Also known as: strings of title · chain of title
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The sequence of recorded instruments through which ownership of real property is traced from the original grant to the present holder. A complete string of title permits a purchaser to verify that the seller holds clear and marketable title free from reasonable doubt.
Dusk Plastics agreed to purchase a factory from Allied Production. A title search revealed a recorded 1975 option allowing a former tenant to repurchase part of the land. Because the option remained in the string of title and the holder could not be located, Dusk refused to close. The court held the title unmarketable and permitted rescission.
Summit Bank purchased land from a seller whose deed traced back through a common grantor. An easement recorded only in a deed to a stranger never appeared in the bank's string of title. The bank took without constructive notice and prevailed over the easement holder.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Stonehaven Properties contracted to sell a warehouse to Spectrum Financial. A recorded but unreleased supplier lien remained in the string of title at closing. Spectrum refused to perform because the lien created reasonable doubt about clear title. The seller's failure to cure allowed rescission.
Santiago Sanchez bought a parcel after searching the public records. His deed and all prior deeds formed an unbroken string of title showing no unrecorded claims. When a prior unrecorded grantee asserted ownership, the recording act gave Sanchez priority because he lacked notice and recorded first.
Sydney Santos received a deed that later proved forged. The forger had inserted the instrument into the string of title. A subsequent purchaser who took without notice and recorded could still lose to the true owner because a forged deed conveys nothing under the recording act.
Samuel Soto purchased a lot in a subdivision where every deed contained a restriction against commercial use. The restrictions appeared throughout the string of title from the original plat. Soto's attempt to build a gas station was enjoined because the covenants ran with the land and bound all subsequent owners.
A string of title is incomplete when a recorded instrument is missing, a deed is forged, or an interest appears outside the chain. Gaps or breaks prevent a purchaser from tracing clear ownership and may render title unmarketable.
Supporting sources
An easement or covenant recorded only in a deed to a stranger to the chain lies outside the string of title. A subsequent purchaser is not charged with constructive notice of that interest under the chain-of-title doctrine.
No. When a contract demands marketable title, the seller must deliver title free from reasonable doubt. Insurable title at standard rates is a lower standard and does not discharge the duty to convey marketable title.
A forged deed is void and conveys no title. Even a later bona fide purchaser may lose to the true owner because the forgery breaks the chain and prevents valid passage of title under recording acts.
…barring a use so detrimental to the enjoyment and value of its neighbors. Defendants insist that no restrictions appear in their chain of title and they purchased without notice of any reciprocal negative easement, and deny that a gasoline station is a nuisance per se. We find no occasion to pass upon the question of nuisance, as…