When an instrument is recorded which claims an interest in real estate and the claim is one which is authorized by law, then the examiner is on inquiry notice to determine the basis of the claim and the impact of the claim on the title to the interest being searched. If, however, the claim is one not authorized by law, then the recorded notice of the claim is not effective to encumber title to the property in which the interest is claimed.
Comment 1. Certain claims by strangers to the chain of title are authorized by law such as a notice of claim under 27 V.S.A. 605, mechanics liens (9 V.S.A. Chap. 51); judgment liens (12 V.S.A. Chap. 113); pre-judgment attachments (12 V.S.A. Chap. 123 and V.R. Civ. P. 4.1); and, a claim of adverse possession documented in the land records.
Comment 2. Claims not authorized by law such as a non-judicial attachment or lis pendens, a real estate listing agreement, or a lien for fuel oil filed by the supplier to the owner not otherwise authorized by 9 V.S.A. Chap. 51 (mechanics liens) are not sufficient to put the title examiner on inquiry notice of the matters stated therein.
Comment 3. If the record discloses a recorded Purchase and Sale Agreement or Deposit Receipt and Sales Agreement and there does not appear of record an instrument conveying the title to the property interest subject to such Agreement to the purchaser/buyer named in the Agreement, the title examiner should not assume that such Agreement is unenforceable. Such an agreement may result in an encumbrance on the title. Hemingway v. Shatney, 152 Vt. 600 (1989). See Colony Park Associates v. Gall et al., 154 Vt. 1 (1990).
Comment 4. For a discussion of when a recorded instrument operates to slander title, see Wharton v. Tri-State Drilling & Boring, 2003 VT 19, 824 A2d. 531 (2003)
History
March 29, 2000:
- Comment 4. — Removed.
September 2016:
- New Comment 4 – Added