Which term describes a sudden drop in blood pressure when a person stands up?

Victor and Zelda owned adjacent undeveloped lots on a hillside.  Victor owned the uphill lot, which enjoyed a sweeping view of the surrounding countryside, while Zelda owned the downhill lot.  Victor wanted to protect the view from the home which he planned to build on his lot.  Accordingly, he paid Zelda $10,000 in return for her agreement to the following restriction:  “Zelda agrees, on behalf of her successors, heirs, and assigns, that no structure higher than fifteen (15) feet shall ever be erected or placed on her lot and that the benefit of this agreement will inure to the benefit of Victor, his successors, heirs, and assigns.”  The agreement was signed by Zelda, complied with the Statute of Frauds, and was recorded.  Victor built a lovely house on his lot, which he later sold to Sara.  Zelda then built a house on her lot which was 40 feet high, entirely blocking the view from Sara’s house.  Sara sued Zelda for damages on the theory that the restriction was a real covenant.  Who will win the lawsuit?

Which term describes an increase in heart rate?

A retiree purchased a rustic cabin on a small plot of land near the center of a landowner’s large parcel of land. The deed to the land, which the landowner delivered to the retiree for fair consideration, did not specifically grant an easement over the landowner’s property to reach the public highway bordering her land. There were two means of access to the cabin from the public roads: a driveway from the county road on the south, and a private road from the highway on the east. The landowner told the retiree that he could use the private road from the highway. Twice during his first two years at the cabin, the retiree took the driveway from the county road instead; at all other times he used the private road. At the end of his second year at the cabin, the retiree began reading tarot cards to supplement his retirement income. He had a steady stream of clients coming to his home at all hours of the day and night. Most of the clients came in on the driveway from the county road, which ran close to the landowner’s home. The landowner objected, and told the retiree that neither he nor his clients had any right to use that driveway and that they must use the private road from the highway. The retiree refused, and he and his clients continued to use the driveway from the county road for three years. Finally, the landowner began blocking off the driveway from the county road. The retiree brought suit to enjoin this practice. The prescriptive period in this jurisdiction is five years. Who will most likely prevail?

A landowner and her neighbor owned adjoining tracts of land. No public road abutted the neighbor’s land, so the landowner granted the neighbor an express easement over the north 25 feet of the landowner’s land. However, the following month the county extended the public road to the neighbor’s land, and he ceased using the easement for ingress and egress. Twenty years later, the neighbor conveyed the easement to his friend, who owned the land adjoining the other side of the landowner. The following year, the neighbor conveyed his land to the landowner. None of the parties has used the easement since the public road was extended. The jurisdiction has a 15-year statute of limitations for acquiring property interests by adverse possession. At what point was the easement extinguished?

Layne and Helena were neighbors. Helena decided to demolish her existing house and build a new two-story dwelling. Helena was required to replace her old sewage line with a new underground sewage line because of the increased size of the house. The topography of Helena’s lot made it very expensive and inconvenient to connect the new sewage line to the public system to the east of Helena’s lot. However, it was very economical and convenient to run the line under a portion of Layne’s parcel and connect with the public system to the west. Helena and Layne talked and orally agreed that Helena could install her sewage line under Layne’s property. Twenty-five years have passed. Layne recently sent Helena a letter directing her “to make other arrangements” and stop the encroachment across his parcel. In most jurisdictions, can Helena continue to use the sewer line across Layne’s parcel?

Sienna owned two contiguous parcels. One year ago, she built a house on the easternmost parcel (Eastacre), but failed to develop the westernmost parcel (Westacre). Given the topography of Eastacre, it would have been extremely difficult and very costly to construct an access road to connect her house with the county road to the east. Consequently, Sienna built a dirt roadway over Westacre to connect her house with a county road to the west and used the roadway almost daily. A few months later, Sienna sold Westacre to Josie. Shortly thereafter, a new state highway was built bordering Eastacre on the north. It then became very convenient for Sienna to access her home directly from the highway rather than driving across Westacre. Recently when Sienna attempted to drive her car across Westacre, she found her access barred by a new gate Josie had erected. Josie was standing by the gate and shouted, “Access your home by means of the state highway. I no longer want you on my land.” Traditionally, which easement to cross Westacre, if any, would Sienna have?

Raul owned Redacre, a 20-acre parcel of unimproved land.  The east side of Redacre adjoined Blueacre, a 50-acre farm owned by Bob.  Redacre did not adjoin a public road, but Raul held an express easement to travel from the north part of his land across Blueacre on a dirt road to reach Green Lane, a public road located on the east side of Blueacre.  The state then built a new public highway that adjoined the west boundary of Redacre; after the new highway was completed, Raul stopped using the dirt road across Blueacre, and instead reached Redacre from the new highway.  Raul told Bob:  “You might as well plant corn where the road is.  I won’t need it in the future.”  Bob accordingly plowed up the dirt road on Blueacre and planted corn there for the next six years.  Bob eventually purchased the south half of Redacre from Raul and began farming there.  After a flash flood destroyed the highway, Raul tried to cross Blueacre to reach Green Lane but found that tall corn blocked his way.  Assume that the period for prescription in this jurisdiction is five years.  Which of the following is correct?

Sally owned a large lot located on a busy city street.  She operated a steak restaurant in a building on the west half of the lot; the east half was undeveloped.  Sally decided to sell the east half but wanted to avoid competition with her restaurant.  Accordingly, when Sally sold the east half to Boyd, she inserted the following language in the deed with Boyd’s consent:  “The parties wish to ensure that the property will not be used for a purpose that competes with seller’s existing restaurant on adjacent land.  Accordingly, buyer covenants that a restaurant will never be operated on the property.”  Boyd promptly recorded his deed.  He then entered into a written lease whereby he leased his new property to the Red Ox Steak Company (“Red Ox”), a national steak restaurant chain, for a 75-year term.  Red Ox established a steak restaurant on the land.  Sally sued Red Ox for damages on the theory that the restriction was a real covenant.   Who will win the lawsuit?

A landowner and her neighbor owned adjoining parcels of land. The landowner’s property was situated to the west of the neighbor’s property. A highway ran along the east of the neighbor’s property. Twelve years ago, the landowner asked the neighbor if it would be all right for the landowner to use an eight-foot strip along the northern part of the neighbor’s land to access the highway. The only other way for the landowner to get to the highway was to use a one-lane unpaved road that meandered through the woods for two miles. The neighbor agreed, and the landowner used the strip of land regularly to access the highway. The statutory period for adverse possession in this jurisdiction is 10 years. What is the landowner’s interest in the neighbor’s eight-foot strip of land?