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TITLE
An act to define a marketable record title to an
interest in land; to require the filing recording of notices of claim of interest in such land in
certain cases within a definite period of time; and to require the recording thereof; to make
invalid and of no force or effect all claims with respect to the land affected thereby where if no such notices
of claim of interest are filed
recorded within
the required period and to
provide certain exceptions; and to provide for certain penalties for filing recording slanderous
notices of claim of interest.
, and to
provide certain exceptions to the applicability and operation thereof.
Sec. 1. Any person, that has the legal capacity to own
land in this state, that has an unbroken chain of title of record to any
interest in land for 20 years for mineral interests and 40 years for other
interests, is at the end of the applicable period considered to have a
marketable record title to that interest, subject only to claims to that
interest and defects of title that are not extinguished or barred by the
application of this act and subject also to any interests and defects that are
inherent in the provisions and limitations contained in the muniments of which
the chain of record title is formed and that are recorded on or before September 29, 2025 or during the 20-year period for mineral interests and the 40-year
period for other interests or preserved and kept
effective by recording under section 3 not later than 2 years after the
effective date of the amendatory act that added
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section 5a. However, a person is not considered to
have a marketable record title under this act if the land in which the interest
exists is in the hostile possession of another.
Sec. 1a. As used in this act: , "mineral
interest"
(a) "Claimant" means a person that holds an interest, claim,
or charge on land and records a notice of claim under section 3 with the office
of the register of deeds of the county in which that land is located.
(b) "Mineral interest" means an interest in minerals in any land if the interest in
minerals is owned by a person other than the owner of the surface of the land.
Mineral interest does not include an interest in oil or gas or an interest in
sand, gravel, limestone, clay, or marl.
(c) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited
liability company, partnership, firm, organization, governmental entity, trust,
trustee, or other legal entity. Person includes a property owners' association.
(d) "Property owners' association" means any of the following:
(i) A person or an
unincorporated association with a voting membership that is made up of owners
of land or the owners' agents, or a combination of the owners of land and the
owners' agents, that is either of the following:
(A) Responsible for the operation or management of land.
(B) Authorized to enforce a document recorded with the office of the
register of deeds of the county in which the land is located that subjects the
land to any use or other restriction or obligation.
(ii) An association
of co-owners as that term is defined in section 3 of the condominium act, 1978
PA 59, MCL 559.103.
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Sec. 2. (1) A person is considered to have an
unbroken chain of title to an interest in land as provided in section 1 if the official public records disclose office of the register of deeds of the county in which the
land is located discloses either of the following:
(a) A conveyance or
other title transaction not less than 20 years in the past for mineral
interests and 40 years for other interests, except as otherwise provided under section 3 for interests
that may be preserved and kept effective by recording not later than 2 years
after the effective date of the amendatory act that added section 5a, which
conveyance or other title transaction purports to create the interest in that
person, with nothing appearing of record purporting to divest that person of
the purported interest.
(b) A conveyance or
other title transaction not less than 20 years in the past for mineral
interests and 40 years for other interests, except as otherwise provided under section 3 for interests
that may be preserved and kept effective by recording not later than 2 years
after the effective date of the amendatory act that added section 5a, which
conveyance or other title transaction purports to create the interest in some
other person and other conveyances or title transactions of record by which the
purported interest has become vested in the person first referred to in this
section, with nothing appearing of record purporting to divest the person first
referred to in this section of the purported interest.
(2) If a person is considered to have an unbroken chain of title to an
interest in land under this section, the interest in land is subject to all
interests preserved under section 3 or excepted under section 4, including
interests filed or recorded in
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accordance with the drain code of 1956,
1956 PA 40, MCL 280.1 to 280.630, or its predecessor.
(3) (2) For
purposes of this section, unless preserved under
section 3 or excepted under section 4 and except as to mineral
interests, a conveyance or other title transaction in the chain of title
purports to divest an interest in the property land only if it creates does either of the following:
(a) Purports to create the divestment. or if it
(b) Except as otherwise provided in section 5a(1), specifically refers by liber and page or
other county-assigned unique identifying number to a previously recorded
conveyance or other title transaction that created purported to create the divestment.
Sec. 3. (1) Marketable Except as otherwise provided in section 4, marketable record
title is held by a person and is taken by the person's successors in
interest free and clear of any and all interests, claims, and charges the
existence of which depends in whole or in part on any act, transaction, event,
or omission that occurred before the 20-year period for mineral interests, and
the 40-year period for other interests, and all such interests, claims, and
charges are void and of no effect at law or in equity. However, an interest,
claim, or charge may be preserved and kept effective by filing for record on or before September 29, 2025 recording not later than 2 years after the effective date of
the amendatory act that added section 5a or during the 20-year period
for mineral interests and or the 40-year period for other interests , a notice in writing, verified by oath, setting forth the nature of
the claim in the manner required by of claim
that satisfies the requirements of section 5. However,
unless the interest is excepted under
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section 4, an interest, claim, or charge
that became void and of no effect under this subsection before March 29, 2019
or that expires or terminates based on its own terms is not effective and is
not preserved by recording a notice of claim under this subsection.
(2) A disability or
lack of knowledge of any kind on the part of anyone does not suspend the
running of the 20-year period for mineral interests or the 40-year period for
other interests.
(3) For the purpose
of recording notices of claim for homestead interests, the date from which the
20-year period for mineral interests and the 40-year period for other interests
run is the date of recording of the instrument that contains the basis for the
claim.
(4) A notice under
this section may be filed for record recorded by the any of the following:
(a) The claimant. or by any
(b) Any other person acting on behalf of a claimant as an agent or as
authorized in writing.
(c) A property owners' association.
(d) Any other
person acting on behalf of any claimant if 1 or more of the following
conditions exist:
(i) (a) The claimant is under a disability.
(ii) (b) The claimant is unable to assert a claim
on the claimant's own behalf.
(iii) (c) The claimant is 1 of a class but whose
identity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of filing recording the
notice of claim. for
record.
(5) The recording of a notice of claim under this section by a claimant
that meets all the requirements of this act to preserve the claimant's rights
in the land is an effective notice under this
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section for all other persons whose rights
originate from the same instrument as the claimant's.
Sec. 4. (1) This act must not be applied to do any of
the following:
(a) Bar a lessor or
a lessor's successor as reversioner of the lessor's right to possession on the
expiration of a lease or a lessee or the lessee's successor of the lessee's
rights in and to a lease.
(b) Bar any
interest of a mortgagor or a mortgagee or interest in the nature of that of a
mortgagor or mortgagee until after the instrument under which the interest is
claimed has become due and payable, except if the instrument has no due date
expressed, or if the instrument has been executed by a railroad, railroad
bridge, tunnel, union depot company, or public utility or public service
company.
(c) Bar or
extinguish an easement or interest in the nature of an easement, the existence
of which is clearly observable. by physical evidences of its use.
(d) Bar or
extinguish an easement or interest in the nature of an easement, or any rights
appurtenant to the easement or interest granted, excepted, or reserved by a
recorded instrument creating the easement or interest, including any rights for
future use, due to a failure to file record the notice required under this act, if the
easement, observable or not, is for any of the following:
(i) The operation, installation,
construction, maintenance, improvement, repair,
removal, replacement, or protection of a pipe, driveway,
trailway, valve, road, wire, cable, conduit, duct, sewer, drain, track, substation, pole,
tower, or electric generation facility, energy storage
facility or other energy facility,
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stormwater or drainage facility, utility
facility, or any other
physical facility, whether or not the existence of the facility is observable.
(ii) Flowage rights for an impoundment that
exists as part of a federally licensed hydroelectric facility.
(iii) The management of vegetation within the
easement.
(e) Bar or
extinguish any of the following land or
resource use restriction, including any of the
following:restrictions:
(i) An
environmental A restrictive covenant or
other recorded instrument if that restricts the use of
property for the protection of health or safety from the environmental
condition of the property, including, but not limited to, a restrictive
covenant or other recorded instrument that
specifically cites the state or federal environmental statute that is the basis
for the restriction, including any of the following:
(A) The natural
resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.101 to
324.90106.
(B) The resource
conservation and recovery act of 1976, Public Law 94-580.
(C) The
comprehensive environmental response, compensation, and liability act of 1980,
42 USC Chapter 103.
(ii) A conservation easement as that term is
defined in section 2140 of the natural resources and environmental protection
act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.2140.
(iii) Any environmental land or resource use
restriction recorded by a public utility as that term is defined in section 1
of 1929 PA 69, MCL 460.501, or by an independent transmission company as that
term is defined in section 2 of the electric transmission line certification
act, 1995 PA 30, MCL 460.562, on
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real
property in which the public utility or independent transmission company had an
interest when recorded.
(f) Bar or extinguish the rights of any remainderman on the expiration
of any life estate or trust.
(g) Bar or extinguish any interest created by any declaration or other
instrument or agreement executed and recorded on or after January 1, 1950, as
the declaration or other instrument or agreement may be amended, that subjects
the land to any use or other restriction or obligation, burden, or benefit with
respect to each lot or other parcel of land that is the subject of the
declaration or other instrument or agreement.
(h) Bar or extinguish any interest created by a recorded master deed for
a condominium or any recorded amendments to a recorded master deed for a
condominium.
(i) Create, preserve, or continue any unlawful restrictions based on
race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.
(2) This act does
not affect any right, title, or interest in land owned or held by the United States, this state, or any
department, commission, agency, authority, lake level
assessment district, drainage district, or other
political subdivision of this state.
(3) This act does
not affect any oil and gas lease, or other interest in oil or gas, owned by a
person other than the owner of the surface, or any storage agreement or other
interest in subsurface storage formations owned by a person other than the
owner of the surface.
Sec. 5. (1) To be effective and to be
entitled to record, a notice of claim under section 3 must contain an accurate
and full
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description
of all the land affected by the notice , which and the description
must be set forth in particular terms and not by general inclusions. However, except as to mineral interests, if the claim is
founded on a recorded instrument, the notice must also state the liber and page
or other county-assigned unique identifying number of the recorded instrument
the claim is founded on. The failure to include the liber and page or other
county-assigned unique identifying number renders the recording ineffective and
the claim unpreserved. The notice of claim must
contain all of the following:
(a) The claimant's
name.
(b) The claimant's
mailing address.
(c) The interest
claimed to be preserved.
(d) Except as to
mineral interests, the liber and page or other unique identification number of the assigned by the
office of the register of deeds for the recorded instrument creating the
interest to be preserved.
(e) The legal
description of the real property land affected by the claimed interest.
(f) The claimant's
signature.
(g) An
acknowledgment in the form required by the uniform
recognition of acknowledgments act, 1969 PA 57, MCL 565.261 to 565.270, and
section 27 of the Michigan notary public
act, law on notarial acts, 2003 PA 238, MCL 55.287.MCL 55.261 to
55.315.
(h) The drafter's
name and address.
(i) An address to
which the document can be returned.
(j) The name and mailing address of all the owners of the land that is
claimed to be affected by the notice of claim. For purposes of this subdivision,
the names and mailing addresses of persons in
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whose names the land is assessed on the
last completed tax assessment roll of the county in which the land is located
at the time of recording are the owners of the land.
(2) The following form may be used and is sufficient to record a notice
of claim under section 3, although this subsection does not preclude the use of
a form that is substantially similar and meets the requirements of this section:
|
NOTICE
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Claimant: _________________________________________________________
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Whose address is
__________________________________________________
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hereby claims the following described interest:
___________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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which was originally created by _____________________,
recorded in liber _________, on page _________, _________ county records, and
affects land located in the _________________ of _________________, County of
_________________, state of Michigan, and more fully described as:
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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Commonly known as:___________________________
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Tax Item No. ________________________________
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The owner(s) of land affected by this notice, for purposes
of MCL 565.105(1)(j), is/are:
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___________________________________________________________________
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whose address(es)
is/are:__________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________<<Claimant>>
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STATE OF _________________)
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__________________________) SS.
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COUNTY OF ________________)
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This instrument was acknowledged before me on ___20__, by
<<Claimant>>
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___________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________,
Notary Public
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___________________________________________________County,
Michigan
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My Commission expires:____________
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Acting in ________ County, Michigan
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Drafted by: ____________________________________________ Return
to:
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
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___________________________________________________________________
|
(3) (2) A
notice of claim under section 3 must be filed for
record recorded in the register of deeds
office of the county or counties where the land described in the notice is
located. The register of deeds of each county shall accept all notices of claim
under section 3 that are presented to the register of deeds that describe land
located in the county in which the register of deeds serves and shall enter and
record full copies of the notices in the same way that deeds and other
instruments are recorded.
(4) (3) A
register of deeds is entitled to charge the same fees for the recording of a
notice under section 3 as are charged for recording deeds. In indexing notices
under section 3, a register of deeds shall enter the notices under the grantee
indexes of deeds under the names of the claimants appearing
in the notices, and the grantor indexes under the names of the owners of the
land appearing in the notices.
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Sec. 5a. (1) An
instrument that conveys land or warrants title to land subject to an interest,
claim, or charge or an instrument that encumbers land or warrants title to land
subject to an interest, claim, or charge is not an effective notice of claim of
an interest, claim, or charge for purposes of section 2 or 3 if the instrument
states that the reference to the interest, claim, or charge is for the sole
purpose of limiting the warranty in the instrument and does not create,
preserve, or continue the interest, claim, or charge under this act. The
inclusion of the following statement in the instrument is sufficient to
preclude the creation, preservation, or continuation of an interest, claim, or
charge in the land, although this subsection does not preclude the use of a
statement that is substantially similar to the statement under this section:
"The
references to the exceptions to title by liber and page in this instrument are
for the sole purpose of limiting the warranty or covenant of title, as
applicable, in this instrument and do not create, preserve, or continue the
interest, claim, or charge under 1945 PA 200, MCL 565.101 to 565.108.".
(2) A
statement in an instrument recorded with the office of the register of deeds of
the county in which the land is located that includes a statement that an
interest is conveyed "subject to easements and restrictions of
record" or substantially similar language, without reference to any liber and
page, is not effective to create, preserve, or continue any recorded easements
or restrictions of record for purposes of section 2 or 3.
Sec. 6. This act shall must be construed to effect the legislative purpose
of simplifying and facilitating land title transactions by allowing persons
dealing with the record title
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owner,
as defined in this act, to rely on the record title covering a period of not
more than 20 years for mineral interests and 40 years for other interests prior to before the
date of such dealing and to that end purpose, to extinguish all claims that affect or may
affect the interest dealt with, subject to the
exception under section 3 for interests that may be preserved and kept
effective by recording not later than 2 years after the effective date of the
amendatory act that added section 5a or the exceptions under section 4, the
existence of which claims arises out of or depends upon
on any act, transaction, event, or
omission antedating the 20-year period for mineral interests and the 40-year
period for other interests, unless within the 20-year period for mineral
interests or the 40-year period for other interests a notice of claim as
provided in section 3 has been filed for record. recorded, or a notice of claim as provided in section 3 has
been recorded not later than 2 years after the effective date of the amendatory
act that added section 5a for interests that may be preserved and kept
effective by recording under section 3, or the interest is excepted under
section 4. The claims extinguished by this act are any and all interests
of any nature whatever, however denominated, and whether the claims are
asserted by a person sui juris or under disability, whether the person is
within or outside the this state, and whether the person is natural or
corporate, or private or governmental.
Sec. 8. No A person shall not use
the privilege of filing recording notices hereunder
under this act for the purpose of
slandering the title to land. , and in In any
action brought for the purpose of quieting title to land, if the court shall find finds that
any person has filed a claim for that reason only,
he
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solely for the purpose of slandering the
title to land, the court shall award the plaintiff all the costs of
such the action, including such attorney
fees as the court may allow, to the plaintiff, and in addition, the court shall decree
that order the defendant asserting such the claim shall to pay to the plaintiff all damages that the plaintiff may have sustained as the result of such the recording of the
notice of claim. having been so filed for record.
