An owner gives a neighbor revocable, nontransferable permission to cross the owner's land, and no easement is conveyed. The license:
Correct Answer
A) Is revocable at will and creates no property interest
On these terms, the permission is personal, revocable and creates no transferable easement. Permission does not automatically become adverse use after five years. Actual licenses may have contractual or legal complications; rights must be verified rather than inferred from a verbal label alone.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option A is correct because, on the stated terms, the license is a personal permission revocable at the owner's will that creates no property interest. No easement was conveyed, and the permission is nontransferable. Actual licenses can involve contractual or legal complications, so rights should be verified from the documents rather than a label.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: Matures into a permanent easement after five years of use
Option B claims the license matures into a permanent easement after five years. Use under permission is not adverse use, so it does not automatically ripen into a prescriptive easement, and the stem states no easement was conveyed.
Option C: Binds the future owners of the lot as a covenant
Option C says it binds future owners of the lot as a covenant. A nontransferable, revocable personal permission does not run with the land as a covenant.
Option D: Requires compensation to the owner at market rates
Option D says it requires compensation to the owner at market rates. Nothing in the stated terms calls for payment, and a license can be granted without compensation.
License is permission, not property
A license lets you in but gives you nothing to own; the owner can take back the permission.
How to use: Use this to separate licenses from easements and covenants.
Exam Tip
Note words like revocable and nontransferable in the stem; they point to a license. Remember that permissive use differs from adverse use.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Treating a license as an easement
- -Believing permissive use ripens into a prescriptive easement over time
- -Assuming a personal permission binds future owners
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests the nature of a license compared with an easement. The facts state the permission is revocable, nontransferable and conveys no easement, which describes a personal privilege rather than a property interest.
Background Knowledge
A license is permission to do something on another's land that would otherwise be a trespass; it is generally personal and revocable and is not an interest in land. An easement, by contrast, is a nonpossessory property interest. Prescriptive easements require use that is adverse, not permissive.
Real-World Application
An owner lets a neighbor cross the backyard to reach a lake, in a letter stating the permission can be withdrawn at any time. The appraiser does not treat this as an easement burdening the property, since no property interest was conveyed.
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