An error in a legal description of a property has consequences. It can affect taxes. As lenders extend loans based on a percentage of the property’s appraised value, footage mistakes can sink a loan approval.
Full Answer
An error in a legal description of a property has consequences. It can affect taxes. As lenders extend loans based on a percentage of the property’s appraised value, footage mistakes can sink a loan approval.
What can the buyer do when a real estate deed carries an incorrect legal description of the property? Perhaps it describes the wrong parcel, or fails to reflect all land purchased in the sale. An error in a legal description of a property has consequences. It can affect taxes.
Common Problems with Property Titles and Resolutions. When you purchase real property, part of your due diligence is to review the property title report to make sure there is clear title and to check for errors. Common errors that occur are spelling errors in the parties’ names and mistakes in the legal description.
In the modern world of real estate, time constraints and urgency seem to lurk at every turn. As a result of these two factors, errors in the preparation of deeds abound. Title examiners and real estate practitioners frequently encounter defects in deeds in the chain of title and make requirements for corrections or other remedies where necessary.
There are three common methods used to describe real estate: metes and bounds, government survey, and lot and block.
Reformation is an equitable action that seeks to have a deed reformed to reflect the intention and agreement of the parties because the deed did not accurately reflect that intention and agreement.
A legal description is the geographical description of real estate that identifies its precise location, boundaries and any easements for the purpose of a legal transaction, such as a transfer of ownership. A legal description is kept with the deed and filed with the county clerk or county tax assessor.
The Parts of a Legal Description Surveyors all understand the generally accepted three parts of a legal description – the caption, body and qualifications/augmenting clauses. This structure is generally true for metes and bounds descriptions, but not for all types.
A contract may be rendered voidable if:Any party was under duress, undue influence, or was being intimidated, coerced, or threatened when entering into the agreement;Any party was mentally incompetent (i.e., mentally ill, below the age of majority, etc.)More items...•
The Basic Law: A mutual mistake occurs when the parties to a contract are both mistaken about the same material fact within their contract. They are at cross-purposes. There is a meeting of the minds, but the parties are mistaken. Hence the contract is voidable.
Which of the following is required for a legal description to be adequate? It must accurately locate and identify the boundaries of the property and distinguish it from all other properties.
Which of the following would NEVER be included as part of a legal description? STREET ADDRESS: A street address is not a sufficient method to identify a parcel of land for a legal document or description as street names and numbers can change over time.
Which of the following is NOT a valid way to define a legal description? The answer is street address. While usually enough to find the location of a particular building, the street address is not precise enough to describe legal ownership.
Which type of legal description do courts prefer? Courts prefer the lot and block system for providing a description of a property.
What is the principal purpose underlying legal descriptions of real property? to create a consistent unchanging standard for locating property. What is a distinctive feature of the metes and bounds system? they identify an enclosed area, beginning and ending at the same point.
The legal description pinpoints the location of a given property within its particular township, range, and section. For example, each township is six square miles, or 23,040 acres, and contains 36 square sections, which are each intended to be one square mile (or 640 acres).
The “legal description” portion of the deed describes the property you purchased. If there are inaccuracies in your description or it is completely incorrect, the problem may take time and effort to fix.
This is basically a redo of the original incorrect deed. Both buyer and seller must sign a newly prepared correction deed reciting the correct legal description. The correction deed will recite the recording data of the original deed that is being corrected and the error that occurred. If a correction deed is difficult to obtain, such as when the seller is deceased or uncooperative or the error has occurred repeatedly in several deeds and the necessary signatories are unknown or cannot be located, then a court order may be required.
Deed Reformation Action. When all efforts to correct the problem by agreement of the parties have failed , you may file an action in court known as a “deed reformation action.”. You will present the evidence before the judge showing that the problem was caused by an error in describing the property.
If you intended to purchase Lots 5 and 6, but your deed only recites Lot 5, then you only own one of the lots you intended to purchase .
Metes and bounds is the method by which property is frequently described when there is no platted, recorded map of the property. Surveyors usually create these descriptions using degrees, minutes and seconds, which are bearings based upon North, South, East and West. Distance measurements are usually in feet. If a call goes in the wrong direction, such as south instead of north, or goes too many feet east or west, then the property you intended to purchase is not described in your deed where it is physically located on the ground.
Disputes regarding the ownership and use of land can have extremely serious financial consequences and can affect the way you are able to enjoy your property. For this reason, these disputes can quickly become acrimonious and often result in litigation.
Although land ownership disputes can involve disagreements about who owns a particular parcel of real estatemore often they involve issues such as easements, 1 boundary lines, restrictive covenants, encroachments, trespasses, nuisances and other non-possessory interests in land.
For a free phone consultation with one of our lawyers, call McLarty Wolf today at 877-230-5383.
Property law involves a complicated intersection of provincial legislation, local ordinances, and case law so it is important to consult a lawyer that has experience practicing in this area. Some of the ways that a lawyer can help you if you are involved in a land ownership dispute include the following:
Neighbours can also have disputes over the placement or removal of boundary fences and trees. Some property owners carry on activities that can create excessive levels of noise or odours that the law may regard as a nuisance. Others permit the escape or release of water from their land which can cause extensive damage to neighbouring properties. ...
When an improper legal description leads to deed issues, it is not possible to just record the information anew. Those involved are not able to just correct the description attached to the property or even add to the details after the execution happens. If the real estate agency or others connected to the deed purchase or transfer do not complete this process correctly, the courts involved may rule the legal description as insufficient. This constitutes a defective deed. Even if omissions included in the description are not correct, the deed cannot sustain a change without the appropriate procedures.
Any type of deed mistake could lead to utter disaster in the chain of title for real estate deals, sales and transactions for the owner or potential buyer. Unfortunately, closing a real estate sale does not stop any possible problems that may arise with the title, and it is crucial to resolve any of these issues with all due haste before the buyer loses it all.
This corrective deed then needs recording with the appropriate office. This is the only manner that the legal description may correct the defective deed. The witnesses are usually the same, but the process may have new witnesses observing the action.
While these notations are not necessary, they help in the chain of title and issues regarding these matters. Transactions related to chain of title may suffer fewer problems when notations are part of the new document.
Without the proper changes, the deed may remain defective with all accompanying complications this poses to the buyer and other involved parties. This is possible through certain actions. The original grantor and those witnessing the notarized deed need to take part in re-executing the document through the state laws.
Property descriptions are lengthy and not written in the way ordinary people talk. They must precisely locate the land referenced in the deed, providing the name of the county or parish where the property is located as well as the judicial district. Land is often described with the following methods:
Property deeds are legal documents identifying who owns interests in real property. They are public documents and open to viewing by lenders as well as agencies in charge of property tax assessments.
A corrective deed does exactly what its title indicates: it corrects minor errors in recorded deeds. Most deeds create a new interest, but a corrective deed just fixes errors in a deed already in the recorder's office. You can file a deed of correction providing you're not changing any information that doesn't alter the substance of the deed. For example, if you're also wanting to add a new spouse onto the title, you'd be unable to do so with a deed of correction. You can't include ext either.
That's because the very purpose of recording a deed is to allow potential buyers or lenders to trace property ownership and liens by its description.
It's important to double-check the address and legal description of the property before signing a deed at close of escrow, as occasionally a mistake might happen. It's easy for your escrow agent to print out a corrected copy for your signature. However, if you don't discover the error until after it's already recorded – even years afterward – there ...
Often, correcting the mistake can be as easy as letting your escrow agent know it's incorrect as quickly as possible after the deed was filed. The agent that made the error can file a Scrivener's affidavit which simply notes the error and adds the correct information to the deed with no need for you to sign anything.
A real estate attorney can assist you with property title issues by reviewing the title documents, the title policy, preparing real estate documents, and negotiating a resolution for you. Real estate attorneys are knowledgeable about real estate and property laws and can advise you of your legal remedies. Property title issues are complex, and you ...
If a problem such as an encroachment cannot be corrected and you still want to purchase the property, then at least you will be aware of potential issues that could result later. An owner's title insurance policy is recommended when you purchase or transfer property.
When you purchase real property, part of your due diligence is to review the property title report to make sure there is clear title and to check for errors. Common errors that occur are spelling errors in the parties' names and mistakes in the legal description.
You must notify your title insurer immediately in writing upon discovering any title problems. It is also recommended that you contact a real estate attorney who specializes in property title matters to help you resolve any issues that may arise.
Title examiners and real estate practitioners frequently encounter defects in deeds in the chain of title and make requirements for corrections or other remedies where necessary. Although some errors in deeds are harmless and may be ignored , others are fatal to the conveyance and require corrective measures. This article discusses five tips every real estate practitioner should know about defective deeds: 1) harmless errors; 2) curative statutes; 3) corrective deeds; 4) constructive notice; and 5) homestead concerns.
The reason is because the legal (record) title passed from the grantor to John. Thus, the grantor has no title to convey in the purported corrective deed. Since title passed to John , the correct procedure to remedy this error would be for John to convey title to himself and Fred.
Where legal title remains in the grantor because the deed did not pass legal title, a corrective deed executed by the original grantor is often used to remedy this undesired result. Another situation requiring a corrective deed is where a deed, sufficient of itself as a conveyance, lacks a proper acknowledgement.
A harmless error will not prevent the passage of title or the legal recordation of the instrument and may be ignored altogether, although the error should be corrected on an instrument in a current transaction. Although not an exhaustive list, we will discuss two examples of common harmless errors.
It should be noted that the true date of a valid deed is when the deed is delivered to the complete control of the grantee, with no conditions or contingencies. 1. Tip 2: Curative Statutes. Deeds that contain defective acknowledgements or are missing witnesses may be cured over time.
The defective deed was recorded in 1999. A subsequent conveyance was made in 2001. In 2007, the grantee under that 2001 deed entered into a contract to sell the property. Because more than seven years has passed and a subsequent conveyance was made, the curative statute “cures” the missing witness on the 1999 deed.
No conveyance, transfer or mortgage of real property, or of any interest therein, nor a lease for a term of one year or longer, shall be good or effectual in law or equity against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration and without notice, unless the same be recorded according to law.
Missing or incorrect legal descriptions on mortgages can also be critical in bankruptcy situations.
Also, remember to charge the exact amount needed to record a document. Any amount that is not used to record documents must be refunded to the parties. It is crucial that parties to a transaction are not overcharged for recording fees.
An incorrect legal description or missing legal description may never arise if the mortgagor makes the mortgage payments. However, when a lender is reviewing a file because the mortgagor is delinquent, this type of error is being caught more frequently. When the legal description is incorrect or missing, the document must be corrected ...