Chapter 16: Title Protection

Question 1

What is a title?

Answer 1

a legal right to ownership of a property

Question 2

What are recording acts?

Answer 2

Provides legal, constructive, and public notice of real estate transactions

Question 3

Where do the recordings take place?

Answer 3

In the city the land is located in

Question 4

Recording acts give legal priority to those interests that are signed when?

Answer 4

First

Question 5

What are the 2 indexing systems for recording documents?

Answer 5

1. Tract index: simplest

2. Grantor and grantee index: alphabetical indexes by grantor or grantee

Question 6

What’s the difference between constructive notice and actual notice?

Answer 6

1. Constructive notice: One must do due diligence

2. Actual notice: Someone has direct knowledge

Question 7

What is chain of title?

Answer 7

refers to the history of ownership of a piece of property

Question 8

What is abstract of title?

Answer 8

a record of the title history of a property or other significant asset, including transfers, liens, and legal actions that are connected to the property

Question 9

Is a deed considered evidence of title?

Answer 9

No

Question 10

What is a suit to quiet title?

Answer 10

a legal proceeding used to confirm or clarify the ownership of real estate. A quiet title suit can settle a dispute over who owns real property. It can also fix a technical error in the chain of title to real property

Question 11

What is evidence of title?

Answer 11

Satisfactory proof that the seller is the owner and has good title to the property

Question 12

What are the 4 forms of title evidence?

Answer 12

1. Abstract of title & lawyer’s opinion
2. Title insurance policy
3. Torrens certificate
4. Certificate of title

Question 13

What is a title insurance policy?

Answer 13

a contract by which a title insurance company agrees, subject to the terms of its policy to:
1. Indemnify (Compensate or reimburse) against any losses sustained

Question 14

What is subrogation?

Answer 14

the act of one party claiming the legal rights of another that it has reimbursed for losses.

Subrogation occurs in property/casualty insurance when a company pays one of its insured’s for damages, then makes its own claim against others who may have caused the loss, insured the loss, or contributed to it.

Question 15

What is the Torrens System

Answer 15

A system for recording land titles under which a court may direct the issuance of a certificate of title upon application by the landowner

Question 16

What is a certificate of title?

Answer 16

an official state or municipal-issued document that identifies the owner(s) of personal or real property.

A certificate of title provides documentary evidence of the right of ownership.

Question 17

What is the Marketable Title Act?

Answer 17

Title that is free from reasonable doubt or any sort of threat of litigation.

An implied promise in a contract when a seller is selling land to a buyer is that the seller will deliver marketable title to the buyer at the date of the closing.