1) tenant owes a duty to third parties for keeping the premises in reasonably good repair

2) duty to repair and not commit waste

3) duty to pay rent

landlord may NOT engage in self help such as changing the locks, forcibly removing T, removing any of T's possessions. Landlord's only options are to 

(1) evict through the courts

or 

(2) continue the relationship and sue for rent due

S

I

R

Surrendur: L may treat T's abandonment as an implicit offer of surrender that L accepts.

Ignore: minority rule. L may ignore the abandonment and hold T responsible for the unpaid rent just as if T were still there.

Re-let: majority rule, mitigation measure. L may relet the premises and hold T liable for any deficiency btwn their agreement and the new lease. L must at least TRY to relet.

1) duty to deliver possession of premises

2) implied covenant of quiet enjoyment (commercial & residential leases)

3) implied warranty of habitability (only to residential leases)

4) prohibition against retaliatory eviction

1) L must not allow a nuisance on site

2) L must control common areas

1) local housing code

2) case law

1) the T may (but does not have to as is required in constructive eviction) move out

2) repair & deduct

3)reduce or withhold rent and place this money is an escrow account

4) remain in possession of the premises, pay rent and sue for damages. 

MR3

A negative easement can ONLY be created by EXPRESS AGREEMENT in WRITING. 

Types of recognized negative easements:

L A S S 

L: light

A: air

S: support

S: stream water from an artificial source

S: minority of jurisdictions recognize negative easement for scenic view

P I N G 

P:prescription: by satisfying the elements of adverse possession. Permission precludes the acquisition of an easement by prescription b/c use must be HOSTILE, withOUT permission

I: implication (where the (a) the previous use was apparent and (b) the parties expected that use would survive division because it was reasonably necessary to the dominant land's use & enjoyment)

N: necessity: Landlocked setting. Easement of right of way will be implied by necessity if grantor conveys a portion of his land with no way out except over part of the grantor's remaining land

G: grant: if the easement is for more than one year, it must be in writing to comply with the statute of frauds. The writing required is called a deed of easement. 

easement in gross is personal and not transferable UNLESS it is for COMMERCIAL USE.

For commercial use, easement in gross is transferable. 

a) right to fish or swim in lake/pond

b) right to erect a billboard

c) right to run power lines across property

T/F

If A has an easement across B's land to access her land, and A then expands to acquire adjacent Greenacre, may A now expand the easement to use the private road easement to Greenacre? 

license = a privilege to enter another's land for some delineated purpose. Licenses are NOT subject to the Statute of Frauds; thus, NO WRITING is required. An oral understanding suffices. 

Licenses are FREELY REVOCABLE unless ESTOPPEL applies. 

T/F

Licenses are subject to the Statute of Frauds because they constitute a property interest. 

False. 

Licenses are not subject to the Statute of Frauds; thus, no writing is not required. Licenses are freely revocable, at the will of the licensor, unless estoppel to bar revocation. 

1) tickets: tickets create freely revocable licenses.

2) neighbors talking by the fence: A says to B, you can have a right of way across my land. 

BUT, this is NOT a conferral of an oral easement b/c it violates the Statute of Frauds (needed to be in writing) and instead creates a freely revocable license. 

Easement: grant of a property interest.

Covenant: contractual limitation or promise regarding land. 

T/F 

Only possessor who knows that s/he is encroaching upon the land of another can claim adverse possession. 

False.

Possessor's subjective state of mind is irrelevant to adverse possession claim. 

T/F

Tacking may occur even if there has been an ouster. 

False. 

Ouster defeats privity. 

Ex: O owned Blackacre in 1980 when A entered adversely. A was on her way to satisfying the elements of adverse possession when, in 1986, Mr. X ousted her. Mr. X stays on the land through 2000. Jurisdiction has 20 year statute of limitations. In 2000, X does not adversely possess land b/c there can be no tacking on an ouster. 

1) marketable title (title free from reasonable doubt. This means free from litigation or threat of litigation.)

• unmarketable if:
  • even part of land obtained through adverse possession
  • has encumbrances (mortgage, lien, servitude) unless buyer has waived them
  • zoning violations

2) promise by seller to not make any false statements of material fact. 

T/F

Under the common law, a land contract contains the implied warranties of fitness and marketability. 

False. 

BUYER BEWARE.

Common law norm is caveat emptor. The only exception is the implied warranty of fitness and workmanlike construction that applies to the SALE OF A NEW HOME BY A BUILDER-VENDOR.

This is the Mother Theresa of deeds. The general warranty deed warrants against ALL defects in title, including those due to grantor's predecessors.

It contains six covenants: 

PRESENT COVENANTS

• covenant of siesin (grantor promises he owns this estate)
• covenant of right to convey (grantor has the power to make this transfer)
• covenant against encumbrances (no servitudes or mortgages on the land)

FUTURE COVENANTS:

• covenant for quiet enjoyment
• covenant of warranty
• covenant for further assurances 

T/F 

Violation of subdivision, housing or building codes constitutes an encumbrance on a title and renders the title unmarketable. 

False. 

Generally, these do not constitute encumbrances; however, ZONING VIOLATION does constitute an encumbrance and RENDERS TITLE UNMARKETABLE. Thus, a buyer may get out of an agreement for a property that has a zoning violation at the time of closing. 

T/F 

A joint tenancy among two parties may be severed by one party's inter vivos transfer of his/her rights to another.  

True.

An inter vivos conveyance by one joint tenant of his/her undivided interest severs the joint tenancy. The transferee who receives that interest now has an interest as a tenant in common with the second party. Both are tenants in common, and there is no joint tenancy. 

Note: If there were more than two joint tenants originally, the transferee would be a tenant in common, but the others would remain joint tenants. 

T/F

An easement by express grant must be a writing signed by the grantor. When validly created, the easement by express grant is then presumed to be of perpetual duration. 

True. 

Here, EASEMENT by EXPRESS GRANT is PRESUMED to be of PERPETUAL DURATION.

T/F

An easement that is not properly acknowledged and recorded does not impart constructive notice to subsequent purchasers; therefore, it is invalid. 

False. 

While it is true that an easement that is not properly acknowledged or recorded cannot be used for constructive notice to subsequent purchasers, these conditions do not affect the validity of the easement as between the original parties. It is a valid easement. 

1) death of either spouse (the other spouse has right of survivorship and now owns entire property)

2) divorce (leaves the former spouses as tenants in common with no right of survivorship)

3) mutual agreement

4) execution by a JOINT creditor of BOTH spouses

ONE SPOUSE ACTING ALONE CANNOT CONVEY OR ENCUMBER THE PROPERTY. ie: a deed executed by only one spouse is INEFFECTIVE.

A I R 

A: actual notice

I: inquiry notice

R: record notice

1) Notice Statute: a BFP who has no actual or constructive (inquiry or record) notice that Blackacre was previously conveyed to another is the true owner of the property as against A, the first person to whom it was conveyed. All B needs is to be a BFP--doesn't matter if A goes back and records, even before B does, if B was a BFP at time of taking, B is the owner. 

2) Race Notice Statute: First person to record wins. B must be a BFP and record before A to own the property. 

A wild deed arises in the context of recording statutes and double-conveyances. If a deed is entered on the record without a connection to the chain of title, the deed is a wild deed and INCAPABLE OF GIVING RECORD NOTICE of its existence. 

O---> A (not recorded)

A-->B

B records

But there is no link to the chain of title for the O to A conveyance; thus, this is a wild deed. 

T/F

Odors & noise could give rise to an implied trespass. 

F.

Odors and noise canNOT give rise to a trespass. However, they can give rise to a NUISANCE.

T/F

A tenant may remove a fixture only if s/he installed it. 

False. 

A tenant must not remove a fixture even if s/he installed it. Fixtures pass with ownership of the land. 

(1) voluntary waste: overt, harmful acts done by tenant to property

(2) permissive waste: neglect. 

(3) ameliorative waste: alterations that increase the property's value. Tenant does not have the right to unilaterally make changes to property even if they increase its value. 

(1) appurtenant to land

(2) held in gross

A negative easement entitles its holder to prevent the servient landowner from doing something that would otherwise be permissible. Negative easements can ONLY BE CREATED EXPRESSLY, by WRITING signed by the grantor. Negative easements are generally only recognized in the following four categories:

(1) Light

(2) Air

(3) Support

(4) Stream water from an artificial flow. 

How are easements appurtenant to land passed?