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Step
2
1.
Receive the TSR and accompanying documents.
2. Examine the documents for sufficiency.
- Examination
of documents in the chain of title should
establish title to the property and disclose
liens, encumbrances and interests of record. The
documents must reflect that:
- The
grantor conveyed title exactly as he/she
obtained title.
- The
legal description is exactly the same in all
conveyance
documents throughout the chain of title.
- The
grantor's signature is exactly the same as
he/she held title.
- The
acknowledgement is correct
- The
examiner should be proficient in identifying and
competent in applying:
- Proper
statutes
- Title
standards
- Underwriting
practices
- The
following is a non-exhaustive checklist for the
examination of chain of Title documents.
- Make
sure all documents listed on the TSR are
included in the package received from your
examiner.
- Check
the recorded data which indicates the
document was recorded. Establish that:
- The
document was recorded in the proper
county.
- The
date of recording was after the date
the
document was acknowledged.
- Date
of Instrument - The date of the document may
be earlier or later than the date of the
acknowledgement, or may be omitted
altogether, but should not be later than the
date of recording.
- Name
of the grantor - The name of the grantor
should be identical in form to the name of
the current owner. If the grantor is an
individual, the automatic Homestead Law
(§38-41-202, C.R.S.), period 7/14/75
through 5/26/77, or a Declaration of
Homestead recorded at any time, will require
joinder, waiver, release or subordination by
the spouse or grantor. In such case, if the
grantor is unmarried, the deed should say,
for example, "Frank L. Smith, a single
person", if married, the deed should identify
"husband" and "wife". However, except between
7/14/75 and 5/26/77, joinder by spouse and
identification of grantor(s) as a single or
as husband and wife is not required unless a
Declaration of Homestead has been
recorded.
- Name
of grantees - The grantee must be an entity
capable of holding title. There may be more
than one grantee, as Joint Tenants or as
Tenants in Common. The grantee may not be in
the alternative, e.g. John Jones or Mary
Jones. The correct form would be John Jones
and Mary Jones, not John and Mary Jones.
Address or county of residence -
§38-35-109(2), C.R.S. requires that all
deeds dated after 1/1/77 must contain the
legal address of the grantee or the document
will be rejected by the county clerk and
recorder.
- Joint
Tenancy - Joint Tenancy Deeds must state "Not
in tenancy in common, but in joint tenancy",
"JTWROS" or similar words or abbreviations
authorized by §38-31-101 C.R.S.
- Name
of county - The inclusion of the name of the
county is desirable and sometimes, in the
absence of a township and range, a necessary
part of the legal description.
- Legal
description - The legal description must be
typed on the document's face or must be
attached as an exhibit. If an exhibit is
attached, the exhibit should be described in
the legal description.
- Note:
The street address of the property should
be included and it is preferable to attach
the assessor's schedule or parcel number
following the legal description.
§38-35-122, C.R.S. If either of those
inclusions causes an ambiguity, the legal
description governs.
- Note:
Any document executed and recorded after
7/1/92 which contains a newly created
legal description of real property must
include the name and address of the person
who created such legal description.
§39-35-106.5, C.R.S.
- Note:
If the property has been utilized for the
disposal of hazardous waste, consider the
disclosure requirements for any deed
therefore contained in §25-25-303,
C.R.S.
- Defects
in Title - Defects in Title should be
excepted from the grantor's warranties. If
the grantee is assuming a Deed of Trust or
Mortgage, it is customary not only to
describe it by date of execution, date of
recording, book and page, but also to state
that the "grantee assumes and agrees to pay"
it.
- Grantor's
signature - The grantor's signature must
appear on the Deed and should appear exactly
how the grantor took title. If a natural
person was the grantor, he/she must have
personally signed or affixed his/her mark. If
the grantor was a corporation, the corporate
seal should have been affixed.
§38-30-144, C.R.S.
- State
and county - It is proper to include the
state and county where the Deed was
acknowledged and this should be filled in,
but the document is not invalid if they were
omitted.
- Acknowledgement
-
- The
date of acknowledgement - The date of
acknowledgement should have been filled
in. However, the document is not invalid
if the date was omitted. The date of
acknowledgement may be before or after the
date of the Deed, but may not be later
than the date of recording.
- Acknowledgement
parties - The party making the
acknowledgement must have been the same as
the party signing, and the form of the
name as shown in the acknowledgement
should be identical to the name signed. If
the transaction concerns a corporation, it
is not necessary to have the corporation's
secretary's acknowledgement; only the
person who signed for the corporation is
required.
- The
acknowledgement should indicate any
special agency of the person whose
signature was acknowledged. If the spouse
of the grantor signed the Deed in order to
satisfy the Homestead Law, the spouse
should also acknowledge and identify
"husband and wife".
- If
acknowledged before a notary public, the
date of expiration of his/her commission
must be shown. This date must be later
than the date of acknowledgement. For
Deeds acknowledged between 7/1/81 and
2/23/84, the business or residence address
of the notary must be shown. However,
Title Standard No. 9.2.6 states that
failure to show the notary's address does
not affect merchantability of title. The
address requirement was deleted 5/23/83 as
to affirmations and 2/23/84 as to
acknowledgements. §12/55/112,
C.R.S.
- The
notary's seal - The notary's seal must be
affixed and the name shown on the seal must
be the same as the name of the notary who
signed.
- Trustees
and Agents in Fact - If a Deed is conveying
from an individual or a trust into a trustee
or an agent in fact (under a Power of
Attorney) the Deed may not be signed by the
trustee or the agent in fact without prior
court authority because of potential
self-serving transactions. If this has
occurred, consult with the underwriting
department at ATGF.
- Attached
exhibits - If an exhibit has been attached,
check to ensure that it has been properly
recorded in the same book and at the page or
pages immediately following the Deed (or the
pages of the exhibit included in the clerk
and recorder's counting of pages in the case
of counties with reception numbers
only).
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