IREB - Illinois Real Estate Broker Examination

Question 21: A Logan Square homeowner allows her neighbor a permanent right to cross a strip of her backyard to reach an alley behind both lots. The right runs with the land and benefits whichever person owns the neighboring lot. Which of the following BEST identifies this interest?

Easement in gross

Profit a prendre

Revocable license

Easement appurtenant

Question 22: For two decades, a Bucktown property owner has walked daily across an unpaved corner of an adjacent vacant lot to reach a commuter rail station. The use has been open, continuous, exclusive, and hostile without the owner's permission. Which of the following BEST describes the legal result?

The owner can revoke at any time

An easement by necessity arises here

An easement by prescription has matured

The walker has acquired full title

Question 23: A regional electric utility holds a recorded right to install and maintain transmission lines across a Will County farm. The utility's right benefits the utility company itself rather than any specific parcel of land owned by the utility. Which of the following BEST identifies this interest?

Reversionary future interest

Profit a prendre arrangement

Easement appurtenant

Easement in gross

Question 24: A homeowner in Peoria discovers that her neighbor's garage extends three feet across the boundary line into her side yard. The intrusion is physical and unauthorized and has existed for only a few months. Which of the following BEST identifies the legal characterization of this intrusion?

Easement by prescription matured

Encroachment by the neighboring owner

Lawful license created by silence

Trade fixture installed at the boundary

Question 25: Which of the following BEST distinguishes an easement from a license under Illinois real estate law, where the easement creates a long-term burden on the servient estate and the license does not?

Easements are oral and licenses are written

Easements are revocable and licenses are not

Both terminate automatically every year

Easements are interests in land and licenses are personal privileges

Question 26: A Chicago title search reveals that the seller's property is subject to a recorded judgment lien arising from a personal injury suit unrelated to the property. The lien attaches to all real estate the seller owns in the county. Which of the following BEST characterizes this lien?

A specific lien on this parcel only

A voluntary mortgage lien

A general lien on all real property

A possessory artisan's lien

Question 27: A general contractor renovating a Wicker Park two-flat last performed work on the project sixty days ago and has not been paid. The contractor must file a mechanics' lien to preserve priority against later-recorded interests. Which of the following BEST identifies the Illinois priority filing window?

Within four months of last work

Within one year of project start

Within ten days of demand

Within two years of completion

Question 28: A homeowner in Springfield owes delinquent property taxes on a single-family residence, an unpaid first mortgage to a national lender, and a judgment lien from a prior business dispute. The county treasurer initiates a tax sale. Which of the following lienholders generally has the highest priority?

The first mortgage lender by recording date

The judgment creditor by docket priority

All three share equal pro rata priority

The taxing authority for the property taxes

Question 29: An Illinois civil court enters a judgment against a defendant arising from a Cook County contract dispute and records the judgment with the county recorder. Without renewal action, the lien created by recording remains effective against the debtor's real property in that county for which of the following periods?

Three years from the recording date

Seven years from the recording date

Twenty years from entry of judgment

Indefinitely until the judgment is paid

Question 30: A Chicago homeowner takes out a mortgage to finance the purchase of a Ravenswood single-family residence. The lender records the mortgage, which serves as security for the loan. Which of the following BEST describes the classification of this lien?

Voluntary specific lien

Involuntary general lien

Involuntary specific lien

Voluntary general lien

Question 31: An Illinois landowner whose property borders the Illinois River downstream of Peoria asks her broker about the rights that come with owning land adjacent to a flowing stream. Which of the following BEST identifies the body of rights that applies to her flowing-water frontage?

Littoral rights for tidal waters

Prior appropriation under federal law

Riparian rights for flowing waters

Mineral rights by rule of capture

Question 32: Over decades, the Mississippi River has gradually deposited soil along a Quincy landowner's frontage, slowly enlarging the parcel without any sudden flood event. Which of the following BEST describes the doctrine governing the landowner's claim to the newly deposited land?

Reliction adding exposed lakebed

Accretion gradually adding new soil

Avulsion fixing the original line

Erosion subtracting from the lot

Question 33: A central Illinois landowner discovers that a flood has caused the Sangamon River to abruptly shift its channel by hundreds of feet, leaving the original riverbed dry and cutting a new course across what was the neighbor's farmland. Which of the following BEST describes the boundary consequence?

Boundary shifts to the new river course

Land escheats to the State immediately

Both lots merge into single ownership

Boundary remains where it was before

Question 34: An Illinois farmer sells the mineral rights beneath her property to an oil and gas exploration company while retaining the surface estate for continued farming. The mineral owner needs to extract subsurface resources. Which of the following BEST describes the access the mineral owner generally has?

Implied easement of reasonable surface access

No access without separate purchase

Unlimited surface use at any time

Surface ownership transferred automatically

Question 35: A developer in downtown Chicago acquires the right to construct an office tower in airspace above an existing transit station. The transit authority retains all surface uses while the developer builds above. Which of the following BEST describes the developer's purchased interest?

Subsurface rights only

Riparian access rights

Air rights above the surface

Solar easement rights

Question 36: A homeowner in suburban Cook County wants to build an addition that would extend ten feet into the required side-yard setback under the local zoning code. The owner has no other reasonable way to expand because of an irregularly shaped lot. Which of the following remedies fits the request?

Spot zoning of the entire lot

Comprehensive plan amendment

Special use permit from the board

Area variance from setback rules

Question 37: A long-established corner grocery in a Pilsen neighborhood lawfully predated the area's rezoning to single-family residential decades ago. The current owner wishes to continue operating but cannot expand the store. Which of the following BEST identifies the legal status of this grocery?

Lawful nonconforming use grandfathered

Use variance to be reapplied annually

Spot-zoned commercial enclave

Special use under conditional permit

Question 38: A municipality outside Joliet rezones a single residential lot to commercial use to allow a developer to build a strip retail center, while the surrounding parcels remain zoned residential. The rezoning provides no broader public benefit. Which of the following BEST describes this action?

Inverse condemnation requiring compensation

Spot zoning inconsistent with the plan

Lawful comprehensive plan amendment

Cluster zoning encouraging density

Question 39: A licensed restaurant owner proposes to open an outdoor cafe with extended evening hours on a commercial corridor where the ordinance permits restaurants but allows late-hour outdoor service only with discretionary approval and conditions on noise and lighting. Which of the following BEST fits the request?

Use variance from prohibited activity

Rezoning to a different district

Special use permit with conditions

Nonconforming use protection

Question 40: A municipality adopts a comprehensive plan setting out a long-range vision for land use, transportation, public facilities, and economic development across the entire community. Which of the following BEST identifies the legal role of the comprehensive plan in Illinois land use control?

Advisory blueprint guiding zoning decisions

Binding ordinance enforceable against owners

Federal mandate under the Constitution

Real estate marketing tool only

IREB Illinois Real Estate Broker Examination - Set 1 - Part 2