Opinion ID: 1144948
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Bakkens' Obligations:

Text: When the Bakkens signed the Purchase Agreement Acceptance and Receipt on May 31, 1977 (thereby accepting Price's and Sedam's offer to buy the land for $66,000.00), it became their obligation to: 1. Deliver to Price and Sedam a warranty deed showing Bakkens as grantors and Price and Sedam as grantees. This was done on July 1, 1977. 2. Provide buyers, Price and Sedam, with a title insurance policy showing merchantable fee title in Bakkens, the sellers, subject to ... zoning and building laws, if any... . This obligation was to be discharged promptly after sellers' acceptance of this offer. (Contract language). The acceptance date was May 31, 1977. The sellers did not furnish the buyers such a policy by May 31, 1977, or at any subsequent time. 3. Since title insurance was utilized (as opposed to an abstract), the Bakkens were also obliged, in addition to their duty to furnish buyers a policy showing merchantable fee title in the sellers, to furnish Price and Sedam with a commitment from the title company within 15 days after signing the Purchase Agreement Acceptance and Receipt. [1] This commitment was to provide that the title insurance company would agree to issue a title policy which would insure title in fee simple in Price and Sedam when the sale was completed. [2] One of the commitment provisions was that the instrument necessary to create a fee simple estate in the buyers (a warranty deed) would be filed of record. The commitment, which predated the contract for sale, but which was delivered July 1, 1977, was issued by the title company, but its provisions with respect to issuing a policy showing title in Price and Sedam was incapable of fulfillment because of the non-recordability of the deed. That is to say  when the deed was presented, the county clerk refused to record it. Therefore, the contract provisions requiring Bakkens to furnish a title insurance policy showing merchantable title in SELLER, as well as the provision requiring the Bakkens to furnish a commitment evidencing the title insurance company's willingness to issue its policy showing title in the buyers, Price and Sedam, was incapable of fulfillment by the Bakkens because the deed could not be recorded.