chain of title Flashcards
what is the chain of title
someting that a persom caliming better title to property as against everyome else must be able to establish;
its a series of documents affecting ownership of, rights to, and encumbrances on a parcel of land linked together in some manner
what are the two types of indexing systems?
the grantor -grantee index and the tract index
how do you construct a chain of title via the grantor grantee index system
- look in the grantee index, going backwards in time, to get a list of grantees and their recording date (so if yourre buying property from john doe, search for his name as grantee in the year 2024, 23, 22…. until you finally find his name listed as a grantee in 1984 listings under D.
- once you find their name as grantee, look to see who the grantor was in that transaction – ie for this example, you see that the grantor was Jan Casen
- next, you look for Jan casens name in the grantee index, first in the 1984 listing, then 93, and so on until you find Jan’s name (in this example lets say you find it in 1944 listing)
- then you look to the grantor in THAT listing, and in that case it is Jack black
- you keep doing this until you are able to go to a date that is prior to what we need to establish root of title ( for example if your jurisidction had a root of title for 90 years, you would search for a recording date up to a date before 1934)
- go to the deed books and and look at the actual deeds from the info you pulled
- look at each deed and write down the deed date, which may be different than the recording date
- once you have that info you move on to the grantor index, going forward in time
- start with the oldest deed, and search for the grantor’s name in the grantor’s index (search from the deed year to the recording year ) – in a perfect world you would only find one listing – the one that is shown
between the grantor and granttee, which search is the one that establishes what you are actually on notice for?
the grantor index search
how are the conveynces listed in the index
by last name
what is root of title
set by jurisdictions, and its a lenght of time that sayis if you can go back a certian number of years (whatever the jurisdiction says) and establish a chain of title, then you have supeior claim to title
Board of Edu v hughes:
In may 1906 Carrie Hoerger owned the lot in question
D Hughes offered to pay 25 dollars for the lot
His offer was accepted and he sent his check for the purchase to Carries husband as well as a deed to be executed and returned
The name of the grantee in the deed was left blank
It was executed and acknowledged by Carrie and her husband the next day and delivered to Huges via mail
Hughes filled in the name of the grantee but not until before the deed was recorded in December 16 1910
In April of 1909, real estate dealers paid Carrie 25 dollars for a quitclaim deed to the lot, which was executed and delivered to them but was not recorded until December 21 1910
In November 19, 1909, the real estate dealers executed and delivered to P a warranty deed to the lot, which deed was filed for record Jan 27 1910
It thus appears that the deed to Hughes was record before the deed the real estate dealers, though the deed from them to the p was recorded before the deed to the defendant
Issue: 1. did the deed from Carrie to D Hughes ever become operative?
2. if so, is he a subsequent purchaser whose deed was first duly recorded, within the language of the recording act?
one who records his valid deed first is the record owner of real property, regardless of whether another party has earlier received the same property
Issue one
Hughs, when he received the deed from Mrs. Hoerger, had implied authority to insert his name as grantee, in the absence of evidence showing the want of such authority
Issue two
This record of a deed from an apparent stranger to the title was not notice to Hughes of the prior unrecorded conveyance by his grantor
why was the school boards deed in board of edu v hughes deemed a wild deed
because it was recorded outside of the chain of title – ie they should have recorded upon the carrie transfer when it happened instead of waiting
Hughes had no way to know about it, so he will not have been given any notice
what is a wild deed
a recorded deed or other document that cant be found easiluy by search of the grantor grantee index because a link in the chain of tile is not recorded or is recorded out of order
what does a missing link in a chain of title mean
means its a wild deed which means the bfp does not have notice
Messersmith(recording requirements) : the messed up notary case
The first deed, the notary SAW caroline sign – was not recorded because he tore it up
The second deed, the notary DID NOT SEE – and it was recorded
The second deed, the transaction was done over the phone,when it needed to be in person, per the states requirements
ISSUE
Does a title instrument not recorded according to statutory requirements provide valid notice of the transfer to a subsequent purchaser?
the recording of a title instrument that does not meet the recording act statutory requirements does not provide constructive notice of the transfer to subsequent buyers
is the messersmith rule (the recording of a title instrument that does not meet the recording act statutory requirements does not provide constructive notice of the transfer to subsequent buyers) followed by a majority of jurisdiction?
no, most follow a more leniet rule
if the defect in the deed is latent (unknowable to a person examinimg the face of the document), then the deed serves to satisfy the recordig act requirment and provides constructive notce
if the defect is patent(ie visible on its face) the deed does not provide record notice
ex of patent and latent mistake
patent = notarty failed to sign the document
latent= notary was not physically present when grantor signed
what when a deed reflects forgery or fraud in the execution of the deed,
the recording act does not protect a bfp where the defect is either forgery or fraud, regardless of the latent nature of the forgery or the fraud
can you prevail as a BFP over someone who has gained title as a AP?
NO! Ap trumps ra
