (i) There were 25 years left on a lease of the property, which was recorded. The buyer agreed to take title subject to the lease but was not aware that the lease gave the lessee, his heirs, and assigns an option to purchase the land at any time before the end of the lease period. (ii) The roof of the garage on the property extended approximately one-half inch across the property line into the airspace of an adjoining neighbor. The garage did not interfere with any current or future use of the adjoining lot. (iii) The home on the property was subject to a $5,000 lien arising from a dispute involving some remodeling work. The seller promised to pay off the lien at closing with the proceeds from the sale. (iv) The property was subject to an easement by necessity in favor of the adjoining neighbor. Last month, the city extended the main road to the neighbor’s land, but the neighbor planned to continue to use the easement because it was more convenient. In a jurisdiction that has a standard race-notice recording statute and maintains the common law Rule Against Perpetuities without any modern statutory reformation, which encumbrance renders the seller’s title unmarketable?

Joe lived in a very large house for most of his life. When Joe retired, he wanted to downsize and so he made his house a birthday gift to his son, Ned. Joe gave Ned a quitclaim deed. Ned did not seem overly interested in the house and never made any attempt to move in. A few years passed and after viewing Ned’s attitude for many months, Joe again made a gift of the house, this time to his favorite charity, the American Red Cross. Joe provided the American Red Cross with a general warranty deed. The American Red Cross immediately recorded the deed. Who has the best title to the house, Ned or the American Red Cross?

Xavier owned Snowacre in fee simple absolute. Xavier and Roland entered into a purchase and sale agreement for Snowacre. The purchase price was $10,000. During the executory period, Roland conveyed Snowacre to Yasmin for $15,000, knowing that Snowacre would soon be his. Yasmin immediately recorded her deed. A few days later, Xavier delivered a general warranty deed to Roland for Snowacre. Roland recorded his Xavier-to-Roland deed and quickly thereafter advertised Snowacre for sale in a local paper. Martha purchased Snowacre from Roland for $30,000, without actual notice of the earlier grant to Yasmin. Martha recorded promptly. When Martha was about to move in, she discovered that Yasmin claimed that she owned Snowacre. Who has best title to Snowacre in a notice jurisdiction that only requires an efficient, reasonable search?

Steve owned an 80-year old movie theater building which he had purchased decades ago for $75,000.   Due to its age, the building was in dilapidated condition. Customers were deterred from seeing movies in the theater because it was located in a run-down part of town.  As a result, Steve was unable to convince film distributors to allow their best films to be shown there.  Steve planned to demolish the building.  But the city then adopted a “historic theater preservation ordinance.”  A city commission designated the building as the city’s first historic theater landmark because it was “the first movie theater in our city;” the commission explained that this designation would “attract tourists, help the local economy, and enhance the quality of life for all citizens.”  Under the ordinance, the owner of a theater designated as a landmark must maintain the building in excellent condition in perpetuity.  The theater generates $50,000 in total income each year; it will cost $55,000 each year to operate the theater and to maintain it as required by the ordinance.  An appraiser estimates that, as burdened by the landmark designation, the building is worth $20,000; it has a positive value only because of the possibility the ordinance might be repealed in the future, which would allow a new building to be constructed on the land.  The next oldest theater in the city was built five years ago.  Steve sued the city, claiming that a taking had occurred.  Which of the following is most likely?

Olivia owned an old house that had been the home of her family for more than 200 years.  Olivia was born and raised in the house, and it was the source of her fondest memories; most of her ancestors were buried in the house’s backyard.  The state decided to establish a new state college on a 500-acre tract, which included Olivia’s property on its outer edge.  The design plan called for the site of Olivia’s house to become part of the parking lot for the campus security office.  The other affected landowners in the region voluntarily sold their properties to the state.  But Olivia refused to sell for any price.  The state then filed an eminent domain action to take Olivia’s property.  Who will win the lawsuit?

Which of the following provisions of a zoning ordinance is most likely to be held unconstitutional under the standard in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty?