Real Property Mnemonics

Front 1

Freehold estates are LEFTS

Back 1

LE – Life Estates
FT – Fee Tails
S – Fee Simple (SAD)

Front 2

The 3 types of fee simple estates are SAD

Back 2

S – Fee Simple Subject to a Condition Subsequent or Precedent
- You’ll recognize these interests when they BOP you on the head
o B – “But”
o O – “On condition that”
o P – “Provided


A – Fee Simple Absolute
D – Fee Simple Determinable
- These interests can be recognized by SUD language
o S – “So long as”
o U – “Until”
o D – “During”

Front 3

Joint Tenancies are created in the PITT, and require unity of

Back 3

P – Possession
I – Interest
T – Time
T – Title

Front 4

4-D’s defeats a tenancy by the entirety

Back 4

D – Death of one spouse automatically vests title in surviving spouse
D – If one spouse becomes a Debtor in bankruptcy, Fed law allows the trustee in
bankruptcy to sell TE & divide proceeds (½ to trustee in bankruptcy & other ½ to
non-bankrupt spouse).
D – Dual transfer of TE, in which both H & W take part
D – Divorce, annulment, or, in NY, a separation judgment

Front 5

A RAW buyer will earn a broker a commission

Back 5

R – Ready
A – Able
W – Willing

Front 6

PIP may enforce an oral realty k

Back 6

P – Buyer who has Paid the purchase price, in whole or in part
I – Buyer making valuable Improvements on realty
P – Buyer taking Possession

Front 7

A donative transfer requires AID to the donee

Back 7

A – Acceptance by donee
I – Intent to make immediate gift
D –Proper Delivery of signed & acknowledged deed

Front 8

SEC FEW are in warranty deeds

Back 8

S – Covenant of Seisin.
E – Covenant against Encumbrances
C – Covenant of the right to Convey
F – Covenant of Further Assurances
E – Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment
W – Covenant of Warranty

Front 9

The CIA gives notice to a real prop buyer

Back 9

C – Constructive Notice
I – Inquiry Notice
A – Actual Notice

Front 10

PINTS for real covenants, but TINS for equitable servitudes

Back 10

P – Privity of Estate
I – Intent by original contracting parties that covenant attach to land & run to future
assignees (Horizontal Privity)
N – CIA Notice of Restrictive Covenant
T – Must Touch & Concern the land
S – Must satisfy the SOF
'TINS' is PINTS withouth the element of privity of estate.

Front 11

PINTS can come in CANS

Back 11

C – Imposed by Common Owner to protect lands retained
A – Covenants agreed to by Adjoining landowners/neighbors
N – Imposed for the benefit of Neighboring Lands
S – To carry out Common Plan or Scheme

Front 12

Negative easements are limited to LAWS

Back 12

L – Light Easements
A – Easements of Air
W – Easements regarding Water use
S – Easements of Support

Front 13

PIGS create easements

Back 13

P – Easements by Prescription
I – Easements by Implication (a.k.a., quasi-easements)
G – Easements by Grant
S – Easements by Strict Necessity

Front 14

A COW partitions realty

Back 14

C – Court Decree
O – Oral Agreement between all (100%) of the co-tenants provided they all (100%)
go into possession
W – Signed Writing voluntarily partitioning property by exchange of deeds signed by
all co-tenants

Front 15

You get an implied easement if you find a CRAB

Back 15

C – Both dominant & servient estates were formerly held by a Common Owner
R – Use of an implied easement is Reasonably Necessary for reasonable use of the
dominant estate
A – Use of the easement was plainly & physically Apparent from reasonable
inspection of the land (exception: implied easement for underground water pipes)
B – Former use of the land subordinated one part of the land for the Benefit of
another part

Front 16

A CRAM will extinguish an easement

Back 16

A – Abandonment
C – Condemnation by state’s exercise of eminent domain
R – Signed writing, Releasing the easement
A – Adverse Possession of a servient estate in a hostile manner, preventing use of
the easement
*M – Merger by common ownership of all (100%) of dominant & servient estates,
because one can’t possess an easement, covenant, or profit on her own property

Front 17

A EUNUCH establishes adverse possession

Back 17

E – Exclusive Possession (not shared w/ owner)
U – Uninterrupted Possession
N – Notorious & Open Possession, which would put the true owner on notice that a
trespasser was possessing his land & he should bring an ejectment action.
U – Owner was Under no disability (infancy or mental incompetency) when AP
began!
C – Continuous Actual Possession
H – Hostile Possession

Front 18

The hostility prong of AP is negated if, during 10 yr period, AP calls the owner OPA

Back 18

O – Offers to buy land from true owner
P – Asks Permission of true owner to use land
A – Acknowledges title’s in owner

Front 19

TIP a chattel, and it becomes a fixture

Back 19

T – Type of chattel that generally becomes part of real estate
I – Intent of person installing chattel (whether it was intended to be permanently
installed, or the person intended to subsequently remove it).
P – The parties’ relationship

Front 20

In granting or denying an area variance, the court considers ACES2

Back 20

A – are there Alternatives available that don’t violate zoning law?
C – would the proposed variance alter the Character of the neighborhood?
E – would it adversely affect the Environment?
S – was the problem the owner is attempting to resolve Self-Created, or did he buy
w/ notice of the problem, or create the problem & build w/o a permit?
S – was the variance insubstantial or Substantial?

Front 21

Courts will consider whether it’s reasonable to throw SPUD in the Water, based on

Back 21

S – Size of Waterway
P – Purpose for using water & resulting harm from that use
U – Extent of Use (how much water will be used)
D – Duration of use by property owner.

Front 22

Even if a lease is silent on these topics, a
landlord HEARS these implied covenants

Back 22

H – Habitability
E – Quiet Enjoyment
A – Assignability of the lease
R – Good Repair (this covenant is made by commercial landlords)
S – Minimal Security Precautions

Front 23

The NY grantee is not personally liable on an assumed mortgage, unless the NY deed
to the buyer expressly contains these TIPS

Back 23

T – Time remaining on the mortgage
I – Interest rate
P – Principal amount of debt assumed
S – Signed by the grantee
*Note - The MBE grantee of a deed that contains a mortgage assumption clause IS
personally liable on the mortgage, even though the grantee did not sign the deed.

Front 24

A landlord out-of-possession is liable in tort to the POLICE for injuries

Back 24

P – Where the property was leased for a Public Purpose, and LL failed to inspect and
repair dangerous conditions before turning over the land to tenant
O – Arising Outside the premises, proximately caused by a dangerous condition on
the premises, which LL should have known about when he turned over the land
L – Caused by Latent defects that LL should have known about, where tenant has
not had reasonable time to discover and repair that condition
I – Where tenant’s Intended use created an unreasonable risk of harm to others, and
LL was aware of this intended use
C – Where LL has multiple leases in the same building, and the injury occurred in a
Common passageway
E – Where LL Expressly covenants to make repairs, and fails to do so, causing injury

Front 25

• If there is any inconsistency in the metes and bounds system of describing property, priority is given in the order N-ABCDA

Back 25

• If there is any inconsistency in the metes and bounds system, priority is given in the order N-ABCDA
o Natural monument (trumps all)
o Artificial monuments (manmade)
o B adjent track/boundary
o C: courses
o D: distance
o A: area (least precise)