Land Titles Part 1

[Chex]

[Chex]

Land titles

Encumbrance An encumbrance is a right to, interest in, or legal liability on real property that does not prohibit passing title to the property but that diminishes its value.

Encumbrances can be classified in several ways. They may be financial or non-financial.

Alternatively, they may be divided into those that affect title or those that affect the use or

1.Accounting: A contingent liability, contract, purchase order, payroll commitment, tax payable, or legal penalty that is chargeable to an account. It ceases to be an encumbrance when paid-out or when the actual liability amount is determined and recorded as an expense.

2. Real estate: A charge, claim, liability, or regulation that is attached to and is binding upon a property. It may affect the clarity of a good title (see clear title) or may diminish the value of property, but may not prevent transfer of title.

An encumbrance can take several forms: mortgages, claims by other parties, court judgments, pending legal action, unpaid taxes, restrictive deed or loan covenants, easement rights of the neighbors, or zoning ordinances.Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/de...#ixzz3QhTLxpbH

Deed restrictions create limitations on property use and are encumbrances.: Also known as covenants or conditions, deed restrictions are limitations on how a property is used or on the type of structures that can be placed on a property.

These are very common when new subdivisions are developed. The developers and builders place deed restrictions in order to control the uses of the property and maintain standards of construction.

Restrictions or covenants that are extremely restrictive can have either positive or negative results in value over time.

Tight restrictions to maintain value can so limit use that they also limit the pool of potential buyers. http://realestate.about.com/od/reale...oencumbrnc.htmproprietary landowner) must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document (patent), and openly publish the documents for the public to see.

An official land patent is the highest evidence of right, title, and interest to a defined area.

It is usually granted by a central, federal, or state government to an individual or to a private company.

Besides patent, other terms for the certificate that grants such rights include first-title deed and final certificate.

In the United States, all claims of land ownership can be traced back to a land patent, first-title deed, or similar document regarding land originally owned by France, Spain, United Kingdom, Mexico, Russia, or Native Americans.

A land patent is known in law as "letters patent", and usually issues to the original grantee and to their heirs and assigns forever.
The patent stands as supreme title to the land because it attests that all evidence of title existent before its issue date was reviewed by the sovereign authority under which it was sealed and was so sealed as irrefutable; thus, at law the land patent itself so becomes the title to the land defined within its four corners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_patent

LAND PATENTS AND FORECLOSURES

[David Neil]

Thanks Chex for this lead into Letters Patent. I have begun to follow my land title an have searched the Tax records back to the original "Donation Land Claim". Tomorrow I am off to county records to see if I can trace the assignment of title to hopefully an unbroken chain from then to present.

[Chex]

This pretty much sums things up

Unless the Attorney General gives prior written approval of the sufficiency of the title to land for the purpose for which the property is being acquired by the United States, public money may not be expended for the purchase of the land or any interest therein. http://law.justia.com/codes/us/2001/.../chap3/sec255/