CHAPTER 3
Conveying Real Property Interests
Test Questions
1. Which of these is not a requirement of a valid deed?
2. The interest being conveyed by a deed is specified in the:
3. The “highest quality” form of deed is the:
4. A deed used mainly to clear up possible “clouds” or encumbrances to title
(conflicting interests) is the:
5. If a landowner sells the front part of a parcel of land, retaining the back portion as
a “land-locked” parcel, and if there is an existing informal path across the front
6. If a neighboring land owner drives across a person’s land openly and consistently
for a number of years the neighbor may acquire an easement by:
7. If documents conveying interests in real property are properly recorded in the
public records, then they are binding or enforceable on all persons, regardless of
whether those persons are aware of the documents, by the:
8. Which of these is a widely used form of “evidence of title”?
9. The most common form of legal description for urban residential property is the:
10. Factors that make it uniquely difficult to establish clear title in real estate as
compared to most personal property items include:
Study Questions
1. Explain how title insurance works. What risks does it cover? Who pays, and
when? What common exceptions does it make?
Solution: Title insurance protects an owner (or lender) from legal challenges or
complications with title. Title insurance protects a grantee (or mortgagee) against
the legal costs of defending title, and against loss of the property in case of an
There are important limits or exceptions to title insurance. First, it is not hazard
insurance; that is, it does not protect the owner from the threat of physical damage
2. If a grantee obtains title insurance, what value, if any, is there in the covenant
of seizen in a warranty deed?
Solution: If a grantee has title insurance, the covenant of seizing remains an
indication that the grantor really believes that they hold good title. The title
3. The use of Torrens certificates, never large in the U.S., has diminished in
recent years. Explain how marketable title laws, recently adopted in many states,
might have made Torrens certificates less interesting and useful.
Solution: The idea of a Torrens certificate was to eliminate the need for a search
of historical public records to affirm chain of title. Marketable title laws may
have accomplished this objective in that they usually establish a “root” transaction
4. Name at least six adverse (conflicting) claims to property or other title defects,
that will not be evident from a search of property records but which might be
detected by inspection of the property and its occupants.
Solution: Six adverse or conflicting claims to property that will not appear in a
search of records include these: (1) claim to adverse possession, (2) easement by
5. Why might it be advisable to require a survey in purchasing a 20-year-old home
in an urban subdivision?
Solution: A survey can be useful, even in a fairly recent subdivision, to affirm that
fences are not encroaching, or that an addition to a structure does not violate a
6. Describe the shaded property by government rectangular survey.
Solution: The East one-half of the SW one-fourth of the NW one fourth, plus the
7. Some real estate industry persons have suggested that it is good to require a title
Insurance commitment as evidence of title for rural property, but that it
satisfactory to use the less costly abstract and attorney’s opinion as evidence of
title for a residence in an urban subdivision. Discuss the merits or risks of this
policy.
Solution: A platted urban subdivision effectively has a relatively short history in
which title could become “clouded.” The creation of the subdivision, by
implication, represents a point in time where there was very little question about