Title and Deeds

The requirements for a valid deed are:

- Must be in writing - Property Description (legal description) - A Deed Exception - A Deed Reservation - Identification of the grantor and grantee - The grantor must be competent - Must contain words of conveyance (a granting clause) - Signature of the grantor - Delivery of Deed

Forms of Deeds

- Warranty Deed or General Warranty Deed - Special Warranty Deed - Trustee's Deed - Bargain and Sale Deed - Quitclaim Deed - Court-ordered Deed - Reconveyance Deed - Reformation Deed

To Claim Adverse Possession the following five requirements must apply:

1. Open - easily seen 2. Notorious - in that it was known by others 3. Continuous - no breaks in the usage of the property 4. Adverse - to the legal owner 5. Hostile - without the owner's consent

Bankruptcy

A bankruptcy court may order that a property be sold in order to pay off some of the claims of creditors.

Will

Testament

Involuntary Alienation

This is the transfer of real estate by law without the owner's consent. Ex: - Foreclosure - Eminent domain - Adverse possession - Escheat.

Execution Sale

a court may order that a property be sold to pay off judgment creditor(s).

Actual vs Constructive Notice

a person has constructive notice of ownership when a deed is recorded and has actual notice when he actually sees the recorded deed. While he has constructive notice when a person is in possession of property, he has actual notice when he knows the person is in possession of the property, or knows of the person's right to possession.

Testator

a person who has made a will

The Recording System

accomplishes the following: - It establishes legal priority of liens. Usually, with some exceptions, the first one to record a lien has priority over subsequent liens that are filed. - It allows a person to give constructive notice to the public of the ownership interest in property. - It aids in preventing fraud in documents by requiring the signature of a grantor that has been notarized.

Accession

are additions to land or property, whether it be natural or man-made

Judicial Foreclosures

are processed through the courts.

Quitclaim Deed

carries no warranties at all-it only conveys the interest that the grantor had in the property, whatever that may be. The real estate interest may be full title, but the grantor makes no guarantees of it.

Chapter 7

covers liquidation of the debtor's assets

Chapter 11

covers reorganization of bankrupt businesses

Chapter 13

covers work-outs of debts by individuals and sole proprietors.

Inverse Condemnation

damages for loss in value of the remaining property if partial property was taken through condemnation. If the loss in value is too great, the property owner may be able to sue the government and require them to take the entire property.

Warranty Deed

deed carries the highest form of protection for the buyer (grantee). It also creates the greatest liability for the grantor. It is sometimes called a general warranty deed

A document called "title"

does not exist. The deed is evidence that one has rights of ownership.

Recoding

enables persons to give public notice concerning documents affecting the title to real estate.

Habendum Clause

follows the granting clause, this clause defines or limits the quality and quantity of the estate being conveyed. It is only required when the grantor is conveying less than a fee estate. Without this clause, it is assumed that the grantor is conveying fee simple title. The clause contains with the words, "to have and to hold," Example Lynn Smith, grantee, to have and to hold, a life estate.

Escheat

is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the state.

Forfeiture Under Contract for Deed

is a contract under which the buyer (vendee) agrees to pay the seller (vendor) for the property over a period of time. The seller retains the deed. If the buyer satisfies his contractual obligation, the seller will relinquish the deed.

Partition suit

is a court process where property owned concurrently by two or more persons can be divided into distinct portions so each co-owner may hold his or her portion in severalty (sole property). The court may also order the property be sold.

Probate

is a court-supervised procedure where the assets of a deceased person must go through probate in order to satisfy creditors and distribute the estate to heirs.

Reconveyance Deed

is a deed conveying title from the trustee back to the borrower, such as when the borrower pays off the loan that was secured by the real estate.

Actual Notice

is a person who has actual knowledge of a fact

Testate

is a person who has died leaving a will

Deed in lieu of foreclosure (DIL)

is a way to be released from a home loan and have property transferred back to the lender.

Holographic Will

is a will handwritten by the testator, but not witnessed. Not recongized in Oregon

Prescription

is an acquisition of an easement through adverse use.

Covenant

is any kind of promise or contract that can be made in writing or made verbally. This is an agreement between two or more persons, where either party states certain facts, or promises to perform or give something to the other, or to abstain from the performance of certain things. With this deed, the seller (grantor) makes five covenants or promises to the buyer (grantee):

Non-Judicial Foreclosures

is conducted only when power of sale clause exists in deed of trust/mortgage. This clause allows the borrower to pre-authorize the sale of property to pay off the balance loan in the incidence of their default.

Without Probate

is if a person owns property as a joint tenant with a right of survivorship, his interest will automatically pass to any co-owners named in the deed, upon his/her death.

Trustee's deed

is often used, for example, by a trustee in bankruptcy or foreclosure to sell real property of the debtor.

Legatees

is personal property will pass by bequest or legacy

Special Warranty Deed

is similar to a general warranty deed except that the grantor is promising that the title be free of defects only during the time in which the grantor owned the property. Any defects which arose before the grantor owned the property are not covered. It limits the covenants by the grantor.

Accretion

is the addition to one's land by the gradual deposit of soil through natural causes

Adverse Possession

is the claim to a property by a person who has had possession and occupied the property for a certain period of time.

The Deed

is the formal written document by which an owner conveys title to real property. The main purpose of a deed is to: Provide clear evidence of a change in title or Transfer of an interest in real property. Also it is evidence of title to the property, but not title itself.

Dedication

is the gift of land donated to the public without compensation.

Erosion

is the gradual loss of soil due to natural causes, such as currents, tides or winds.

Reliction

is the gradual recession of water from its usual high water mark so that the land that has been uncovered by water becomes the property of the adjoining property owner.

Foreclosure

is the process where the lender gains title to the property and then the property is sold to pay off the owner's debt.

Patent

is the transfer of ownership from the government to private individuals.

Conveyance

is what the deed is often called.

Annexation

is when a property owner builds a structure on his/her land, that house becomes part of the title to the land.

Constructive Notice

is when an owner of real property provides the public with a means of obtaining knowledge of his rights of ownership in the property. A person can provide constructive notice in two ways: - Take possession of the land. - Properly record the deed.

Intestate

is when the deceased dies without a will.

Avulsion

is when the natural loss is not gradual, but a sudden removal of land, such as the action of water. Examples would be land lost when a nearby river flooded and changed its path, landslides, earthquakes and mudslides that can remove land involuntarily.

Recording a Deed

keep records of who has what interest in a parcel of real property, state statutes allows the recording of documents pertaining to real estate.

Severence Damages

loss in value of the property that was not condemned.

Divorce Decrees

may transfer property from both spouses to just one spouse. The court may also order that the property be sold.

Reformation Deed

often referred to as a correction deed has wording that corrects an error in a previous deed.

Forfeiture

property that may be forfeited to the government if it was used in relationship to a crime.

Title

refers to the intangible rights of ownership.

Covenant of quiet enjoyment

state that the grantee's possession of the property will not be threatened by claims from a third party.

Covenant against encumbrances

states the property is not burdened by any claims by third parties which are not listed on the deed.

Alienation*

the conveyance or transfer of title from one property owner to another involves transfer of title by the current owner to the new owner.

Covenant of Seizen*

the covenant states that the grantor owns the property being transferred and that the grantee will have peaceable possession.

Bargain and Sale Deed

the grantor conveys title, but without any warranties of title. It does not provide any warranties or covenants of title in the grantee or the grantee's successors. It does not protect the grantee against title defects.

Covenant of right to Convey

the grantor make the promise that he/she has the right to convey the property. The conveyance is being made by the owner or a person authorized by the owner or the court to convey the deed.

Covenant of further assistance

the grantor promises to defend the grantee's title and do whatever is necessary to clear the title.

Voluntary Alienation

this could happen through a sale, via a will, or a gift

Court-ordered Deed

this deed is used when a court has ordered the sale of a property. These are usually used without the consent of the owner or in conjunction with a will. Examples would include deeds by administrators and executors and sheriff's deeds.

Eminent Domain

when the government, public utility or other private enterprise takes property for the good of the public they are exercising the power. This is accomplished through the process of condemnation.

Writ of Execution

when the sheriff has a court order to sell the property.