JUNE 2024 | 37 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL WHY DO WE CARE WHETHER AN OWNER OF REAL PROPERTY in Oklahoma holds “marketable record title,” and why do we care that Oklahoma has a large set of Title Examination Standards, adopted by the Oklahoma Bar Association through its House of Delegates? When a parcel of land is conveyed or encumbered in the state of Oklahoma, the county land records1 are usually examined to locate deeds, judgments and other instruments to create a chain of title, starting with a patent out of the government and continuing up to the present, covering surface and minerals. These instruments can be located only because the county clerk for each county receives deeds and other land-related documents for recording and indexing against land in that county.2 When reviewing these instruments, the goal is to determine whether “marketable record title” is held by the latest buyer/grantee who now wishes to be a seller/grantor. This is because, as explained in American Jurisprudence: The law implies an undertaking by the vendor of real property to make and convey a good or marketable title to the purchaser in every contract for the sale of real property in the absence of any provision indicating the character of the title provided. Indeed, ordinarily the only implication in an executory contract for the sale of land is the promise to convey good title. A purchaser of real property therefore is entitled to marketable title; a purchaser’s right to this is given by law and does not depend upon inclusion in an agreement. Accordingly, in the absence of a stipulation to the contrary, there is a presumption that marketable title will be conveyed to the purchaser of real property.3 The Oklahoma Title Examination Standards themselves provide: 1.3 REFERENCE TO TITLE STANDARDS It is often practicable and highly desirable that, in substance, the following language be included in contracts for a sale of real estate: “It is mutually understood and agreed that no matter shall be construed as an encumbrance or defect in title so long as the same is not so construed under the real estate Title Examination Standards of the Oklahoma Bar Association where applicable.” In line with this suggestion, the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission has promulgated form contracts for residential sales, commercial sales and farm/ranch/recreational lands, providing: Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.
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