Arkansas Land Title Association

1. Arkansas Land Title Association Best Search and Examination Practices

2. What We Do Search and Examination is the Process Where Documents are Indexed Geographically in the Title Plant that are Found to Affect Real Property.

3. Arkansas Insurance Department When Title Insurance is Involved Act 684 of 2007 and its Associated Rules Come into Play. It is Important that You Understand Act 684 and Follow Rules 87 and 88 Explicitly.

4. Arkansas Insurance Department Title Insurance Department of Insurance Requirements. Thirty Year Search, is this Adequate? When do You Need to Find a Patent?

5. Arkansas Insurance Department When a Title Company Lists the Title of a Document and its Recording Information as an Exception, the Company Fulfills its Duty to the Insured. Too much detail can lead to claims. It is Incumbent on the Insured to Understand the Document. Arkansas Code 23-103-413. Policy Holder Rights and Disclosure.

6. Insuring Title Policies Insure Certain Matters. Title is of Such Quality that no One Can Take Their Land Away. Marketable title? Policies Contain Coverage Limitations which are Either Preprinted Exclusions or Exceptions Listed on the Schedule B. Requirements are set forth in the Schedule B-1 of the Commitment and Must be Met Before the Insurer Agrees to take a Risk.

7. Title Defects Curing Title Defects is Not Our Job. This is the Job of the Buyer or Seller. Our Duty is to Report Them We can provide guidance as to what we will require to remove an exception.

8. Title Insurance and Loss Prevention Title Insurance was Founded on the Principle of Loss Prevention. Plate glass and boiler insurance closest kin By Searching and Examining Documents Pertaining to Real Property, Title Insurers Can Price Their Product Accordingly by Spreading the Risk over its business base. Since Title Plants are Geographically Indexed they Provide More Accurate and Secure Records than a Name Based Grantor Grantee Index.

9. Title Insurance and Loss Prevention Please note that the pricing of our product includes losses from known types of risk. It does not include taking a risk in a particular file. Fraud & Forgery Conflicting Wills Missing Heirs Duress, incompetence, or incapacity

10. Escrow VS. Title Over the Years the Escrow Function Has Grown More and More Important. A Closers Job is to Close Transactions. The Plant�s Job is to Prevent Losses. Fortunately, Escrow Losses Tend to be Relatively Small. ($5,000.00 or Less) Title Losses Can be Huge. Most agency agreements do not cover an agent�s independent escrow business. We can provide our opinion but we don�t direct your activities.

11. Parties to the Transaction The Owner, Seller or Borrower is extremely Important. He/She Must be 18 Years Old and Has Not been Found Incompetent. Those Involved Must Have Acceptable Identification. Beware of young people at closing table when title has been in the owners for 25 years. Death/Fraud/Forgery? If the Entity is Not a Person, the Proper Founding and Transaction Specific Documents Must be Required and Examined. Patriot Act Search

12. Homestead, Dower and Curtesy Dower and Curtesy Provide a Spouse with a Life Estate in One-Third of all Realty Owned by the Wife or Husband During Their Marriage. Homestead May be Described as the Main Dwelling of the Head of a Household. Homestead, Dower and Curtesy Must be Addressed in All Conveyances and Security Instruments.

13. Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship Act 56 of 1991 Authorizes Two or More People, Regardless of Their Relationship, to Take Title as Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship.

14. Powers of Attorney Three Types of POA�S are generally accepted. Specific Power of Attorney Durable Power of Attorney Military Power of Attorney POA�s are Dangerous. Call Your Underwriter if You are in Doubt. But don�t forget that people do have the right to use a POA.

15. Legal Descriptions Legal Descriptions are the Basis for Identifying What We Insure. A Description, Whether it be Metes and Bounds or Lot and Block Can Fit No Other Tract of Land. It is unique unto itself. It should be Exact and Enable You to Locate that Specific Area. Always Proof Your Descriptions. When Dealing With Metes and Bounds Descriptions, it is Prudent to Draw Out the Surrounding Property Descriptions to check for Overlaps or Encroachments.

16. Searching Oil and Gas When Doing a Mineral Search, it is Necessary to Search All the Way Back to the Patent in Order to Delete the Broad Mineral Exception in the Policy. Naturally, you will except to any severance of the Mineral Title.

17. Surveys Surveys are an Integral Part of our Business. It is permissible to use an old survey. Please check with your underwriter if the survey to be used is more than 10 years old. Require an Affidavit from the Owner that Nothing Has Been Done Since the Date of the Survey that Would Affect it. For Large Commercial Transactions, Require an ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey. New Standards for These Surveys Have Just Gone Into Effect. Contact your underwriter for a Copy of the Standards.

18. Acknowledgments Be Careful of Faulty Acknowledgments. Act 1081 of 1993 Cures Many Defects Commonly Found in Acknowledgments, but not All. If You are in Doubt, Call your underwriter.

19. Judgment Liens Plain Money Judgments are Effective for Ten Years and May be Revived for Another Ten Year Period Prior to the Expiration of the Initial Time Period. Federal Judgments (not tax liens) are Good for Twenty Years and May also be Revived. Arkansas Criminal Judgments do not Affect Real Property Unless a Lis Pendens Has Been Filed. A Hospital or Medical Lien Does not Affect Real Property Unless it has Been Reduced to Judgment.

20. Types of UCC�S A UCC Must Contain the Legal Description in Order to Affect Real Property. A Standard UCC is Good for Five Years. A UCC on a Mobile Home is Good for Thirty Years. UCC�S Affecting Farm Land are Filed at the County Level. All Others are Filed with The Secretary of State of the state where the person lives or an entity does its primary business.

21. What Have WE Learned? A Great Many People are Relying on Us to do Our Job Properly. If we are correct 90% of the time, we can still have significant claims Beware of Shortcuts. There is No Substitute for Being Thorough and Conscientious in Your Work. If you mess up, confess. Hiding a problem just makes it worse.