The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-22
REAL ESTATE TITLES.
An Improvement Upon Present Sys-
tenn of Proving Then Recommended.

Hon. William G. Mains, in May Forum.
The defects in our own system are pat
ent. Our business procedure prescribes a
transfer deed, and cOmpels the grantOr
10 show, at the time of transfer, that his
conveyance is the last in a chain of instru-
ments properly drawn, executed and re-
corded, and that these extend backward
Tor a period of from sixty to lightly years
without flaw or defect. 1t is at once evident
that the investigation of this chain of title
requires the services of a person learned
In the law of real property, and that the
fee for his employment. whether paid by
the seller or the purchaser, is a tax upon
the transfer. Whether the property re-
mains in the hands of a single owner for
nalt a century or is transferred a dozen
times In a dozen years, this fixed charge
recurs with every conveyance.
In the second place, an examination of
ute involves in each case a considerable
delay; and this is an item of embarrass-
merit which prejudices the use of real
property for the securing of emergency
funds. even when no defect in title is
shown. From two weeks to thirty days
must elapSe between the signing of a con-
tract and the closing of title, and this de-
lay may be prolonged on occasion for
months TO satisfy legal requirements that
are merely technical.
Finally, the result obtained in the matter
or the title is in no case absolutely GER
tain. Error may intervene not only be-
cause of carelessness in the searching of
the records, bat because of the inability of
the attorney to foresee how peculiar
pTrdSeOlOgN or unusual transactions of
record would be viewed by a court in case
of litigation. 1t is not at all impossible, in
practice. for one attorney to refuse to pass
title upon the very record which another
attorney, of equal standing, has exam
lned and approved. Further, it frequently
happens that matters which are not a part
OF the record at all, and which no ordinary
prudence could have anticipated, so de-
velop as to modify the results. A simple
Illustration of this may be found in a
widows claim for dover in land which has
been passed by deed without her sigma
ture. 1t sometimes happens that a mar
ried realty holder passes in the community
In which he lives as a bachelor. He may
give deeds and make affidavits setting
forth that such he really is. The exist
ence of a wife, therefore, may not be Sus-
pected until after his death, when she APP
pears from some unforeseen quarter, MAX
ing her claim for dover in his estate, and
submitting proofs which the courts are
bound to recognize.
1t may accordingly be urged in total
against the present system that 1T is ex-
pensive, dilatory and. being unofficial i'm its
character, at best inconclusive, and this
no matter how learned or how competent
may be those who are responsible for the
title examination. The Torrens system
substitutes for the necessity Of examining
deeds and cOnveyances for decades back
an official examination of the title in the
first instance. The title is then registered.
and subsequent transfer is accomplished at
nominal expense, while the time required
to verify the ownership is shortened TO a
few hours.