AbstractorPro (Real Title Services)
DRN Title Search
Register
Log In
Forget your Password?

Home
Directory
Bulletins
Forums
Blogs
Articles
Links
Classifieds
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise
FAQ
Privacy Policy


Teresa Wright's Blog

NOT Indexing by legal description - YIKES!!
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/09 |

*GASP*!!! They are not indexing the real estate records by legal description!  Yikes!

Teresa Wright's Blog ::

I have visited more than one county now whose clerk states that the deed records are not indexed by legal description (AT ALL)  - only by name.  What to do?  "Subject to matters of record affecting the subject property that are not indexed by legal description."   *insert frustrated exclamation here* 





Rating: 

88 words | 3992 views | 10 comments | log in or register to post a comment


Never indexed by legal
Beaver County Pennsylvania has never been indexed by legal description.  Records have always been indexed by grantor/grantee.  
by PATRICIA PALMER | 2014/10/09 | log in or register to post a reply

Indexing

So how small are these Registries?  Are the entries completely scrubbed of any identifying info including city/town designations? 

 The 17th century indices & right up to about 1850 or so ( in Essex South) were done by last name/Town only & the  names were not alphabetized, so back in the day when a 50 year start would, in all likelihood, drag you right back to one of those indices, copious tears would be shed at the thought of running John Smith for that time period. 

Now, the bigger problem is quirky indexing where spelling mistakes, or property description mis-statements abound & the stakes are considerably higher.  I did a title this morning to a property that I found by going round & round & round, finally running the plan indices to find the  book & page deed reference.

When I looked at the deed I checked how the Registry had done its indexing & actually it hadn't bothered to index it at all - there was absolutely nothing there - no grantor/grantee/property address- zippadee-do-dah.  Just a  street address with no house # & a town.  This did not happen in Essex South.  It was in another,--( unnamed)  Registry--, which most Massachusetts examiners know is prone to *quirky* indexing & counter clerks who eat breakfast at their work stations.

But, that's why they call us *examiners* rather than *glanced at-er's*.

 

 
by Leigh Attridge | 2014/10/10 | log in or register to post a reply

Indexing
You should never rely on the index anyway. The standard for a title search is to look at every instrument. Many claims have arisen by the examiner's reliance on an incorrect index. 
by Robert Hinson | 2014/10/13 | log in or register to post a reply

Alabama
I don't know any county in Alabama that indexes by legal; it's all name based. Courts have held in our favor when it comes to documents filed by names not on title; Jim Smith instead of James for instance. It becomes time consuming to say the least in the large counties like Jefferson. And Robert Hinson, that's why we all have the disclaimer at the bottom of our title certificates "Not responsible for indexing errors". I can't tell you how many I catch in a given week.
 
by Melinda Barcum, J.D. | 2014/10/20 | log in or register to post a reply

Absolutely!
Bear with me here...when examining the grantee/grantor indexes and instruments (because that is all that is provided) another efficient method of indexing timber leases, materialman's liens, and government easements that affect the property but may or may not reference the owner's name in the chain of title is a legal description index.  Also, if a deed is recorded referencing the subject property from a party NOT in the chain of title it would be shown in the legal description index.  I know there are several exceptions to cover some of these loopholes but some of these issues could be disclosed/addressed/corrected if the records are reconciled by grantor/grantee/legal description. 
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/20 | log in or register to post a reply

Absolutely!
Bear with me here...when examining the grantee/grantor indexes and instruments (because that is all that is provided) another efficient method of indexing timber leases, materialman's liens, and government easements that affect the property but may or may not reference the owner's name in the chain of title is a legal description index.  Also, if a deed is recorded referencing the subject property from a party NOT in the chain of title it would be shown in the legal description index.  I know there are several exceptions to cover some of these loopholes but some of these issues could be disclosed/addressed/corrected if the records are reconciled by grantor/grantee/legal description. 
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/20 | log in or register to post a reply

Examiners - not Glancers

Ok - so it definitely is more diligent to maintain a legal description index in addition to the grantor and grantee indexes, but with registries/recorders/clerks using computer indexing systems it seems it would be easy enough for them to allow indexing by legal description as well.

 I've had to search the archived handwritten tax rolls in the scary, smelly place (only sixty years prior) to find out who might have owned a property when an individual and company name search did not reconcile. 

 Obviously - I vote for legal description indexes because it is part of diligently abstracting and reconciling instruments with issues that could affect title to the property.

 

 

 
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/20 | log in or register to post a reply

Thank you
Thank you for sharing, Patricia, Leigh, Robert, and Melinda.  I appreciate it! 
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/20 | log in or register to post a reply

Old School Connecticut

169 Towns with their own Land Records and Town Clerks (some elected every 2 years) entering the data.  The Towns don't even use the same database programs; at least the fields are the same.  Old School 60-year searches back to a (gasp!) Warrantee Deed and, if utility easement is in that deed, back to find the easement document - pre-computer index and reviewing re-typed documents and handwritten documents before copies.

 "Legal" space is nice, but is not required by law and us ancients know that Town Clerks enter it as a "courtesy" based on what they can GUESS from the deed. Not every drafter cares about accuracy. Some mortgage do-it-yourself companies have interesting property addresses, skip the messy metes & bounds stuff and the extra page to put it on, and if the mortgaged property is two lots, just reference one address in bold typed on the first page, but include both metes and bounds legal descriptions on page 24.  It is a GREAT HELP, but depending on the state you are in and system used, it cannot be relied on.  A few examples:

 12 N Moodus Rd notations, same property; 10 years prior same property is "10 Mitchell Hill", go back to before the road was named and the notations get interesting.  Our road names have changed over the years and, when new roads are added, a property with an existing street address can jump to the new street address.  My house identification number has changed 4 times.

Assessor's Map and Lot:  Mine's changed 5 times over the years ... and my land didn't re-subdivide or run around the map :) When the lot numbers get to0 large (23-12-4), someone decides to re-number all the Assessor lots to smaller numbers (starting over with 1 - don't even guess which lot will become the new #1).

 "Lot 3 Mill Rd", but Lot 3 of what - three Lot 3s on the same road with simultaneous different owners?

I can see how Florida and younger states can have a good "legal address" system and those using the Torrens (forgive any misspelling) systems.

As stated, this is why title indexes AND documents are EXAMINED, many of us ancients prefer to be accurate over fast and cheap.

 
by Bobbi Shorthouse, Notary Public | 2014/10/21 | log in or register to post a reply

Still not comforted by "well, a lot of the other counties don't do this"
The legal description is typically referenced in some way when it is recorded and indexed.  So many counties have the records online; so it really does seem reasonable to simply allow access to a legal description "sort" command that would organize the different instruments with a reference to a particular property.  Just like a "sort" command for a grantor or grantee name except for the legal description.  It just seems like an important part of the research is incomplete without a reconciliation of grantor/grantee/legal description. The importance of an instrument reference surfacing in the index is acknowledged by any abstractor that is concerned about accuracy. The index is one of the primary ways of acquiring instrument recording information so applicable instruments can be examined.  A legal description index could reveal conveyances by aliases, erroneous/fraudulent conveyances by parties not in the chain of title, government easements, the list goes on.  There are matters of record that affect the subject property that might not reference a party in the chain of title and the legal description index is a remedy for that situation.  
by Teresa Wright | 2014/10/28 | log in or register to post a reply
Teresa Wright's Blog

 

Links

Recent Comments

The legal description is typically referenced in some way when it is recorded and indexed.  So ...
by Teresa Wright
 "makes you wanna put a 10% down, white picket fence, house on this dirt"...
by Teresa Wright
.....and the coal company came with the world's largest shovel, they tortured the timber and stripp...
by K SHANNON
 "Got a mortgage on my body; got a lien on my soul" - Led Zeppelin - Travelling River...
by Scott Oberlin
169 Towns with their own Land Records and Town Clerks (some elected every 2 years) entering the dat...
by Bobbi Shorthouse, Notary Public
Thank you for sharing, Patricia, Leigh, Robert, and Melinda.  I appreciate it!...
by Teresa Wright
Ok - so it definitely is more diligent to maintain a legal description index in addition ...
by Teresa Wright
Bear with me here...when examining the grantee/grantor indexes and instruments (because th...
by Teresa Wright
Categories

     
    © 2020, Source of Title.