Encumbrances and separately transferable property rights

Parcel A benefits; Parcel B carries the burden

A recorded grant gives Parcel A ingress and egress over a defined driveway on Parcel B.

1. The stated benefit is tied to Parcel A.
2. Parcel B supplies the route.
3. Location and authorized use remain controlled by the actual grant.

Answer: Parcel A is dominant, Parcel B is servient, and the easement is appurtenant.

One car for one weekend

An owner verbally permits a neighbor to park one car for a weekend event and expressly reserves the right to withdraw permission.

1. The described arrangement is temporary personal permission.
2. Its express revocability matters.
3. Nothing supplied establishes a permanent land interest.

Answer: This is a license on the stated facts.

A garage extends 14 inches over the line

A new survey shows a detached garage crossing 14 inches into the adjoining parcel. No established use right is supplied.

1. The measurement identifies a physical crossing.
2. Permission, possession history and other rights still need review.
3. Do not order removal, promise coverage or transfer title from the measurement alone.

Answer: Identify an encroachment issue and the need for appropriate title and legal review.

The deed reserves minerals

A valid deed conveys the surface while expressly reserving the mineral estate to the grantor.

1. The stated reservation separates the interests.
2. The grantee does not acquire the expressly reserved minerals simply by acquiring the surface.
3. Access, support, extraction methods and permits remain separate issues.

Answer: On these stipulated facts, the buyer takes the surface subject to the retained mineral ownership.

A utility beneficiary without a dominant parcel

An easement grants an electric utility specified line-maintenance rights. No benefited parcel is identified.

1. The benefit is to an entity.
2. The interest permits specified use rather than possession.
3. The actual terms and law govern scope and transfer.

Answer: An easement in gross is the appropriate starting classification.

Payment is complete; the record is not

The mortgage holder confirms full payment of the secured debt, but the county record still lacks the proper release.

1. Section 17 distinguishes full-payment extinguishment from record evidence.
2. The release and public record still need attention.
3. Do not assume a missing release creates a second debt.

Answer: Verify the holder's release and recording with the appropriate closing or title professional.

Years without use

A recorded access easement has not been used recently. The only supplied fact is nonuse.

1. Nonuse is not itself proof of permanent abandonment.
2. The instrument and legally relevant intent or conduct matter.
3. Another recognized termination ground would need its own facts.

Answer: The facts do not establish that the easement has ended.

An old fence is not the entire claim

A neighbor says a fence has existed for 20 years and therefore the strip belongs to the neighbor. No other possession facts are supplied.

1. The ordinary route has multiple concurrent requirements and express statutory exceptions.
2. A fence's age does not prove all requirements throughout the period.
3. A claimed use right and claimed title are different.

Answer: The facts are insufficient to establish adverse title. Identify the route and obtain the necessary legal review.

Landlocked now, but what happened at severance?

A buyer wants an easement by necessity because there is no present public-road access. The facts do not describe common ownership, severance or historical access.

1. Present access is only part of the inquiry.
2. Gacki requires relevant common-ownership and severance evidence, necessity then and now and access-alternative analysis.
3. The requested route, width and uses are not automatically granted.

Answer: The supplied facts are insufficient to establish the claimed easement.

The permit and the property right answer different questions

An owner proposes work along a water body and assumes waterfront ownership supplies every permission.

1. Identify the actual property interest and any public or private limits.
2. Determine which authorization regime applies and whether the project meets its scope.
3. DNR distinguishes individual, statewide, regional and general permits; their application paths are not identical.

Answer: Ownership alone is insufficient. Check both property rights and the applicable project approvals.

1. Which encumbrance primarily secures repayment of a debt?

1. Easement
2. Encroachment
3. License
4. Lien

2. An easement benefits Parcel X and crosses Parcel Y. Which parcel is servient?

1. Neither parcel
2. Both automatically dominant
3. Parcel Y
4. Parcel X

3. What is temporary, generally revocable permission to use land?

1. Mortgage
2. Fee simple
3. Mechanics lien
4. License

4. A fence crosses a surveyed boundary with no permission. What issue exists?

1. Subordination
2. Encroachment
3. Appraisal
4. Escheat

5. Which right is commonly associated with land bordering a river?

1. Riparian
2. Cooperative
3. Avigation
4. Littoral

6. A consensual written mortgage on an identified parcel is best classified how?

1. Involuntary and general
2. An appurtenant easement
3. A personal parking license
4. Voluntary and specific

7. Does specific mean voluntary when classifying a lien?

1. No; specific concerns affected property, while voluntary concerns consent
2. Yes; the terms are interchangeable
3. No; specific means the lien has no property effect
4. Only when the debt is paid

8. May recording dates alone be used to rank every competing Illinois lien?

1. Yes, without checking other facts
2. Only the deed date matters
3. All liens have equal rank
4. No; governing priority rules, notice and valid subordination may matter

9. Section 21-75 describes the property-tax lien as beginning when?

1. Only when a payment first becomes delinquent
2. January 1 of the year in which the taxes are levied
3. Only after a foreclosure deed
4. Whenever the owner chooses

10. The secured debt has been fully paid, but a proper mortgage release is missing from the record. What follows?

1. The lender automatically owns the fee
2. No record review is needed
3. The debt automatically doubles
4. Extinguishment and the recorded release are distinct matters to verify

11. A utility easement benefits a company without a dominant parcel. Which classification fits?

1. Tenancy in common
2. Personal ownership of every utility corridor
3. Easement in gross
4. A lease merely because a company benefits

12. Is every easement in gross nontransferable?

1. Yes, including all commercial utility rights
2. No; a commercial utility easement can be transferable under its terms and law
3. Only when it is recorded
4. Yes, unless it becomes a fee estate

13. Which additional facts matter to a claimed Illinois easement by necessity?

1. Only whether the owner requests a particular width
2. Common ownership and severance, necessity then and now, and reasonable access alternatives
3. Only the price paid for the land
4. Only whether the property is inconvenient to reach today

14. An owner expressly allows weekend parking. Does permissive use alone establish prescription?

1. Yes, after any weekend
2. Yes, whenever parking is useful
3. No; permission differs from qualifying adverse use
4. Yes, if the neighbor calls it an easement

15. A licensee spent money expecting to keep using the land. Is expense alone enough to make the license irrevocable?

1. No equitable limit can ever apply
2. No; the actual arrangement and applicable equitable conditions matter
3. Yes, but only if paid in cash
4. Yes, any expense is enough

16. The only supplied termination fact is that a recorded easement has not been used recently. What is established?

1. Nonuse alone does not establish abandonment
2. Automatic abandonment
3. Automatic transfer to the servient owner
4. An obligation to create a new deed immediately

17. Does a prescriptive easement necessarily give the claimant ownership of the strip?

1. Yes, once a driveway is paved
2. Only if the owner still uses the driveway
3. Yes, every easement is fee title
4. No; it concerns a qualifying nonpossessory use right

18. A fence has stood for 20 years. Does that fact alone prove ordinary adverse possession?

1. No; all required possession elements and the applicable route must be proved
2. Only the fence's material matters
3. Yes, if a neighbor photographed it
4. Yes, no other evidence matters

19. Does a garage crossing a boundary automatically entitle the neighbor to immediate demolition?

1. No; rights, facts and the applicable remedy require separate review
2. No physical crossing can ever be unlawful
3. Yes, the measurement alone orders demolition
4. Yes, every title policy pays for removal

20. A property is sold while a tenant occupies under a valid lease. Is every lease automatically ended by the deed?

1. Yes, if the owner calls it an encumbrance
2. No; the tenancy, lease terms and governing law must be checked
3. The tenant automatically becomes the fee owner
4. Yes, all leases end at recording

21. A representative is appointed in an estate. Does appointment alone establish ownership and authority for every proposed real-estate conveyance?

1. No; title, powers, administration type and applicable conditions still matter
2. Yes, but only if a lease exists
3. All heirs must always sign every deed
4. Yes, every heir is displaced automatically

22. A valid surface deed expressly reserves the mineral estate. What does the supplied reservation mean?

1. The stated mineral ownership remains separate from the conveyed surface
2. Every mining method is automatically approved
3. The grantee acquires the reserved minerals automatically
4. The grantor loses every mineral right by signing

23. A buyer acquires an airspace interest. Does that alone authorize any desired building height?

1. No; the actual interest and applicable public and private limits matter
2. Yes, a purchase cancels zoning
3. Only a mortgage can limit height
4. Yes, if the buyer owns the ground too

24. A seller owns waterfront land. Does that alone approve covered construction in or along the water?

1. Yes, ownership replaces all permits
2. No; the actual project and applicable authorization requirements must be checked
3. Yes, if the work is called maintenance
4. Every project always needs the same individual application

25. Under the ordinary Illinois adverse-possession route, can a claimant combine one missing element from different years to avoid proving them together?

1. Yes, elapsed years replace the elements
2. Only a tax receipt is required
3. No; the required possession elements must coexist throughout the required period
4. Yes, if the fence looks old

26. In a basic vocabulary question, sediment gradually builds up along the shore. Which term best identifies that event?

1. A mortgage release
2. Subordination
3. Accretion
4. Avulsion

27. A recorded easement grants only stated driveway ingress and egress. Does that alone establish unlimited parking or expansion onto additional land?

1. Yes, recording removes all limits
2. No; the actual scope and governing law need review
3. Yes, every access right includes every use
4. Only the mortgage holder decides

28. A lender validly agrees to subordinate its lien to a specified later lien. What is the agreement's stated purpose?

1. To erase every encumbrance on the property
2. To change the agreed relative priority, rather than pay the debt or transfer fee title
3. To replace every governing statute
4. To make the borrower the creditor