I was wondering if anyone could help me with a title cloud. I have a very small amount of acreage in McClain County (o.22222 acres). Part of this acreage was recorded incorrectly on a deed (about four transfers ago). Instead of the deed noting SE/4 they described the mineral acres as being in the SW/4. Unfortunately, no one caught this until I was trying to lease it out and now I can not lease this part of the acreage until the cloud is removed. This property was bought out of bankruptcy.
Is there a relatively simple way to clear this up? Since it is for such a small amount, I am hoping to avoid lawyer's fees.
Should I contact the county clerk for assistance? Would they be able to help?
What about a quiet title? Is this a possibility?
How much do you think it would cost to clear the cloud?
There are some if's , and's and but's involved here.
If it were me, I would contact the Seller into me and have a corrective document executed to correct the description and include words of grant in the corrective document. If the sale was handled by a title company, I would want them to fix it for free.
The proper answer would be to hire a lawyer and spend the money to have it taken care of. But I would do it by myself. But that is just me, based on experience spanning 5 decades.
No, that isn't the role of the County Clerk. They only accept the instruments for filing provided that the instrument meets basic filing requirements such as being properly notarized.
Mistakes do happen, but your posting illustrates how important it is to proof read an instrument over and over again PRIOR TO FILING it of record.
The relatively simple way to fix the description is in fact a Correction Deed. I guess you can do it without paying a lawyer, but you run the risk of screwing something else up.
The second deed does need to be signed and executed by the seller on the original deed, but it needs to have a "Correction Deed" format and style.
This is one of those things that happens fairly often that shouldn't happen at all, but it does.
I believe the person who made the original mistake is dead. How I do I get this changed if the original mistake occurred four transfers ago and they are no longer alive?
Thank you very much for your advice. I will do some more research and go from here.
Thanks again,
T
Buddy Cotten said:
There are some if's , and's and but's involved here.
If it were me, I would contact the Seller into me and have a corrective document executed to correct the description and include words of grant in the corrective document. If the sale was handled by a title company, I would want them to fix it for free.
The proper answer would be to hire a lawyer and spend the money to have it taken care of. But I would do it by myself. But that is just me, based on experience spanning 5 decades.
You might want to ask a lawyer specializing in real estate law, or go by the title company and ask them how and why something like that could not have been caught earlier, and why title insurance was issued, etc... T said:
I believe the person who made the original mistake is dead. How I do I get this changed if the original mistake occurred four transfers ago and they are no longer alive?
You might want to ask a lawyer specializing in real estate law, or go by the title company and ask them how and why something like that could not have been caught earlier, and why title insurance was issued, etc... T said:
I believe the person who made the original mistake is dead. How I do I get this changed if the original mistake occurred four transfers ago and they are no longer alive?