PROPERTY LAW CORE EXAM TEST 2026 QUESTIONS
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Rent in Co-Tenancy (2 features) - ✔✔(1) Rent only owed if one tenant can establish
he has been ousted (actually or constructively) by the other tenants (2) Co-Tenants do
not have an implicit right to rent b/c all co-tenants have the legal right to possess the
entire property
✔✔Are co-tenants subject to the benefits and burdens of leases made by other co-
tenants? - ✔✔Yes. See Carr v. Deking, Kresha v. Kresha
✔✔How high is the bar to establish constructive ouster? - ✔✔Very High. Olivas v.
Olivas.
✔✔Is there a presumption in favor of "Tenancy in Common" or "Joint Tenancy" -
✔✔Tenancy in Common
✔✔Features of Joint Tenancy (5) - ✔✔(1) Rights of survivorship (2) 4 Unities (sever just
one to sever joint tenancy) (3) Unitateral severance (4) Tenants can have different
shares (5) Right to possession in the entirety
✔✔Joint Tenancy - ✔✔A contract between two or more parties specifying their
simultaneous ownership of some form of real or personal property such as a house,
land, or money
✔✔The 4 Unities in Joint Tenancy - ✔✔(1) Time (2) Title (3) Interest (4) Possession
✔✔4 Unities -- Time - ✔✔the interest has to have been created at the same moment
✔✔4 Unities -- Title - ✔✔The interest must arise out of the same instrument
✔✔4 Unities -- Interest - ✔✔All tenants must have an equal fractional interest of equal
duration
✔✔4 Unities -- Possession - ✔✔All tenants must have the right to possess the entire
parcel
✔✔Unilateral Severance (for Joint Tenancy) - ✔✔One co-tenant can destroy joint
tenancy w/o talking to others (but in a group-joint-tenancy he becomes co-tenants
w/other parties while other parties remain in joint-tenancy w/each other)
✔✔Can Joint Tenants have different shares of the property? - ✔✔Yes.
, ✔✔Methods of Severance of Joint Tenancy (2) - ✔✔(1) Conveyance by one joint tenant
(but if other joint tenants then they still have joint tenancy rights w/rights of survivorship
(2) Mortgage (courts are split if this severs or not)
✔✔How can a grantor structure the property transfer to prevent an easy severance of
joint-tenancy? - ✔✔Structure as life estate with alternative contingent remainders in the
surviving tenant (might be less preferable b/c property less marketable as a life estate
rather than fee simple with joint tenancy)
✔✔Costs and Joint Tenancy - ✔✔All tenants must pay costs of ownership. All tenants
get mortgage to buy property? All responsible for it. Single tenant could get his own
mortgage and then be responsible for it by himself.
✔✔In Joint Tenancy who pays for the costs of maintenance and improvements? - ✔✔All
tenants in possession. Tenants out of possession only pay costs of maintenance that
exceed fair market rental value of property. (no clear rules about this last bit. Fact
specific)
✔✔Does the concept of WASTE apply to Joint Tenancy? - ✔✔Not directly, but the
tenant in possession can't be negligent and destroy or waste the property
✔✔Features of Tenancy by the Entirety (3) - ✔✔(1) Only for married couples (2) Neither
party can make unilateral decisions (3) Partition can only happen in divorce
✔✔Can a party in Tenancy by the Entirety convey or encumber the property w/o the
other party's consent? - ✔✔No. So a lien can't be entered against only one party's
interest (HI and other Jx -- a tenancy by the entirety cannot be subjected to the debts of
one spouse) (But the federal gov't could for various reasons)
✔✔4 Categories of Leasehold Tenancies - ✔✔(1) Term of Years (2) Periodic Tenancy
(3) Tenancy at Will (4) Tenancy at Sufferance
✔✔Term of Years (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔Fixed period of time (any length of time
okay -- doesn't have to be long-term)
✔✔Periodic Tenancy (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔An estate that exists for some period
of time by the term of the payment of rent (i.e. month to month)
✔✔Tenancy at Will (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔Either the landlord or the tenant may
terminate the tenancy at any time by giving reasonable notice
✔✔Tenancy at Sufferance (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔AKA Holdover Tenancy. Tenant
at one point had the right to possess the property but the lease has expired and there
are different rules to eject than typical trespass rules
AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔Rent in Co-Tenancy (2 features) - ✔✔(1) Rent only owed if one tenant can establish
he has been ousted (actually or constructively) by the other tenants (2) Co-Tenants do
not have an implicit right to rent b/c all co-tenants have the legal right to possess the
entire property
✔✔Are co-tenants subject to the benefits and burdens of leases made by other co-
tenants? - ✔✔Yes. See Carr v. Deking, Kresha v. Kresha
✔✔How high is the bar to establish constructive ouster? - ✔✔Very High. Olivas v.
Olivas.
✔✔Is there a presumption in favor of "Tenancy in Common" or "Joint Tenancy" -
✔✔Tenancy in Common
✔✔Features of Joint Tenancy (5) - ✔✔(1) Rights of survivorship (2) 4 Unities (sever just
one to sever joint tenancy) (3) Unitateral severance (4) Tenants can have different
shares (5) Right to possession in the entirety
✔✔Joint Tenancy - ✔✔A contract between two or more parties specifying their
simultaneous ownership of some form of real or personal property such as a house,
land, or money
✔✔The 4 Unities in Joint Tenancy - ✔✔(1) Time (2) Title (3) Interest (4) Possession
✔✔4 Unities -- Time - ✔✔the interest has to have been created at the same moment
✔✔4 Unities -- Title - ✔✔The interest must arise out of the same instrument
✔✔4 Unities -- Interest - ✔✔All tenants must have an equal fractional interest of equal
duration
✔✔4 Unities -- Possession - ✔✔All tenants must have the right to possess the entire
parcel
✔✔Unilateral Severance (for Joint Tenancy) - ✔✔One co-tenant can destroy joint
tenancy w/o talking to others (but in a group-joint-tenancy he becomes co-tenants
w/other parties while other parties remain in joint-tenancy w/each other)
✔✔Can Joint Tenants have different shares of the property? - ✔✔Yes.
, ✔✔Methods of Severance of Joint Tenancy (2) - ✔✔(1) Conveyance by one joint tenant
(but if other joint tenants then they still have joint tenancy rights w/rights of survivorship
(2) Mortgage (courts are split if this severs or not)
✔✔How can a grantor structure the property transfer to prevent an easy severance of
joint-tenancy? - ✔✔Structure as life estate with alternative contingent remainders in the
surviving tenant (might be less preferable b/c property less marketable as a life estate
rather than fee simple with joint tenancy)
✔✔Costs and Joint Tenancy - ✔✔All tenants must pay costs of ownership. All tenants
get mortgage to buy property? All responsible for it. Single tenant could get his own
mortgage and then be responsible for it by himself.
✔✔In Joint Tenancy who pays for the costs of maintenance and improvements? - ✔✔All
tenants in possession. Tenants out of possession only pay costs of maintenance that
exceed fair market rental value of property. (no clear rules about this last bit. Fact
specific)
✔✔Does the concept of WASTE apply to Joint Tenancy? - ✔✔Not directly, but the
tenant in possession can't be negligent and destroy or waste the property
✔✔Features of Tenancy by the Entirety (3) - ✔✔(1) Only for married couples (2) Neither
party can make unilateral decisions (3) Partition can only happen in divorce
✔✔Can a party in Tenancy by the Entirety convey or encumber the property w/o the
other party's consent? - ✔✔No. So a lien can't be entered against only one party's
interest (HI and other Jx -- a tenancy by the entirety cannot be subjected to the debts of
one spouse) (But the federal gov't could for various reasons)
✔✔4 Categories of Leasehold Tenancies - ✔✔(1) Term of Years (2) Periodic Tenancy
(3) Tenancy at Will (4) Tenancy at Sufferance
✔✔Term of Years (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔Fixed period of time (any length of time
okay -- doesn't have to be long-term)
✔✔Periodic Tenancy (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔An estate that exists for some period
of time by the term of the payment of rent (i.e. month to month)
✔✔Tenancy at Will (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔Either the landlord or the tenant may
terminate the tenancy at any time by giving reasonable notice
✔✔Tenancy at Sufferance (Leasehold Tenancies) - ✔✔AKA Holdover Tenancy. Tenant
at one point had the right to possess the property but the lease has expired and there
are different rules to eject than typical trespass rules
