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B of A creating a "Bad Bank" - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/10/2011 3:53:40 PM (4133 views)

Enough is enough - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/10/2011 10:17:52 AM (2841 views)

Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Bruce Murch/VA
3/8/2011 7:05:26 PM (8861 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Sheila Sten/PA
3/8/2011 8:12:17 PM (4185 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/8/2011 9:33:11 PM (4319 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Bruce Murch/VA
3/10/2011 6:53:52 AM (3809 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/10/2011 7:51:51 AM (3882 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Beverly Murch/VA
3/13/2011 11:50:42 PM (3810 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - J Nisonger/CA
3/14/2011 9:40:59 AM (3621 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - john rutledge/VA
3/14/2011 10:28:06 AM (3735 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Bruce Murch/VA
3/15/2011 9:30:21 AM (3710 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - F P/VA
3/15/2011 10:08:44 AM (3697 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - C/VA
3/23/2011 4:53:12 PM (3648 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Beverly Murch/VA
3/30/2011 10:53:55 AM (3498 views)
Re: Direct Title Solutions - Deceiving Vendors - Bruce Murch/VA
3/30/2011 11:23:19 AM (3460 views)

Stern's firm is DONE! - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/7/2011 8:37:37 PM (5287 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/8/2011 8:36:54 AM (3416 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/8/2011 10:35:13 AM (3441 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/8/2011 11:59:34 AM (3436 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Robert Franco/OH
3/8/2011 12:10:09 PM (3472 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/8/2011 2:54:03 PM (3531 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Jessica Talley/FL
3/8/2011 4:28:58 PM (3573 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/9/2011 7:49:11 AM (3350 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/9/2011 9:47:29 AM (3481 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Kevin Ahern/CT
3/9/2011 10:54:38 AM (3512 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Jessica Talley/FL
3/9/2011 11:41:43 AM (3552 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/10/2011 10:45:43 AM (3268 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/10/2011 10:41:28 AM (3291 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Robert Franco/OH
3/10/2011 11:52:29 AM (3245 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/10/2011 8:40:01 PM (3415 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/11/2011 11:29:28 AM (3267 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Robert Franco/OH
3/11/2011 12:52:11 PM (3320 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/12/2011 9:33:30 AM (3232 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Robert Franco/OH
3/9/2011 1:08:19 PM (3404 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - George Booth/OH
3/10/2011 10:42:28 AM (3348 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Jennifer ONeal/FL
3/11/2011 12:57:46 PM (3416 views)
Re: Stern's firm is DONE! - Barbara /FL
3/14/2011 11:57:02 AM (3273 views)

Genesis Servicing Corporation - Kristi Lee/NE
3/7/2011 1:26:28 PM (4266 views)
Re: Genesis Servicing Corporation - Nils Nelson/ME
3/7/2011 2:54:02 PM (3564 views)
Re: Genesis Servicing Corporation - Kristi Lee/NE
3/7/2011 4:55:18 PM (3611 views)
Re: Genesis Servicing Corporation - Nils Nelson/ME
3/7/2011 5:54:21 PM (3499 views)
Re: Genesis Servicing Corporation - Kristi Lee/NE
3/7/2011 6:15:23 PM (3539 views)
Re: Genesis Servicing Corporation - Abstractor/MI
3/24/2011 10:54:56 AM (3276 views)




Cleveland Title Association March Meeting - Robert Franco/OH
3/7/2011 10:16:42 AM (2889 views)

Promised Relief Many Deeper in Debt - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/7/2011 8:09:35 AM (3913 views)

Comment on "Scott County, Missouri Begins E-Recording, Several Indiana Counties to Offer Service Soon" - Source of Title/OH
3/7/2011 7:59:24 AM (2950 views)
More Jobs Lost? - Miriam Shoaff-Rolles/IN
3/7/2011 7:59:24 AM (5894 views)
Re: More Jobs Lost? - Kevin Ahern/CT
3/7/2011 11:21:38 AM (5876 views)
Not Viable in CA; very costly - William Pattison /CA
3/7/2011 7:10:12 PM (5932 views)

End of the 30 year mortgage? - Leigh Attridge/MA
3/6/2011 1:45:46 PM (4154 views)

Taos Land Grant Issues - Joyce/CO
3/4/2011 12:32:31 PM (8470 views)
Re: Taos Land Grant Issues Part 2 - Joyce/CO
3/4/2011 12:37:56 PM (4062 views)
Re: Taos Land Grant Issues Part 3 - Joyce/CO
3/24/2011 3:01:01 PM (5975 views)

Arroyo Hondo board says land grant deed legit

Members of the Arroyo Hondo community make a plea for information during a quarterly Land Grant Board of Trustees meeting Saturday (March 12) at the Arroyo Hondo Community Center. Photo by Tina Larkin

 

By J.R. Logan
Friday, March 18, 2011 6:07 AM MDT
The Arroyo Hondo Land Grant Board of Trustees met Saturday (March 13) to try to explain its motives to those in attendance and allay concerns about a warranty deed that has clouded title to all private property on the grant.

The deed purports to pass ownership of the entire 20,000- acre grant to the board and to the heirs of the original settlers of the 200-year-old grant.

This and another deed filed for the entire Cristóbal de la Serna grant have fostered trepidation among some title insurers, which has in turn disrupted real estate transactions within the boundaries of both grants.

Both heirs and non-heirs living in the Arroyo Hondo area showed up for Saturday's meeting, asking questions of the board members and expressing concerns about the board's intents, according to a recording by The Taos News.


More than an hour into discussion, which sometimes erupted into a raucous roar, one woman asked the board why it was on the defensive when answering questions.

Several people asked about the warranty deed that has clouded title for all properties inside the grant. Board members maintained that the deed was legitimate, and said they felt sorry for those non-heirs who had been given a "false warranty deed" when they bought their property.

The board said that, in the future, it would like to have a say in all land sales done by both heirs and non-heirs within the grant. The board also said it didn't intend to evict non-heirs from the grant.

"We're not here to throw a person or anybody off the property," said Paul Martínez, a consultant for the Arroyo Hondo board who spoke for most of the meeting. "We're here to make you guys understand that you're part of a communal land grant now and there are bylaws by which you have to abide."

Bylaws

Under New Mexico law, land grants have the legal right to form a board of trustees. Among their powers, boards can administer any common lands within the grant, hold elections and create bylaws that don't conflict with existing laws.

In June 2009, the Arroyo Hondo Land Grant filed its bylaws with the New Mexico Secretary of State's office, which keeps and maintains the New Mexico Community Land Grant Registry. Patricia Herrera, an employee at the Secretary of State's office, said her office is required to file all documents submitted from land grant boards, but it cannot confirm the legality or validity of those documents posted to the registry.

The bylaws for the Arroyo Hondo Land Grant Board of Trustees can be downloaded by visiting www.taosnews.com/downloads/hondobylaw.pdf.

Among its listed goals, the bylaws for the Hondo grant state that the board is to "repossess, by all means necessary, and develop plans to administer, operate, and maintain all private, common, county, state or federal lands within the exterior boundaries of the Arroyo Hondo Grant for the benefit of the Arroyo Hondo Grant Heirs."

The Hondo bylaws state that non-heirs that hold property in the grant may stay — as long as they void their title or deed and submit a "definitive plan of intent" to the board of trustees.

However, state statute asserts that a non-heir living within a registered land grant has rights to purchase or lease land, and that the law "shall not diminish, extinguish or otherwise impair any private property interest located within the boundaries of a land grant-merced or be construed to grant the board of trustees of a land grant-merced regulatory authority over such property interests or lands other than the common lands."

State law dictates that a land grant that wishes to evict a private property owner must file "an action of ejectment" in district court.

During the Hondo board's meeting Saturday, some asked about the election of trustees to the board. The board responded that it had advertised the election and tried to recruit participants, but no one came. The Secretary of State lists Lawrence M. Ortiz, Leandro Ortiz, Melissa Ortiz, Raymond I. Trujillo and Herman F. Gonzales as members of the Hondo board.

According to New Mexico law, only heirs who have registered with their respective grant can vote in board elections. The Hondo bylaws state that heirs must be 18 years old, must be a direct descendent of the original grantees, and must be certified by the board.

The bylaws dictate that an heir must pay a one-time registration fee of $100 and annual dues of $25. There is a discount for heirs 65 and older.

The Taos News has submitted a formal records request to the Hondo board asking for copies of the ballot and election results as well as a list of heirs who have registered with the board.

As of press time, none of the documents had been provided. Before Saturday's meeting an anonymous flyer was posted in the Arroyo Hondo post office asking residents not to be intimidated by the board, and to not attend its meetings.

During the meeting, Martínez condemned the notice. "That's horrible," he said. "That's not how to support your public meetings."

'Ignorance of the law'

Before questions were asked, the meeting Saturday began with a case for the validity of the heirs' right to land within the grant boundaries.

"Ignorance of the law" was written in big, bold letters on the chalkboard inside the Arroyo Hondo Community Center. In his argument, Martínez stated that, according to the state constitution, New Mexico is "an inseparable part of the federal union, and the constitution is the supreme law of the land."

He went on to say that Article VI of the U.S. Constitution dictates that all treaties made by the U.S. are also "the supreme law of the land."

Martínez has in the past said that the federal government has failed to meet its obligations under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican- American War and stated that the U.S. would recognize prior land grants.

Martínez contends that any warranty deed or title to property within the grant is an invalid document because the federal patent that awarded the grant to heirs of the original settlers in 1908 is immutable.

Historically, courts in New Mexico have distinguished "community" land grants from "private" land grants when deciding rightful ownership in some quiet title suits. The essential difference between the two grant types is what the intended purpose was for the land.

In cases where the land was originally granted to several people for the purpose of establishing a settlement, small plots of land were allotted to individual families. The remainder of the grant was left as "communal," meaning residents could use the area to graze livestock or collect materials to build homes.

The Arroyo Hondo grant was widely considered a community grant at the time of its creation. However, some historians and land grant heirs contend that common lands were fleeced from the grants by charlatans and land speculators.

In the last decade, land grant proponents have mounted a movement to seek compensation from the U.S. government for past wrongs it may have committed.

At Saturday's meeting, Martínez said he was not satisfied with negotiations for monetary compensation that have been discussed between land grant organizations and the government. Instead, Martínez has said that he is seeking the return of granted lands to heirs in order to restore "dignity" to the descendants of the original Hispanic settlers.

"I'm looking for the day that my people will truly be free and won't be subject to anyone or anything, and that includes alcoholism and drug addiction." Martínez said in a phone interview. "It's not the land, bro. It's helping my people."
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HSBC SUSPENDS FORECLOSURES NATIONWIDE - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/3/2011 12:32:40 PM (4545 views)

Comment on "Another County Recorder Seeks Back Fees from MERS" - Source of Title/OH
3/3/2011 11:06:23 AM (3185 views)
These suits are interesting, but... - Robert Franco/OH
3/3/2011 11:06:23 AM (6199 views)
Re: These suits are interesting, but... - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/3/2011 12:33:45 PM (6174 views)
Re: These suits are interesting, but... - Robert Franco/OH
3/3/2011 1:50:01 PM (6183 views)
I'm sure you are right... - Slade Smith/OH
3/3/2011 2:34:18 PM (6142 views)
Re: I'm sure you are right... - J. H./OH
3/9/2011 9:35:22 PM (6025 views)
Re: Comment on "Another County Recorder Seeks Back Fees from MERS" - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/3/2011 11:58:45 AM (6197 views)
Comment - Robert Hinson/SC
3/7/2011 9:30:40 AM (5956 views)
Re: Comment on "Another County Recorder Seeks Back Fees from MERS" - Clanci Nelson/OH
3/7/2011 12:30:55 PM (5951 views)
Recorder Seeks Back Fees - Matthew Sharpe/OH
3/7/2011 3:09:35 PM (5914 views)
Voluntary Recording System - William Pattison /CA
3/14/2011 12:29:29 PM (5854 views)

Just read this a moment ago. Virginia Bill allows signing of Electronic Notaries - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/1/2011 4:09:13 PM (5894 views)
Personal appearance = webcam view - Bobbi Shorthouse, Notary Public/CT
3/2/2011 8:48:29 AM (3893 views)
Re: Personal appearance = webcam view - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
3/2/2011 11:28:47 AM (3373 views)
Re: Just read this a moment ago. Virginia Bill allows signing of Electronic Notaries - Chrissey Ladd/NJ
3/7/2011 9:34:56 AM (3340 views)
Re: Just read this a moment ago. Virginia Bill allows signing of Electronic Notaries - Linda Hubbell/FL
3/7/2011 10:12:02 AM (3251 views)

What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Alix Ott/MI
2/28/2011 3:01:34 PM (3507 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Kevin Ahern/CT
2/28/2011 4:14:21 PM (3436 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Alix Ott/MI
2/28/2011 4:18:14 PM (3503 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Donna McCullough/SC
2/28/2011 6:20:56 PM (3385 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Jessica Talley/NJ
2/28/2011 6:34:16 PM (3457 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Alix Ott/MI
3/2/2011 10:51:55 AM (3409 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Jason Knowles/AL
3/1/2011 2:08:53 PM (3439 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Janis Talbot/SC
3/7/2011 8:25:29 AM (3360 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Linda Hubbell/FL
3/7/2011 10:15:11 AM (3329 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - George Booth/OH
3/8/2011 10:40:09 AM (3153 views)
Re: What happens when you sue the b&#%@#$s - Kevin Ahern/CT
3/8/2011 12:57:07 PM (3207 views)

Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Justin/FL
2/28/2011 11:09:16 AM (3690 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - William Pattison /CA
2/28/2011 12:19:43 PM (3448 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Garret  Fitzgerald/VA
2/28/2011 12:31:30 PM (3354 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - CHARLENE  PERRY/MD
2/28/2011 1:17:38 PM (3309 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Alix Ott/MI
2/28/2011 2:42:14 PM (3272 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Leigh Attridge/MA
2/28/2011 3:00:33 PM (3365 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Alix Ott/MI
2/28/2011 3:42:17 PM (3307 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Angela Johnson/NC
2/28/2011 4:05:28 PM (3393 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Justin/TN
2/28/2011 6:24:36 PM (3299 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Kevin Ahern/CT
3/1/2011 2:11:30 AM (3258 views)
What We CAN DO... - William Pattison /CA
3/7/2011 7:19:02 PM (3335 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - James Wright/FL
3/10/2011 2:42:58 PM (3153 views)
Re: Say no to OUTSOURCING... - Nils Nelson/ME
3/10/2011 7:14:49 PM (3158 views)
Inaccurate but Fast Reports are NOT Competition - William Pattison /CA
3/14/2011 12:44:20 PM (3141 views)


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