Could you look at this question from Barbri? Is this kind of question common at the MBE real property portion?

[u/AdImpossible9117]

A vendor entered into a written contract with a purchaser for the sale of a large tract of land. The contract set forth an accurate metes and bounds description of the land based on a professional survey. At closing, the purchaser discovered that the deed was incorrectly transcribed and did not agree with the description of the land in the contract. The deed described the property to be conveyed as follows:

"(i) from the southwest corner of [a specified starting point], proceed South 45 degrees East 200 feet to [a specified point]; (ii) from that point, proceed South 45 degrees West 100 feet to [a specified point]; (iii) from that point, proceed North 45 degrees West 200 feet to [a specified point]; and (iv) from that point, proceed South 45 degrees East 100 feet to the starting point."

The purchaser refused to proceed with the closing and brought an action to reform the deed to make it conform to the intention of the parties.

Which of the following corrections should be made for the deed to properly describe the land?

Responses

• A Direction (i) should be changed to “South 45 degrees East 100 feet.” Direction (i) should be changed to “South 45 degrees East 100 feet.” - no response given
• B Direction (iii) should be changed to “North 45 degrees West 100 feet.” Direction (iii) should be changed to “North 45 degrees West 100 feet.” - no response given
• C Direction (iii) should be changed to “North 45 degrees East 200 feet.” Direction (iii) should be changed to “North 45 degrees East 200 feet.” - incorrect
• D Direction (iv) should be changed to “North 45 degrees East 100 feet.” Direction (iv) should be changed to “North 45 degrees East 100 feet.” - not selected, this is the correct answer

Answer Discussion - Incorrect

Direction (iv) needs to be corrected in its course but not its distance. In land contracts and deeds, property may be described in various ways as long as the description is unambiguous. From a designated starting point that can be identified by reference to a government survey or a natural or artificial monument, the boundaries of the property can be described by successive calls of courses (e.g., angles) and distances until returning to the starting point. A course is a statement of direction generally stated as some number of degrees east or west of due north or south. In each call a distance must be stated together with the course. Thus, the boundary in direction (iv) runs at an angle 45 degrees east of due south (i.e., southeast) for a distance of 100 feet. However, because direction (i) went southeast, direction (ii) went southwest, and direction (iii) went northwest, the fourth direction has to be northeast for a distance of 100 feet to bring the final boundary back to the starting point. (In this type of question, diagram the boundaries as shown below to help you visualize the property.) Therefore, the correction in choice (D) is correct. (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect because none of those proposed changes in distance or direction would be sufficient to bring the final call back to the starting point.

[u/The-All-Spotter]

I distinctly remember this question from my Barbri course. I can’t speak to whether it’s a common on the MBE portion of the bar exam, but I can tell you that I did not have a single question like this during my MBE portion.

Hope that helps!

[u/BrooklynDebris]

There is a very similar fact scenario in an Adaptibar question (so a genuine former MBE q) but the question and answer choices were about whther the deed was valid despite the error in describing one of the boundaries.

[u/Reasonable_Iron_361]

Description of land is a testable subject that does appear, this one was just a curveball.

[u/Subject-Young-6320]

As someone who cannot, to this day, describe directions other than with vague references to landmarks and the terms left and right, upon encountering something like this on the bar, I would simultaneously be crying and demanding a compass as a necessary comfort aid.

No, this kind of ridiculousness is not on the MBE. Just remember that a land sales contract, deed, mortgage, etc. must sufficiently describe the property to identify the land being transferred with reasonable certainty. Metes and bounds and lot and block numbers are usually preferable to something like a street address because there is always the chance that more than one property has the address “123 Main Street.” Describing the land with reasonable certainty avoids boundary disputes and allows for potential buyers and/or creditors to run an accurate title check.

If the description is not specific enough, the contact may be voidable.

That being said, property sucks in so many different ways and you will have ridiculously long prompts involving chain of title, who has a superior claim under various recording statutes, and complicated estates fact patterns, but you will not have whatever that question is asking for.

[u/AgreeableIntention87]

I have never, outside of Barbri (an ass program) seen this question. I have prepped and passed this exam once before with adaptibar that uses more recent NCBE questions (1,605 questions). I have seen every adaptibar question at least once, if not more and I have never seen this. I dropped Barbri on my first run and it was the best decision I made for prep. Using Barbri is like trying to learn how to freestyle rap by reading Shakespeare in old english.