Do you know about the changes coming to the February 2017 MBE/MEE for the Real Property subject area?
You can get all the details from the bar examiners themselves. Here is their explanation:
New topics will include conflicts of law (I.D.4.); property owners’ associations and common interest ownership communities (II.A.6.); drafting, review, and negotiation of closing documents (V.B.3.); and persons authorized to execute real estate documents (V.B.4.).
Minor modifications will include providing specific examples of rules affecting future interests (I.A.2.e.); including security deposits in termination of tenancies (I.C.4.); providing more detailed zoning topics (II.D.1.–3.); and including as separate topics transfers of restrictive covenants (II.A.4.), transfers of easements, profits, and licenses (II.B.4.), and acceleration of loans before foreclosure (IV.E.2.).
In response, I’ve updated the MBE and California/MBE outlines to account for these changes. [If you already purchased these outlines, you should have received an email notifying you of the update and providing you with a new download link.]
It should be noted that it is a bit difficult to divine exactly what the bar examiners mean by these vague phrases above – “minor modifications” huh??? – and how these new/modified areas might be tested.
That said, I’ve incorporated a general overview of these topics in the outlines. Be sure to pay attention in your bar review courses when they discuss the details of these new areas.
Scoring Changes to MBE
The MBE used to be scored based on 190 of the 200 questions, with the unscored 10 questions being experimental questions. Now, the MBE is scored on 175 of 200 questions, with 25 questions being experimental.
This means, each question counts more than in the past.
It also mean the bar examiners are using test takers to help them write new questions for their exam. So kind of them!
Obviously, there is nothing you can do about this, so worrying or complaining won’t help. Just study well and often.
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