An Overview and Interpretation of State Title Standards

This segment of the Special Institute on Land and Permitting is to review existing title standards and to bring up to date the effect of using title standards in reviewing title.

a. Prior and Other Publications.

As is the tradition in the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the author expresses thanks to those who have gone before and specifically makes reference to prior RMMLF publications dealing with title standards1.

Also, the author wishes to thank Phillip Wm. Lear, Esq. of Snell & Wilmer in Salt Lake City, for his invaluable help in assembling examples of Title Standards throughout the country.2

b. States which have Adopted Title Standards.

The following is a list of the states which have adopted title standards through the efforts of the local bar associations: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Title standards from some of these states will be analyzed in Section III dealing with case law interpreting title standards. We will also compare title standards from several states in Section IV herein.

II. BACKGROUND

While Title Standards have been with us for a number of years and have been utilized by num