Opinion ID: 2602159
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Breach of Covenants of Seisin and Right to Convey

Text: ¶ 34 Initially, we address whether the trial court properly granted summary judgment to Cook Development [5] regarding Holmes's claim that Cook Development breached the covenants of seisin and right to convey. In making the covenant of seisin, a grantor warrants that the grantor is seized of the estate the deed purports to convey, both in quantity and quality. Utah Code Ann. § 57-1-12 (2000) (providing that grantor covenants he is lawfully seised of the premises); see also Bosnick v. Hill, 292 Ark. 505, 731 S.W.2d 204, 206 (1987); Brown v. Lober, 75 Ill.2d 547, 27 Ill.Dec. 780, 389 N.E.2d 1188, 1190-91 (1979); Maxwell v. Redd, 209 Kan. 264, 496 P.2d 1320, 1324 (1972); Seymour v. Evans, 608 So.2d 1141, 1144 (Miss. 1992); Ives v. Real Venture, Inc., 97 N.C.App. 391, 388 S.E.2d 573, 578 (1990); Double L. Props., Inc. v. Crandall, 51 Wash. App. 149, 751 P.2d 1208, 1210-11 (1988). Similarly, in making the covenant of the right to convey, a grantor guarantees that the grantor has the legal right to convey the estate the deed purports to convey. Utah Code Ann. § 57-1-12 (providing that grantor covenants he has good right to convey premises); see also Brown, 27 Ill.Dec. 780, 389 N.E.2d at 1190-91; Seymour, 608 So.2d at 1144. Essentially, the covenants of seisin and the right to convey are synonymous, and the analysis of whether a grantor breached one of these covenants is the same for either covenant. Creason v. Peterson, 24 Utah 2d 305, 307, 470 P.2d 403, 404 (1970). ¶ 35 Hence, the covenants of seisin and right to convey, if found in a warranty deed, attest that the grantor covenants that it has good title to the estate purportedly conveyed. See id. Consequently, the grantor breaches these covenants when it is shown that the grantor did not own the land that he purported to convey by the warranty deed description. Id.; see also Butler, Crockett & Walsh Dev. Corp. v. Pinecrest Pipeline Operating Co., 909 P.2d 225, 233 (Utah 1995). Once evidence is adduced showing the grantor does not own what the grantor purports to convey, in violation of these covenants of title, there is no need to show an actual eviction or threat thereof. Creason, 24 Utah 2d at 307, 470 P.2d at 404. ¶ 36 These covenants speak only to the circumstances at the moment a grantor delivers a deed and are thus defined as present covenants. 20 Am.Jur.2d Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions § 71 (1995) [hereinafter 20 Am.Jur.2d Covenants ]; see also Creason, 24 Utah 2d at 307, 470 P.2d at 404 (stating that no need to await actual eviction or threat thereof to sue for breach of covenants of seisin and right to convey). Thus, a grantor breaches these covenants, if at all, when the deed is delivered. See Soderberg v. Holt, 86 Utah 485, 493, 46 P.2d 428, 431 (1935); see also Bernklau v. Stevens, 150 Colo. 187, 371 P.2d 765, 769 (1962); Brown, 27 Ill.Dec. 780, 389 N.E.2d at 1191; Double L. Props., 751 P.2d at 1210-11; 20 Am.Jur.2d Covenants § 71. ¶ 37 In this case, Cook Development breached the covenants of seisin and right to convey because it did not own the 323-acre parcel when Cook Development delivered the warranty deed to Holmes. The quitclaim deed conveying the property to Cook Development from LC Farms failed because it erroneously identified LC Associates as the grantor. Cook Development breached these two covenants regardless of whether that breach was subsequently cured by First American's defense of Holmes in the Keystone litigation because the breach occurred when the deed was delivered.