CSLB General Building (B) — All Questions

Which type of estate gives an owner the fullest bundle of rights, is of potentially unlimited duration, and is freely inheritable?

• a.Life estate
• b.Estate for years
• c.Fee simple absolute✓
• d.Estate at will

A fee simple absolute is the highest and most complete estate in land, lasting indefinitely and passing to heirs. Life estates and leasehold estates confer only limited rights. Under California law it is presumed a grant conveys fee simple unless a lesser estate is stated.CA Civil Code

An estate that lasts only for the duration of a named person's life is best described as a:

• a.Fee simple defeasible
• b.Life estate✓
• c.Tenancy in common
• d.Fee simple absolute

A life estate is limited in duration to the life of the life tenant or another designated person. When that measuring life ends, the property passes to the remainderman or reverts to the grantor. It is a freehold estate but not of inheritable duration.CA Civil Code

The key characteristic that distinguishes joint tenancy from tenancy in common is the:

• a.Right of survivorship✓
• b.Ability to sell one's share
• c.Requirement of equal ownership shares
• d.Right to possess the whole property

Joint tenancy includes the right of survivorship, so a deceased joint tenant's interest passes automatically to the surviving joint tenants rather than to heirs. Tenants in common have no survivorship and may hold unequal shares. Joint tenancy requires the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession.CA Civil Code

Two unrelated investors buy a property together holding unequal fractional shares with no right of survivorship. They own as:

• a.Joint tenants
• b.Community property
• c.Tenants in severalty
• d.Tenants in common✓

Tenancy in common allows co-owners to hold unequal, freely transferable fractional interests, and each share passes to that owner's heirs at death. There is no survivorship right. This is the default form of co-ownership in California when survivorship is not specified.CA Civil Code

In California, property acquired by either spouse during marriage, other than by gift or inheritance, is generally presumed to be:

• a.Separate property
• b.Joint tenancy property
• c.Community property✓
• d.Property in severalty

California is a community property state, so earnings and assets acquired by either spouse during marriage are presumed owned equally by both. Property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance remains separate. Each spouse generally has an equal, undivided one-half interest in community property.CA Family Code

An easement appurtenant benefits a parcel of land. The parcel that receives the benefit is called the:

• a.Servient tenement
• b.Dominant tenement✓
• c.Encroaching parcel
• d.Reversionary estate

In an easement appurtenant, the dominant tenement enjoys the benefit while the servient tenement is burdened by the easement. The easement runs with the land and typically transfers with the dominant parcel when sold. A common example is a right-of-way across a neighbor's lot for access.CA Civil Code

A utility company's right to run power lines across many parcels, benefiting no particular parcel of land, is an example of an:

• a.Easement in gross✓
• b.Easement appurtenant
• c.Encroachment
• d.Estate at sufferance

An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a parcel of land, so there is no dominant tenement. Commercial easements in gross, such as those held by utilities, are transferable. This differs from an appurtenant easement, which is tied to a specific benefited parcel.CA Civil Code

Which statement best describes the relationship between encumbrances and liens?

• a.All encumbrances are liens
• b.Liens and encumbrances are unrelated
• c.An encumbrance can never affect title
• d.Every lien is an encumbrance, but not every encumbrance is a lien✓

An encumbrance is any claim, charge, or restriction that affects title, including liens, easements, and deed restrictions. A lien is a specific type of encumbrance securing payment of a debt. Thus all liens are encumbrances, but non-monetary encumbrances like easements are not liens.CA Civil Code

A contractor who improved a property but was not paid may secure the debt against that specific property by recording a:

• a.Judgment lien
• b.Mechanic's lien✓
• c.Tax lien
• d.Deed of trust

A mechanic's lien is a specific, involuntary lien available to contractors, laborers, and material suppliers who improve real property and are not paid. In California it must be recorded and enforced within statutory time limits. It attaches only to the improved property, not to all of the owner's assets.CA Civil Code

California's homestead exemption primarily protects a homeowner's equity from:

• a.Property tax liens
• b.Mortgage foreclosure by the lender
• c.Certain judgment creditors✓
• d.IRS federal tax liens

The homestead exemption shields a portion of a homeowner's equity in a principal residence from forced sale by most unsecured judgment creditors. It does not prevent foreclosure by a voluntary lienholder such as a mortgage lender, nor does it defeat tax liens. The exempt amount is set by statute and adjusts over time.CA Code of Civil Procedure

An owner of land bordering a flowing river or stream holds water use rights known as:

• a.Riparian rights✓
• b.Littoral rights
• c.Prescriptive rights
• d.Prior appropriation rights

Riparian rights attach to land adjoining a flowing watercourse such as a river or stream. Littoral rights, by contrast, apply to land bordering a static body of water like a lake or the ocean. Riparian owners may make reasonable use of the water.CA Water Code

To acquire title by adverse possession in California, a claimant generally must, among other requirements, occupy the land openly and:

• a.For at least 3 years
• b.Only with the owner's permission
• c.Without paying any property taxes
• d.Pay the property taxes for five years✓

California requires an adverse possessor to pay the property taxes on the claimed land for the full five-year statutory period. The possession must also be open, notorious, hostile, exclusive, and continuous. Possession with the owner's permission is not hostile and cannot ripen into title.CA Code of Civil Procedure

A married couple wants to hold title so the survivor automatically owns the whole property and also receive a favorable tax basis step-up on the entire property at the first death. They should consider:

• a.Tenancy in common
• b.Community property with right of survivorship✓
• c.Joint tenancy in severalty
• d.Tenancy at sufferance

Community property with right of survivorship combines the survivorship feature with community property tax treatment, allowing a full step-up in basis on both halves at the first spouse's death. California created this form to give couples both benefits. Ordinary joint tenancy provides survivorship but only a step-up on the decedent's half.CA Civil Code

Ownership of real property by one person or a single legal entity alone is called ownership in:

• a.Common
• b.Partnership
• c.Severalty✓
• d.Joint tenancy

Ownership in severalty means title is held by one individual or entity severed from all others. Despite the word's root, it refers to sole ownership, not multiple owners. Co-ownership forms such as joint tenancy and tenancy in common involve two or more owners.CA Civil Code

A neighbor's fence is built two feet over the boundary onto the adjoining owner's land. This physical intrusion is an:

• a.Encroachment✓
• b.Easement in gross
• c.Estate for years
• d.Encumbrance by lien

An encroachment is an unauthorized physical intrusion of a structure or improvement onto another's land. It can cloud title and reduce marketability, and a survey often reveals it. If allowed to continue, it may eventually ripen into a prescriptive easement.CA Civil Code

An easement acquired through open, continuous, and hostile use of another's land for the statutory period is an easement by:

• a.Necessity
• b.Prescription✓
• c.Grant
• d.Reservation

An easement by prescription arises when someone uses another's land openly, continuously, and adversely for the statutory period, similar to adverse possession but conveying only a use right rather than title. Unlike adverse possession, it does not require paying property taxes on the burdened land in the easement context. An easement by necessity, by contrast, arises from landlocked access needs.CA Civil Code

A commercial tenant signs a lease with a definite beginning and ending date. The tenant holds an:

• a.Estate at will
• b.Estate at sufferance
• c.Estate for years✓
• d.Periodic tenancy

An estate for years is a leasehold with a fixed, definite duration that ends automatically on the stated date without notice. Despite its name, it can last any set period, not necessarily years. A periodic tenancy, by contrast, renews automatically until proper notice is given.CA Civil Code

Private CC&Rs recorded by a subdivision developer to control lot use are a form of:

• a.Involuntary lien
• b.Public zoning ordinance
• c.Easement appurtenant
• d.Deed restriction✓

Covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) are private deed restrictions that run with the land and govern how lots in a development may be used. They are enforced by the homeowners association or other lot owners, not by the government. Zoning, by contrast, is a public land-use control imposed by government.CA Civil Code