Land Use Controls Practice Questions Preview

1. A.Without a will and without any locatable heirs
2. B.While the property is subject to a recorded lien
3. C.Owing more in taxes than the property is worth
4. D.Without a will but leaving surviving children

Why each choice works or fails

• A. Correct. No will and no locatable heirs is the condition for escheat.
• B. A lien gives a creditor a claim for payment, not a transfer of title to the state.
• C. Candidates confuse escheat with tax sales. Unpaid taxes lead to a tax sale, not escheat.
• D. Surviving children inherit by intestate succession, so nothing escheats.

Rule to remember: Escheat passes property to the state only when the owner dies with no will and no locatable heirs.

1. A.Unenforceable, and acting on it violates fair housing law
2. B.Valid until a court formally strikes it from the record
3. C.Enforceable because it was recorded before 1968
4. D.Enforceable only against the original parties to it

Why each choice works or fails

• A. Correct. It is unenforceable, and acting on it is a fair housing violation.
• B. Candidates assume recorded means valid until removed, but the covenant is unenforceable whether or not it is struck.
• C. The recording date does not matter; courts refuse to enforce these covenants regardless of age.
• D. It binds nobody, original party or later owner.

Rule to remember: Racially restrictive covenants are unenforceable, and acting on one violates the Fair Housing Act.

1. A.Reserve land for future government acquisition
2. B.Prohibit all construction within a defined strip
3. C.Increase permitted density at a district boundary
4. D.Separate incompatible uses with a transitional area

Why each choice works or fails

• A. Reserving land for public acquisition is a different tool, not a buffer.
• B. A buffer need not be a completely undeveloped strip; the applicable controls may allow landscaping or lower-intensity uses.
• C. Buffers lower intensity at the boundary; they do not raise density.
• D. Correct. A buffer is a transitional area between incompatible uses.

Rule to remember: A buffer zone is a transitional strip of lower-intensity use between incompatible districts.

1. A.Police power
2. B.Escheat
3. C.Eminent domain
4. D.Inverse condemnation

Why each choice works or fails

• A. Candidates link police power to government control, but it regulates use through zoning and codes without taking title or paying.
• B. Escheat transfers property of owners who die without heirs; it is not a taking for public use.
• C. Correct. Eminent domain is the power to take for public use with just compensation.
• D. Inverse condemnation is a lawsuit an owner brings to seek compensation, not the government's power itself.

Rule to remember: Eminent domain is the power, condemnation is the process.

1. A.A variance
2. B.A nonconforming use
3. C.A special use permit
4. D.Spot zoning

Why each choice works or fails

• A. Candidates call any exception a variance, but a variance is permission to deviate because strict rules cause hardship.
• B. Correct. A lawful prior use allowed to continue is nonconforming.
• C. A special use permit allows a use the ordinance lists as conditional in that zone.
• D. Spot zoning singles out one parcel for treatment unlike its surroundings.

Rule to remember: A lawful use that predates the new zoning is nonconforming. A variance is permission to depart from the rules for hardship.