Arizona Real Estate Broker Exam — All Questions

What does A.R.S. 33-431(A) presume when Arizona land is granted to two or more persons?

• a.Community property with right of survivorship
• b.An estate in common, without survivorship✓
• c.A tenancy by the entirety
• d.A joint tenancy with right of survivorship

A.R.S. 33-431(A) provides that, with stated exceptions, 'all grants and devises of real property made to two or more persons create estates in common and not in joint tenancy,' excepting grants in trust, to executors, and to husband and wife. Survivorship is therefore never assumed: subsection B requires express words declaring a joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and subsection C requires express words for community property with right of survivorship.

How is a joint tenancy with right of survivorship created in Arizona under A.R.S. 33-431(B)?

• a.By express words declaring it in the grant or devise✓
• b.By the grantees taking title at the same moment
• c.By recording an affidavit of survivorship after closing
• d.By the grantees holding equal shares in the property

A.R.S. 33-431(B) allows a grant or devise to two or more persons to vest the estate in the survivor 'when expressly declared in the grant, transfer or devise to be a joint tenancy with right of survivorship,' and permits creation by transfer from a sole owner to himself and others. The declaration in the instrument is what does the work. An affidavit recorded after a death evidences the survivorship; it does not create it.

How does A.R.S. 33-432 treat a grant that does not use the common-law words of inheritance?

• a.It is deemed to convey a life estate to the grantee
• b.It is void for failing to identify the estate conveyed
• c.It is deemed to convey a fee simple unless limited✓
• d.It is deemed to convey only the grantor's possessory right

A.R.S. 33-432(A) provides that every estate in lands granted, conveyed or devised 'shall be deemed a fee simple if a lesser estate is not limited by express words or does not appear to have been granted, conveyed or devised by construction or operation of law.' Arizona therefore presumes the largest estate the grantor could pass. Cutting it down to a life estate or a lesser interest takes express language.

What covenants does A.R.S. 33-435 imply when a deed uses the word 'grant' or 'convey'?

• a.No covenants at all, since Arizona uses only quitclaim deeds
• b.Covenants that the property is fit for residential occupancy
• c.Covenants warranting title against all persons whomsoever
• d.Covenants against the grantor's own prior conveyances and encumbrances✓

A.R.S. 33-435(A) provides that where 'grant' or 'convey' is used in a conveyance passing a fee, certain covenants 'and none other' are implied unless restrained by express terms: in substance, that the grantor has not previously conveyed the same estate or an interest in it to anyone else, and that the estate is free from encumbrances made or suffered by the grantor. These are limited, grantor-specific promises, not a general warranty against all claimants.

What distinguishes an appurtenant easement from an easement in gross?

• a.It benefits a parcel of land and passes with that land✓
• b.It benefits a person and expires on that person's death
• c.It may be used only by the servient estate's owner
• d.It may be created only by an express written grant

An appurtenant easement attaches to a dominant parcel and runs with the land, so it passes to later owners without being mentioned in each deed. An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a parcel; utility easements are the common commercial example, and commercial easements in gross are generally transferable rather than automatically ending at death. Either type may arise by grant, reservation, prescription or necessity.

Which interest is real property rather than personal property?

• a.A tenant's trade fixtures removable at lease end
• b.A promissory note secured by a deed of trust
• c.Shares in a corporation that owns an apartment tower
• d.A fee simple interest in land and buildings✓

Real property is land, everything permanently attached to it and the bundle of rights in it, so a fee simple in land and improvements is real property. Trade fixtures remain the tenant's personalty and may be removed at the end of the term. Cooperative shares are personal property, even though they carry occupancy rights. A promissory note is a chose in action; the deed of trust securing it is the interest in land.

What is the essential difference between a condominium and a cooperative?

• a.Neither owner holds any interest in the common elements
• b.A condominium owner holds real property; a cooperative member holds shares✓
• c.A condominium owner holds shares; a cooperative member holds title
• d.Both owners hold identical fee title to their individual units

In a condominium the buyer takes fee title to the unit together with an undivided interest in the common elements, which is real property under Title 33, Chapter 9. In a cooperative the corporation owns the building and the resident holds stock plus a proprietary lease, which is personal property. A.R.S. 32-2101 confirms the split by treating stock cooperatives as subdivisions while defining residential condominiums separately.

Which body of Arizona law governs a planned community's homeowners association?

• a.Title 32, Chapter 20 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
• b.Title 33, Chapter 16 of the Arizona Revised Statutes✓
• c.Title 41, Chapter 9 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
• d.Title 10, Chapter 24 of the Arizona Revised Statutes

Arizona's Planned Communities Act sits at Title 33, Chapter 16, beginning at A.R.S. 33-1801, and it governs associations of owners in planned communities, including the resale disclosure duties in A.R.S. 33-1806. Condominiums are covered separately by the Condominium Act in Title 33, Chapter 9. Title 32, Chapter 20 regulates licensees, not associations.

A landlord conveys a fee simple 'so long as the land is used as a public library.' What estate has the grantee received?

• a.A fee simple determinable, ending automatically✓
• b.A leasehold estate for a fixed term of years
• c.A tenancy in common with the grantor
• d.A life estate measured by the grantor's life

Words of duration such as 'so long as,' 'while' or 'during' create a fee simple determinable, which ends automatically if the stated use ceases, leaving a possibility of reverter in the grantor. A condition subsequent, signalled by wording such as 'but if,' instead gives the grantor a right of entry that must be exercised. A life estate is measured by a life, and a leasehold is not a fee at all.

What interest does a tenant hold under a lease of Arizona real property?

• a.An undivided fractional fee interest in the property
• b.A lien against the landlord's title for the rent paid
• c.A leasehold estate, a possessory interest that is less than freehold✓
• d.A freehold estate for the duration of the lease term

A lease conveys a leasehold, a possessory estate that entitles the tenant to exclusive use for the term while the landlord retains the reversion. Leaseholds are estates less than freehold and are classified as chattels real. A tenant acquires no fractional fee, and paying rent creates no lien on the landlord's title.