BLAW-MIDTERM/TEST STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS

Bailee

A person who receives personal property from another as a bailment.

Metro City operates its own municipal public drinking water system for which the Environmental Protection Agency has set maximum levels of pollutants. The city does not use any equipment to meet these standards. With regard to any contamination of the water, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, this is most likely

A violation

A person will not be liable for the tort of wrongful interference with a contract or business relationship if it can be shown that the interference was

All of these choices

The degree of care to be exercised varies, depending on the defendant's

Both a and b.

A finder of mislaid property obtains title to the goods.

False

An easement is the right to go onto land owned by another and take away some part of the land itself or some product of the land.

False

Consideration is one of the necessary elements for an effective gift.

False

In a bailment for the mutual benefit of the bailee and the bailor, the bailee need not exercise reasonable care in storing items or holding property.

False

Intent cannot be transferred when a defendant intends to harm one individual, but unintentionally harms a different person.

False

Land includes the soil on the surface of the earth, but not the waters contained on it.

False

The covenant of quiet enjoyment guarantees that the buyer will not disturb the land or any of its neighbors.

False

The owner of a life estate has the same rights as a fee simple owner, including the right to sell the property or pass it to his or heirs.

False

The purpose of tort law is to provide remedies for the invasion of various securities.

False

To acquire property by adverse possession, the possession must be secret or clandestine.

False

Truth is normally not an absolute defense against a defamation charge.

False

When one tenant in common dies, that party's interest in the property automatically passes to the surviving owners.

False

Grey owns the surface rights for High Desert Ranch, which includes a house, a bunkhouse, and two barns. Industrial Mining, Inc., owns the subsurface rights. When the company drills for and extracts the oil beneath the ranch, the surface subsides and the structures collapse. Most likely responsible for the damage is

Industrial Mining

Buto buys a bus ticket at a window in the City Bus Depot before checking his backpack and boarding a bus. In this situation, the subject to a bailment is

Ivy's acts.

Greta applies for a homeowners' policy with Home Insurance Company through Ivy, an insurance agent. As a general rule, the insurer is bound by

Ivys Act

Seaside Vistas leases an apartment to Tori. During a severe storm, the premises are destroyed by flood. Under most state laws, liable for the rent for the rest of the lease term is

No one

To transfer the title to Olivia's office building to Pete by deed requires

Olivia's signature.

Reza has a fixed-term tenancy for her apartment with Studio Apartments. If Reza abandons the premises before the lease expires

Studio may be required to mitigate its damages.

In determining whether the duty of care has been breached, which of the following does the court not consider?

The finances of the person in breach.

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the reasonable person standard?

The reasonable person standard is said to be subjective.

Colleen owns a house. In the house, on a tile floor is a throw rug and a heavy decorative urn. Most likely to meet the definition of a fixture is

The tile floor

A libelous statement has the quality of permanence, so it can be circulated widely such as through social media.

True

A tenant is responsible for any damage to the premises that he or she causes, except for ordinary wear and tear and the property's consequent deprecation.

True

An environmental impact statement includes a formal analysis of the impact of any major federal action that will significantly affect the environment.

True

An insurance company can raise as a defense against payment on a policy, any of the defenses that would be valid in an ordinary action on a contract.

True

Because a warehouse company is a professional bailee, it is expected to exercise a high degree of care to preserve and protect bailed goods.

True

Courts award punitive damages in tort cases to punish wrongdoers and deter others from similar wrongdoing.

True

Courts will accept the legal fiction of corporate personhood to provide companies with the same rights before the law as individuals.

True

Employees might sue an employer whose failure to use pollution controls contaminated the air and caused the employees to suffer respiratory illnesses.

True

If someone posts nude pictures or videos taken with digital devices on social media, they have committed the torts of invasion of privacy and appropriation.

True

If the bailed property has been lost, a court will presume that the bailee was negligent, which he or she can rebut by showing an exercise of due care.

True

In a case alleging slander, the plaintiff must prove special damages to establish the defendant's liability.

True

In many states, hotel operators are not liable for any loss or damage to their guests' personal property, provided this limit is brought to the guests' attention.

True

Personal property can be converted into real property by being permanently attached to it.

True

Plaintiffs are awarded compensatory damages to compensate or reimburse them for actual losses.

True

Real property can be converted to personal property by detaching it.

True

The same restrictions that apply to an assignment of the tenant's interest in leased property apply to a sublease.

True

Tile and carpeting permanently attached to the floor of a house are most likely intended to be fixtures.

True

To establish defamation, plaintiffs who are public figures must prove actual malice.

True

To minimize potential liability under Superfund, a business can conduct its own regular environmental compliance audits of its operations

True

Whether the contact is offensive or not is determined by the reasonable person standard.

True

With respect to bailed goods, common carriers are absolutely—strictly—liable.

True

Easement

a right to cross or otherwise use someone else's land for a specified purpose.

Sara owns a ring. She asks Tomas, a jeweler, to add a diamond to it. Adding the diamond will increase the value of the ring. This is

accession.

After shopping at a Cut-Price store, Dyan finds a fitness watch in her bag of purchases that she knows she did not pay for. If Dyan fails to return the watch to the store or to pay for it, she will have committed

conversion

When economically injurious falsehoods are made about another's product or property rather than about another's reputation

disparagement of property occurs

A guest in your home is not a trespasser unless that guest

has been asked to leave but refuses

Bret stores grain at a facility owned and operated by Co-op, Inc. At the end of the storage period, Co-op must

return the same grain or grain of the same type, grade, and quantity.

Earth Farm arranges to have Fresh Express, Inc., a common carrier, transport a load of almonds. Fresh Express will be liable for any loss or damage to the almonds

unless the loss or damage is caused by a natural disaster.

Owen owns a farm in Pennsylvania. Owen's brother Quentin owns the subsurface rights to the farm. Either brother can pass title to what he owns

without the other's consent.

A shopping mall contains two athletic shoe stores: Joe's and Ultimate Sport. Joe's cannot station an employee at the entrance of Ultimate Sport to divert customers by telling them that Joe's will beat Ultimate Sport's prices. This type of activity constitutes the tort of

wrongful interference with a business relationship.

Logging Corporation has a right to go onto Mount Timber Company's land and harvest select trees. Logging's right is

a profit

Which of the following does not qualify as an invasion of privacy?

. Privilege.

Jade owns a loft that she leases to Key and Liu. If Jade sells the loft, Key and Liu

. become the tenants of the new owner.

accession

Accession in trusts and estates law are assets produced by a devised asset after the execution of a will. For example, ordinary repairs to a car become accessions, and merge into the principal thing.

A trespass to land occurs anytime a person, without permission, does any of the following

All of these choices.

Defenses to a claim of trespass to land is to show that the

All of these choices.

To succeed in a negligence action, the plaintiff must prove

All of these choices.

A business that believes a federal agency's action threatens the environment can use an environmental impact statement as a means to challenge it.

True

Bailment

giving possession and control of personal property to another person

Disposal Company operates a hazardous waste storage facility. Concerned that there may be a release of chemicals from the site, the company sells the property to Eager Developers, Inc. If there is a release, the seller is most likely

liable.

Business torts generally involve wrongful interference with another's

Business Rights

One of the elements of a bailment is

an agreement for the return or disposal of the bailed property.

Intangible Personal Property

personal property that lacks a physical presence

Accession occurs when someone acquires title to a valuable piece of personal property by assuming a position of power.

False

While hiking on Mountain Trail, Ness's camera falls from his pocket. He fails to notice its loss for a mile, and then gives up looking for it. Ole finds the camera. Pau tries to take it from Ole. The party who can assert the best title to the camera is

Ole

Life insurance requires that an insurable interest in the continued life of the insured exists when a policy is obtained.

True

Property held as community property refers to most property acquired by either spouse during the course of the marriage.

True

The law protects a person's rights and interests in anything with an ascertainable value that is subject to ownership.

True

The owner of real property has relatively exclusive rights to the airspace above the land.

True

The rights of the owner to the subsurface of a piece of land would have little value if the owner could not use the surface to exercise those rights.

True

To obtain relief under the nuisance doctrine, a property owner may have to identify a distinct harm separate from that affecting the general public.

True

Brick & Mortar Stores, Inc., signs a lease for a storefront owned by Commercial Properties, Inc. The lease does not specify how long it is to last but does specify that rent is to be paid at certain intervals. This is

a periodic tenancy.

Miles obtains a property insurance policy from Nova Insurance Company for Miles's restored 1957 Chevy. Nova can cancel the policy if Miles

fails to pay the premiums.

An automobile repair shop can retain a customer's car under an artisan's lien when

the customer refuses to pay for repairs already completed.

Before being transported, hazardous waste produced by the operations of Fabrication, Inc., must be properly labeled and packaged under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by

Fabrication, Inc.

An intentional tort does not require intent.

False

Ski Resort, Inc., wants to add a new run to its facility in a national park on federal land. For this action, an environmental impact statement is

Required

An accountant's conduct is judged not by the reasonable person standard, but by the

reasonable accountant standard.

An unwelcome kiss can be considered an assault.

False

The failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonable person would exercise in similar circumstances is

negligence.

Establishing ownership rights is more complicated for personal property than for real property.

False

If the leased premises are destroyed by fire or flood, and the tenant is forced to move out, the tenant must still continue to pay the rent until the lease ends.

False

If the plaintiff gives consent to the outrageous conduct that leads to an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, the lawsuit is likely to proceed.

False

Earl buys a fishing license and goes fishing. He catches a trout, cleans it, cooks it, and eats it. Earl's acquisition of the trout is by

Possession

Insurance is an arrangement for transferring and allocating risk.

True

Richard owns Scholars Apartment House. His ownership rights include the right to sell or give away the property without restriction, as well as to use the property for whatever purpose he sees fit. His ownership interest is

a fee simple absolute.

Rafe signs a one-year lease for an apartment owned by Suki. Rafe is a student and needs the apartment only for two semesters, at the end of which he plans to sublet it for the rest of the term. Rafe's tenancy is

a fixed-term tenancy.

Special damages compensate plaintiffs for unquantifiable monetary losses.

false

Angie voluntarily transfers her prize-winning horse Beaux to Cady without consideration. Provided all of the requirements are met, this is acquisition of property by

gift.

Ogle owns a phone, a tablet, and a patent on an app. Ogle's intangible property includes

the patent.

In some circumstances, individuals will be liable for defamatory statements because they enjoy immunity.

False

More than half of the state have placed caps of $1,000,000 on noneconomic general damages.

False

Personal property that is affixed to real property in a permanent way, such as tile installed in a house, is known as an appendix.

False

Dawn applies for a life insurance policy with Equity Insurance Company through Fletch, an agent who works for Equity. Dawn pays the initial premium. Fletch writes a binder, which

indicates that a policy is pending and states its essential terms.

Red obtains a fire insurance policy on his vacation cabin near Smoky Mountain from Torchlight Insurance Company. The cabin is lost in a fire, but the parties dispute the amount of Torchlight's liability under an ambiguous clause in the policy. A court would most likely

interpret the clause against Torchlight.

On Demi's authorization, Engine Work, Inc., repairs her car. She refuses to pay for the job. Engine Work can

keep the car and place a lien on it until Demi pays.

If young children are likely to be attracted to the property by some object such as a swimming pool or a sand pile, and are injured, the landowner

may be held liable under the attractive nuisance doctrine

Kristen signs a one-year lease for a mobile home owned by Lamont. If Kristen dies during the lease term, the lease interest

passes to Kristen's heirs as personal property.

Slim owns cattle, a pick-up truck, and stock in Range Corporation, which owns and operates the Big R Ranch. Capable of being involved in a bailment is

the cattle, the truck, and the stock

Fifi, an independent contractor and technical writer, has a computer in her office. She has a copyright on her most recent work, Guide to Coding. Her tangible personal property includes

the computer.

Urban City wants to acquire undeveloped private land within the city limits to construct a public park. The city brings a condemnation proceeding to obtain title to the land. This is

the power of eminent domain.

When a publication denies or casts doubt on another's legal ownership of property, and the property's owner suffers financial loss as a result, this is

the tort of slander of title.