The Lot That Was 100 Feet Wide

Finding 5 - the stranger's deed of trust (outside the chain). A grantor can encumber only what he owns, so an instrument from a person who never held an interest is a nullity as against this title. It is not a true cloud on the chain of title, because a competent searcher will see that the grantor never appears as an owner. But it is recorded against the property's legal description, and a subsequent searcher - or the buyer's lender - will find it. Practical answer: obtain a release or quitclaim from that lender or a recorded affidavit establishing the grantor had no interest. Many insurers will accept an affidavit plus an explanatory note, but expect lender counsel to want the release.

Finding 6 - the oil and gas lease (encumbrance, not a defect). A severed mineral estate does not defeat the fee, but it burdens it. Determine whether the lease is still in force: if the primary term has run and there is no production or recorded extension, it may have expired of record, in which case obtain a release or a stipulation of expiration. If it is in force, show it as a Schedule B exception and confirm the buyer's intended use (financing, surface disturbance) is compatible.

Finding 4 - the 80-foot description (true cloud). This is the serious one; see the following task.

Finding 3 - the intestacy (true cloud). Also requires curative work; see the following task.

Start with how the parents held title. Read the 1978 deed: joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common?

• Joint tenancy or entirety: the father's interest passed to the mother by survivorship at his death; she owned the whole lot and her 1995 deed is consistent with that. Require the death certificate and, if the deed language is not explicit, an affidavit of survivorship.
• Tenancy in common: the father's undivided half passed at his intestate death to his heirs at law - typically the mother plus the children. The mother could convey only her own share plus whatever she inherited; the children's shares remained outstanding, and the seller may be one of them.

The recital does not prove anything against the heirs. A grantor's statement that she is the "sole heir" is a self-serving recital. It is not conclusive, does not bind non-parties, and does not substitute for a probate or an heirship determination. Do not accept it as curative.

What to require: (1) the deed into the parents; (2) if tenancy in common, the probate file, or a properly executed affidavit of heirship with supporting genealogical or vital-records documentation; (3) quitclaim deeds from every heir who took a share, including the seller's siblings; and (4) if an heir cannot be located, either a quiet-title action or a specific underwriting decision accepting the risk with an appropriate exception and a reduced liability - documented in the file, not assumed by the closer.

The arithmetic. Lot 14 is 100 feet wide. The mother's 1995 deed conveyed only the West 80 feet. If she owned the whole lot, she kept the East 20 feet - the seller's deed does not include it, and the seller cannot convey what he does not own, regardless of what the contract says.

Trace it forward. Search from the 1995 deed forward for any later conveyance of the balance to the seller, and search the mother's estate. If she died intestate holding the strip, it passed to her heirs, likely including the seller and his siblings. If she is living, she must join in or deed the strip.

Options:

• Obtain a deed from the mother (or her heirs) for the East 20 feet, plus probate/heirship documentation as needed.
• Amend the contract and the legal description to sell only the West 80 feet, with a price adjustment and a survey showing the actual boundary; the buyer's lender must approve the reduced collateral.
• Rely on adverse possession or a boundary by agreement only if a court has quieted title - a title insurer will not underwrite a prescriptive claim on the strength of the seller's word.

Also flag the internal inconsistency: a 65-year search that approves "Lot 14" without reconciling the partial description and the plat width is not a complete examination. Reject the file back to the examiner before it goes to underwriting.