1. Arkin, the owner of Redacre, executed a real estate mortgage to the Shawnee Bank and Trust Company for $100,000. After the mortgage was executed and recorded, Arkin constructed a dwelling on the premises and planted a corn crop. After Arkin defaulted in the payment of the mortgage debt, the bank proceeded to foreclose the mortgage. At the time of the foreclosure sale, the corn crop was mature and unharvested. Arkin contends (a) that the value of the dwelling should be credited to him and (b) that he is entitled to the corn crop. Explain whether Arkin is correct.
2. Marcia executed a mortgage of Blackacre to secure her indebtedness to Ajax Savings and Loan Association in the amount of $125,000. Later, Marcia sold Blackacre to Morton. The deed contained the following provision: “This deed is subject to the mortgage executed by the Grantor herein to Ajax Savings and Loan Association.”
The sale price of Blackacre to Morton was $150,000. Morton paid $25,000 in cash, deducting the $125,000 mortgage debt from the purchase price. On default in the payment of the mortgage debt, Ajax brings an action against Marcia and Morton to recover a judgment for the amount of the mortgage debt and to foreclose the mortgage. Can Ajax recover from Marcia and Morton? Please explain.
3. Clayton and Margie Gulledge owned a house at 532 Somerset Place, N.W. (the Somerset property) as tenants by the entirety. They had three children: Bernis Gulledge, Johnsie Walker, and Marion Watkins. When Margie Gulledge died in 1984, Clayton became the sole owner of the Somerset property. The following year, Clayton remarried, but the marriage was unsuccessful. To avoid a possible loss of the Somerset property, Bernis forwarded Clayton funds to satisfy the second wife’s financial demands. In exchange, Clayton conveyed the property to Bernis and himself as joint tenants. In 2005, Clayton conveyed his interest in the Somerset property to his daughter, Marion Watkins. In 2005, Clayton died. Bernis died in 2011, and Johnsie Walker died in 2011. Marion Watkins claims to be a tenant in common with the estate of Bernis Gulledge. The estate claims that when Clayton died, Watkins’ interest was extinguished, and Bernis became the sole owner of the Somerset property. Who is correct? Please explain.