Recording Acts & Real Estate Contracts
What are the three types of notice that can defeat bona fide purchaser status?
Actual notice, inquiry notice, and record notice (AIR).
Who is the mortgagor, and who is the mortgagee?
The mortgagor is the borrower, and the mortgagee is the lender.
Which future interest automatically follows a fee simple determinable?
A possibility of reverter.
What four unities are required to create a joint tenancy?
Time, title, interest, and possession (TTIP), plus express language creating a right of survivorship.
What are the four methods of creating an easement?
Express grant, implication by prior use, implication by necessity, and prescription.
What additional requirement distinguishes a race-notice statute from a notice statute?
The subsequent bona fide purchaser must record first.
A buyer purchases property "subject to" an existing mortgage. Who remains personally liable for the mortgage debt?
The original mortgagor remains personally liable.
Which future interest follows a fee simple subject to condition subsequent?
A right of entry (or power of termination).
Name four events that can sever a joint tenancy?
Conveyance of a joint tenant's interest, signing a contract of sale, judicial sale by a creditor, and granting a mortgage in a title theory state (GSAM).
Name the six methods by which an easement may terminate?
Merger, release, abandonment, estoppel, prescription, and the end of necessity.
What three requirements must a contract for the sale of land satisfy under the Statute of Frauds?
It must be in writing, signed by the party to be charged, and contain the essential terms (parties, price, and description of the land).
What is the difference between transferring property "subject to" a mortgage and "assuming" the mortgage?
A transferee who assumes the mortgage becomes personally liable along with the original mortgagor, while a transferee taking subject to the mortgage is not personally liable.
What are the three circumstances that make a remainder contingent?
The remainderman is unborn, unascertained, or the interest is subject to a condition precedent (UUU).
What are the three primary obligations for which cotenants have a right to contribution?
Taxes, mortgage payments, and necessary repairs.
What five elements are required to establish adverse possession?
Continuous, hostile, actual, open and notorious, and exclusive possession for the statutory period (CHANGE).
What are the three acts that satisfy the part performance exception to the Statute of Frauds, and how many are required?
Taking possession, paying all or a substantial part of the purchase price, and making substantial improvements. Any two are sufficient.
What is the equitable right of redemption, and when may it be exercised?
It allows the borrower to redeem the property by paying the full amount due before the foreclosure sale.
What is the difference between a shifting executory interest and a springing executory interest?
A shifting executory interest divests another grantee, while a springing executory interest divests the grantor.
What must a tenant prove to establish constructive eviction?
The premises became unusable, the landlord failed to correct the problem after notice, and the tenant actually vacated the property.
What five elements are required for the burden of a real covenant to run with the land?
Horizontal and vertical privity, intent, notice, and the covenant must touch and concern the land (PINT).
What four defects make title unmarketable at closing?
Defects in the chain of title, encumbrances not addressed in the contract, zoning ordinance violations, and title acquired by adverse possession (DEVA).
During foreclosure, which mortgage generally has priority over all other non-purchase-money mortgages?
A purchase-money mortgage (PMM).
State the common law Rule Against Perpetuities?
No interest is valid unless it must vest, if at all, no later than 21 years after a life in being at the creation of the interest.
What is the difference between an assignment and a sublease regarding liability to the landlord?
An assignee is liable to the landlord under privity of estate, while a sublessee is generally not liable to the landlord because no privity exists.
What is the difference between a real covenant and an equitable servitude?
A real covenant requires privity and provides money damages, while an equitable servitude does not require privity and is enforced by injunction.