Question
Ruth had four children and upon her death, Ava and Betty inherited one of their mother's houses, taking title to the property as joint tenants
Ruth had four children and upon her death, Ava and Betty inherited one of their mother's houses, taking title to the property as "joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common." Her daughter Dora inherited one of Ruth's houses and moved in with her husband, Herb, taking title as tenants by the entirety. Frank inherited Ruth's summer vacation house on the Lake (Lake Property).
Ava remodeled the kitchen for $20,000 and paid for roof repairs costing $5,000, before renting the house to Tony for $1000 per month for a one-year lease that began January 1 and ended on December 31. Betty objected to Tony's lease, but Ava managed the property and paid $200 a month from the rent proceeds for property taxes and insurance. Ava died six months after renting the house to Tony, leaving her property to her daughter, Cora.
After Dora and Herb moved into her mother's house, Herb borrowed $10,000 from his uncle to satisfy a gambling debt and gave his uncle a first mortgage on the house to secure the promissory note. Herb moved out without telling Dora where he was going and failed to repay his uncle. The uncle foreclosed and purchased the interest at the foreclosure sale.
Frank lived out-of-state and failed to notice that Pete occupied the vacation house only during the winter, even though most of the other lake owners vacationed in their homes during the summer only. Pete occupied the house based on an invalid deed he received from his cousin, four winters before Ruth died. Pete stored a large boat in the backyard of the house and built a small fence next to the lake to keep people from coming on to the property. Pete planted bushes on the side of the house to block the path from the street to the Lake.
1. What are the rights and liabilities of Cora, Betty, and Tony to the rental house?
2. What are the rights and liabilities of Herb, Dora, and Herb's uncle as to the house held in tenancy by the entirety, assuming it is located in a majority jurisdiction?
3. What are the rights of Pete and Frank as to the Lake Property assuming a five-year statute of limitations for adverse possession?
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