Opinion ID: 451593
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The government's Pre-dating of the Deed

Text: 27 On January 26, 1970, the Secretary of the Army in Washington, D.C., signed and dated the quitclaim deed to Clark. On July 20, 1970, Clark signed and dated his general warranty deed and delivered it to the government, and on that same date the government delivered the pre-dated quitclaim deed to Clark. McDermott now argues that the government's pre-dating of the quitclaim deed constitutes affirmative misconduct because the pre-dating shows that the government attempted to defeat the agreement it reached with Clark that the land exchange would be simultaneous. 28 This argument is meritless. Whether the government pre-dated the quitclaim deed is irrelevant, because under Arkansas law title to real property passes on the date the deed is delivered. See Wilson v. McDaniel, 247 Ark. 1036, 1038, 449 S.W.2d 944, 946 (Ark.1970). The government's advance preparation of the quitclaim deed cannot rationally be viewed as any sort of misconduct.