Real Property becomes manageable when you treat priority, estates, possession, and servitudes as high-yield systems instead of isolated buzzwords. These are the topics most worth repeated review.
Real Property becomes manageable when you treat priority, estates, possession, and servitudes as high-yield systems instead of isolated buzzwords. These are the topics most worth repeated review.
Very High frequency
Three types: RACE: First to record wins (rare). NOTICE: Subsequent BFP without notice prevails over prior unrecorded interest - recording is irrelevant. RACE-NOTICE: Must be BFP without notice AND record first. FLORIDA is PURE NOTICE. BFP = Purchaser for valuable consideration without notice. NOTICE types: Actual (knew), constructive (recorded), inquiry (should investigate suspicious facts). Chain of title: Can only search back through recorded chain. Wild deeds (outside chain) don't give constructive notice. Shelter rule: Transferee of BFP protected even with notice.
HYPO: O conveys Blackacre to A (who doesn't record). O then conveys same property to B for $100K. B has no actual knowledge of A's deed. B records. Who owns Blackacre under FL law? ANALYSIS: FL is PURE NOTICE jurisdiction. B wins if: (1) BFP - paid value ($100K = yes); (2) Without NOTICE - no actual knowledge, deed wasn't recorded so no constructive notice. Did B have INQUIRY notice? Were there facts suggesting A's interest (A living on property)? If B saw A living there, should have investigated. Assuming no inquiry notice. RESULT: B WINS under FL notice statute. Even though A's deed was first in time, B was BFP without notice. Recording is irrelevant - B would win even if B never recorded.
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Very High frequency
IN GRANTOR: Reversion (follows life estate/term), possibility of reverter (follows fee simple determinable), right of entry (follows fee simple subject to condition subsequent). IN GRANTEE: Remainder - vested (ascertained person, no condition precedent) or contingent (unascertained or condition precedent). Executory interest - divests prior interest (shifting from grantee, springing from grantor). VESTED SUBJECT TO OPEN: Class gift where at least one member ascertained. RAP applies to contingent remainders, executory interests, and vested remainders subject to open. Merger destroys contingent remainders at common law.
HYPO: "To A for life, then to B if B reaches 25." B is currently 20. What are the interests? Does RAP apply? ANALYSIS: A has LIFE ESTATE (present possessory). B has CONTINGENT REMAINDER (condition precedent: reaching 25). O has REVERSION (if B dies before 25, property returns to O). RAP analysis: Will B's interest necessarily vest or fail within lives in being + 21 years? B is the measuring life. B will either reach 25 or die before 25 within B's lifetime. RAP SATISFIED. Compare: "To A for life, then to B's first child to reach 25." B might have child after A dies who turns 25 more than 21 years later. RESULT: B has valid contingent remainder. O has reversion. Both are future interests.
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High frequency
LEASEHOLD TYPES: Term of years (fixed end), periodic (auto-renewing), at will, at sufferance (holdover). ASSIGNMENT: Transfer of entire remaining term - assignee in privity of estate with LL. SUBLEASE: Transfer of less than entire term - no privity with LL. Original tenant always liable unless novation. TENANT DUTIES: Pay rent, avoid waste. LANDLORD DUTIES: Deliver possession, implied warranty of habitability (residential), covenant of quiet enjoyment. REMEDIES: LL eviction requires legal process. Tenant can withhold rent, repair and deduct, or terminate for breach of habitability.
HYPO: T has 12-month lease with LL. After 3 months, T transfers possession to X for 6 months, keeping right to retake for final 3 months. X stops paying rent. Can LL sue X directly? ANALYSIS: Assignment vs. Sublease? T retained a REVERSIONARY interest (final 3 months), so this is a SUBLEASE, not assignment. In sublease, X has no PRIVITY OF ESTATE with LL. Only T has privity. LL can sue T (original tenant always liable on lease). Can LL sue X? No privity of estate or contract. What if T transferred ALL remaining 9 months? Then ASSIGNMENT - X would be in privity of estate with LL and directly liable for rent. RESULT: SUBLEASE. LL must sue T, not X. X is T's sublessee, not LL's tenant.
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High frequency
CREATION (PING): Prescription (like adverse possession), Implication (prior use + necessity + apparent), Necessity (strict necessity, severance of common ownership), Grant (writing satisfies SOF). APPURTENANT (benefits land) vs IN GROSS (benefits person). SCOPE: Determined by terms or conditions at creation. Cannot expand unilaterally. TERMINATION: Release (writing), merger (same owner), abandonment (intent + physical act), estoppel, prescription, end of necessity, condemnation. NEGATIVE EASEMENTS: Light, air, support, flow - must be created expressly. Licenses are revocable, don't require writing.
HYPO: O owns Blackacre and Whiteacre as one parcel. O uses a path across Whiteacre to access the road. O sells Whiteacre to B but deed says nothing about path. O continues using path. B wants to block it. Does O have an easement? ANALYSIS: Was easement CREATED? No express grant (not in deed). Check EASEMENT BY IMPLICATION: (1) Common ownership severed - yes (O owned both); (2) Prior use before severance - yes (O used path); (3) Use was apparent - yes (visible path); (4) Reasonably necessary for enjoyment - is there another way to reach road? If landlocked, also easement by NECESSITY. Implied easements don't require writing. RESULT: O likely has EASEMENT BY IMPLICATION if path was apparent and reasonably necessary. B takes subject to it.
Section sources
High frequency
No interest valid unless it MUST vest, if at all, within lives in being + 21 years from creation. APPLIES TO: Contingent remainders, executory interests, vested remainders subject to open. DOES NOT APPLY: Present interests, reversions, vested remainders not subject to open. MEASURING LIVES: Anyone relevant to vesting. TRAPS: "Fertile octogenarian" (anyone can have kids), "Unborn widow" (spouse not yet ascertained), "Administrative contingency" (probate taking too long). SAVINGS: "Wait and see," cy pres reform, USRAP (90-year period). Class gift: All or nothing unless class already closed.
HYPO: O conveys "To A for life, then to A's children who reach 30." A is alive with one child, B (age 5). Valid under RAP? ANALYSIS: At O's conveyance, we must determine if interest MUST vest within lives in being + 21 years. Measuring lives: A and B exist. PROBLEM: A might have another child (C) AFTER conveyance. A dies. B and C are under 30. B could die before 30. C might not reach 30 until more than 21 years after A's death. No validating life! "Fertile octogenarian" trap - assume A can have children at any age. RESULT: Interest VOID under common law RAP. Gift to A's children who reach 30 fails entirely. A has life estate, then reversion to O.
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Use it to decide review order, not as a substitute for practice. Start with the first two or three topics, then reinforce them with timed multiple-choice work.
No. It means the higher-ranked topics deserve earlier and more frequent review because they trigger more downstream issues and more repeat appearances across mixed sets.