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Thread: Adventures in land ownership

  1. #1
    Senior Member Treefarmer's Avatar
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    Adventures in land ownership

    In 1996 I decided to buy some rural land in south-east Tennessee, for the purpose of homesteading and living healthy.
    I wanted more than 5 acres, my own springs, and it had to be cheap; I only had $35,000 in lawful money and no desire to go into debt.

    The price constraint ruled out farm land, existing buildings, and other improvements such as utilities.

    I placed wanted ads in some small local papers and got quite a few responses.
    I narrowed down the choices and started looking at the offers, even camping out over night on some land to get a feel for it and meet the neighbors.
    After some searching I found the right plot of ground.

    Because I was young, ignorant, and not at all fluent in the local language, I hired a lawyer to help me close the deal.
    There was only one law office in the entire area, which only had one lawyer who was the owner.
    He also dealt in real estate.

    He already knew I wanted to buy land, because he was one of the respondents to my wanted ad. We found out that he did not have the land that I was looking for, but he offered his legal services, which I took him up on.
    He explained to me that the paperwork had to be written up a certain way and told me horror stories of people who got screwed because their paperwork was not just right.

    Other locals I met on my search for land told me that this lawyer/real estate seller was a no-good crook, and I should not trust him or buy land from him.
    The people who told me this seemed no more confidence inspiring than that lawyer though, who had a calm and polite bearing.

    After I had found the land I wanted to buy I went to his very small and modest looking law office in the tiny nearby town and hired him for the closing and the title work.
    All I knew about "land purchase" at the time was from my parents who had bought "real estate" three times in the US of A, but always with a mortgage.

    He drew up the following Real Estate Purchase Agreement for me to use.
    See attachments.
    Notice the mention of lawful money on the first page.

    Continued below...
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    Treefarmer

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    Senior Member Treefarmer's Avatar
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    There were 7 pages in he R.E. Purchase Agreement, the last of which had a small copy of a survey map, which I'm omitting here.

    What really struck me as odd at the time was the fact that this incredibly lengthy document did not contain any of the words that I would have expected it to contain, i.e. buy and land, and perhaps own, owner, springs, water, etc.

    I asked the lawyer about this and he said that the document contained the proper terms and this is why I really needed him to help me, because I did not know the proper wording.
    I didn't know what else to do, so I went along with the proposed scheme.
    I believe I got attorned, knowing what I know now.

    Next, I'll post the deed documents that were recorded at the County Register of Deeds office.
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    Treefarmer

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  3. #3
    What a wonderful start to an amazing thread!


    Thank you Treefarmer.

  4. #4
    If they can do title insurance, couldn't the just as easily conduct a title abstract?

    Section 9 (b)(iii) with the affidavit makes me wonder too ...
    Last edited by shikamaru; 04-06-11 at 12:53 AM.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Treefarmer's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shikamaru View Post
    If they can do title insurance, couldn't the just as easily conduct a title abstract?

    Section 9 (b)(iii) with the affidavit makes me wonder too ...
    Yes, makes me wonder too.
    I have no idea what that is all about.
    Treefarmer

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  6. #6
    Senior Member Michael Joseph's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Treefarmer View Post
    Yes, makes me wonder too.
    I have no idea what that is all about.
    Upon inspection of that Agreement, it looks fairly standard to me. What say you Bigred?
    The blessing is in the hand of the doer. Faith absent deeds is dead.

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  7. #7

    Adventures in land ownership

    Quote Originally Posted by shikamaru View Post
    If they can do title insurance, couldn't the just as easily conduct a title abstract?

    Section 9 (b)(iii) with the affidavit makes me wonder too ...
    Precisely, shikamaru. Tree Farmer was correct in his evaluation of this deal: he got attorned (i.e. screwed)!

    In fact the whole Section 9 (b) i, ii, and iii is a dead giveaway that this contract maintains the statutory status of the contract. Title insurance is only recommended in such contracts in lieu of an abstract of title. Whenever you agree to such a contractual stipulation, you operate within the statutory realm.

    Also, the fact that a Warranty Deed was issued is also a dead giveaway as this is only evidence of "title under color of law," but not yet title in fact. If you can trace the land back to a land patent, you're in much better shape with regard to being able to claim an "allodial" nature of ownership. Better yet would have been to obtain a Grant Deed from the seller, forego the involvement of the attorney, and not record that instrument with any statutory authority (i.e. the county or the state) but only "notice" them (i.e. the county assessor) of the change in ownership as recordation is now seen as "registration" of property with the statutory authority. When you record a deed these days you've just entered into a contract with the county and the state, which operates as a "kind of" parens patriae in commerce to maintain the commercial viability of the property within their "legal" system of governance. You are, however, under no obligation to avail yourself of the state's services in matters such as this, is my understanding of the matter.

    There are ways to correct this. When I have more free time (months away at this point, as I am buried in work that takes priority over any project that would entail a detailed explanation of law in matters such as this) I will return with my findings based on my practical experience and open a thread to explain what I have learned and accomplished and how others can go about following suit. I have recently taken the property I own out of the statutory realm and provided notice of such to the appropriate county officials.

    This is not that difficult to understand or to accomplish once you have access to a reading of the law that you can rely upon as an ultimate authority. I've spent the better part of the last two years studying this and have all the legal citations (or at least a great many of them) to back it up.

  8. #8
    The warranty deed appears to make the seller the underwriter for the title of the land if title is determined to be bad by a court ....

    Registration is necessary for purposes of taxation and I suspect bond-writing by the (municipal) corporation.
    Last edited by shikamaru; 04-06-11 at 06:27 PM.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Michael Joseph's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by shikamaru View Post
    The warranty deed appears to make the seller the underwriter for the title of the land if title is determined to be bad by a court ....

    Registration is necessary for purposes of taxation and I suspect bond-writing by the (municipal) corporation.
    The Warranty Deed does not appear to - the Warranty Deed does exactly that. And In FACT, the GENERAL WARRANTY DEED is for all time past and present.

    If you are gonna play with DEEDS - you need to make yourself familiar with - a BARGAIN AND SALE DEED.

    Look it up for yourself - you will be glad you did!
    The blessing is in the hand of the doer. Faith absent deeds is dead.

    Lawful Money Trust Website

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  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Joseph View Post
    The Warranty Deed does not appear to - the Warranty Deed does exactly that. And In FACT, the GENERAL WARRANTY DEED is for all time past and present.

    If you are gonna play with DEEDS - you need to make yourself familiar with - a BARGAIN AND SALE DEED.

    Look it up for yourself - you will be glad you did!
    I am most partial to quitclaim deeds myself .
    Last edited by shikamaru; 06-03-11 at 01:17 AM.

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