Property I
Professor Todd Brower
Spring 2003
Final Exam

General Instructions

1. You have three (3) hours to complete this exam.

2. This is a closed book exam.

3. There are ten (10) pages to this exam including the Instruction page.

4. There are two (2) parts to this exam.

5. Remember the Midterm was worth 15%, so with the Final being 85% together they equal 100%.

6. Using a #2 pencil, darken the letter corresponding to the correct answer on the ParScore answer sheet. If you change your answer, please be sure that your erasures are complete. The exam will be scored by a machine and any ambiguities will be counted as a wrong answer.

7. Write your exam number on your exam envelope, at the top of the exam question packet, and on the ParScore form. Also, write your exam number on the Blue Book. Do not use your name, student ID number, or Social Security Number on any exam materials.

8. At the conclusion of the exam, return all test materials to the exam envelope and submit it to the proctor. Do not seal the envelope.


Essay Question

Please advise Thomas by a complete and concise answer to the questions below.

Loretta was the fee simple absolute owner of Blackacre Plaza, a small, 5-store shopping center in Koellefornia. In 1990, Loretta leased store #3 to Thomas for use as a bakery-café called “Much Ado About Muffins.” The lease provided that Thomas would have the right to occupy store #3 and the space twenty feet immediately in front of it for three years, with an option to renew for four additional three-year periods. Rent to be calculated at $1.50 per square foot per month with each renewal adding $0.20 per square foot to the monthly rental. Store #4 was located immediately to the left (west) of Thomas’s leasehold. In 1991, Loretta rented Store #4 and the twenty feet in front of it to Serena for 3 years at a similar rental amount. Serena operated a toy store in store #4 called “Valley of the Dolls.” That store was not renewed at the end of its first lease. After that time, Loretta took over the business in that location, but it was never very popular. Store #5 to the west of the toy store was leased to a pet store called “All Creatures Great and Cheap,” Store #2 immediately east of Thomas was leased to a billiard parlor, “Pool Sharks -- Where the Buyer is Our Chum” and the easternmost store #1, rented to “The Bra Barrel, Discount Lingerie.” All leases were for three years with options to renew and had similar terms to the one for store #3 detailed above.

In 1992, business at the bakery-café nearly doubled when Thomas placed tables and chairs in front of his establishment and that of store #4 so that his patrons could have their coffee and baked goods in the open air, weather permitting. The tables were usually full and patrons lined up in good weather to enjoy their food out of doors. Fearing that Loretta would seek to capitalize on his success, in 1998, Thomas asked for and received a written promise from Loretta that Loretta would not lease space in the shopping center to any other food establishment. Since that time, Thomas’s business has flourished.

In 2003, Loretta sold Blackacre Plaza and all its leases to JensCo, a German conglomerate with business interests in Cologne, Paris, and now Blackacre Plaza. JensCo closed the toy store in store #4 and leased it to Sternbucks (a German version of Starbucks) for use as a coffeehouse/pastry shop. JensCo also wrote to Thomas and stated that Thomas must remove the tables and chairs in front of store #4, as that space would be used by Sternbucks for outdoor seating.

Thomas has come to your office as Koellefornia’s leading expert in real estate matters. Thomas wants to know the answers to the following questions:

You know that Koellefornia law states that all common law technical rules of conveyancing apply and that the statute of limitations on suits for adverse possession and analogous claims for ejectment or use are limited to five years.


End of Exam