Vinnie Appreciates the Finer Point of Title Exams

Paul F. Alphen, Esquire

My cousin Vinnie, the suburban real estate attorney, joined the gang in the Man Cave for a recent Patriots’ game. He brought some

terrible beer, suitable for his own personal consumption; which was fine because nobody else wanted to drink it. I am sure the smoked brisket made the beer taste better, because smoked meat makes everything better. After the victory, Vinnie hung around with the die-hard football fans to watch “Red Zone” and eat cookies. Only then did he start regaling us with stories from his small town practice.

“Paulie, I don’t know if you have noticed, but it seems to me that our brothers and sisters of the bar have upped their standards when it comes to reviewing title exams. I have been very pleased to see more requests that sellers need to obtain confirmatory discharges, or need to record missing trusts and cure deed descriptions. Until a few years ago, it was as if we were expected to accept anything, including discharges from the first cousin of a mortgage holder, but now that things have settled down, it seems that there is more attention to detail and a greater expectation of precision.”

I told Vinnie that I had notice the same trend, and I told him about a deed that came across my desk last week from the assignee of an assignee of a foreclosing entity, with one of those crazy long names with a “certificate series number” signed via POA, and the POA may have provided authority to execute and deliver deeds, but for some reason the drafter of the POA did not know how to type the words “and execute and deliver deeds”.

Vinnie declined an offer for a taste of some Eagle Rare bourbon and held on to his crappy beer. “It’s a conundrum.” Vinnie continued. “If three owners ago a trustee’s certificate was not perfect, and all the trustees died, but the title was buttressed with attorney’s affidavits, certificates of appointments and acceptance, a new certificate plus the passage of ten years, I suppose you can complain that the title is not perfect, but somewhere you have to apply a reasonableness standard. On the other hand, if the parties are alive and available to sign corrective documents, I will usually insist that we obtain and record corrective documents; and I usually end up drafting all the corrective documents and confirmatory deeds.”

Vinnie continued: “And, the other thing that is happening is that subdivisions that sat dormant since the Great Recession are coming back to life. But unfortunately the land owners are attempting to sell expensive lots only to discover that the septic regulations have changed, or the wetlands have migrated, or Orders of Conditions have lapsed. On more than one occasion I have seen land owners attempt to sell pricey lots, but in the course of my title exam I found conditions of approval that were long forgotten by the seller/developer, including lapsed special permits, and missing easements or restrictions that still require review by learned town counsel. Talk about delays to the closing!”

My buddy Chip told us to stop talking shop, and pay attention to the games. He had a point. There would be plenty of time to contemplate the fine details of a 2” thick title exam on Monday morning.

A former REBA president, Paul Alphen currently serves on the association’s executive committee and co-chairs the long-range planning committee.  He is a partner in the Westford firm of Alphen & Santos, P.C. and concentrates in residential and commercial real estate development, land use regulation, administrative law, real estate transnational practice and title examination .As entertaining as he finds the practice of law, Paul enjoys numerous hobbies, including messing around with his power boats and fulfilling his bucket list of visiting every Major League ballpark.  Paul can be contacted at palphen@alphensantos.com.