DOH! Call Oleg Roytman in Tulsa. Tell him JJ sent you.
I may be calling him as well. Got an interesting certified letter yesterday for my wife and I, along with a bunch of other people.
This type of error happens more than you think. As mentioned above, the legal description in the deed may be wrong and the deed was not indexed by the County Clerk against the correct property. If the legal description is correct, the County Clerk may have indexed it against the wrong property. If that was the case, the abstractor would have still picked it up and included it in the abstract. It may have been that abstractor simply missed it and failed to include it in the abstract. The County Clerk is not liable for a mis-indexed deed, but an abstractor is liable for failing to include an instrument in the abstract that should have been included.
I see this problem several times a year in my office. My first question is why did the original grantor convey, or try to convey, the same property nine years later? Something indicated that original grantor thought he still owned the property. My guess is that he thought he still owned it because he kept getting the property tax bill every year. Under whose name was the County Assessor showing as the owner during all this time? If the Assessor was showing the original grantor as the owner it was probably because the deed in question never made it to their office. This was probably due to an incorrect legal description in the deed.
In any event, the original grantor may be liable to the original grantee depending on the circumstances. A good real estate lawyer needs to get involved if the original grantee wants to try and save the property.
I see this problem several times a year in my office. My first question is why did the original grantor convey, or try to convey, the same property nine years later? Something indicated that original grantor thought he still owned the property. My guess is that he thought he still owned it because he kept getting the property tax bill every year. Under whose name was the County Assessor showing as the owner during all this time? If the Assessor was showing the original grantor as the owner it was probably because the deed in question never made it to their office. This was probably due to an incorrect legal description in the deed.
In any event, the original grantor may be liable to the original grantee depending on the circumstances. A good real estate lawyer needs to get involved if the original grantee wants to try and save the property.
Another issue here is the Quit-Claim vs. Warranty Deed. I only mention it for future reference by all but if at all possible, always get a Warranty Deed. The difference between the two (for the uninitiated) is that in the first, the other party is "Quitting their claim" to any interest they have in the property (and that is SPECIFICALLY mentioned in the document) and with a Warranty Deed, the other party is giving you a warranty against defect in the title (If the title's jacked, they're promising to make it right on their dime). The rub is that one can only convey that interest in real property which he actually possesses. If the other party only owns the mineral rights, they can give you a Quit Claim Deed to the surface rights but they haven't truly conveyed title to those rights. They've simply quit claim to the surface rights to which they never possessed a claim in the first place. In this case, you are most likely on your own in seeking remedy to settle the title question.
So, yeah: Have a good real estate attorney review your situation.
...and always have it surveyed. Too expensive? How much is a lawsuit and lost title worth to you? <<Shameless plug for common sense.
OP: Good luck with your case.
So, yeah: Have a good real estate attorney review your situation.
...and always have it surveyed. Too expensive? How much is a lawsuit and lost title worth to you? <<Shameless plug for common sense.
OP: Good luck with your case.
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The last two post are 100% correct. Get an attorney now.
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