Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

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Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Christian Offenburger on Apr 13, 2011 12:52 pm

We did a small 2 lot subdivision plat in 2005....the title report missed a 1-foot buffer strip at the margin of our subdivsion, which we platted as being owned by our client. The parcel is changing hands now and the title company is requesting us to file an Amending Plat.

What about filing a Correction Deed? I think this would be a quicker fix.....get my client and the owner of the 1 foot strip (some kind of marina association....this lot is on the water) to sign it, notarized, along with a new legal description and an Exhibit, then file in the County Clerk's Office.

Have any of you all ever prepared a Correction Deed and could you email me a sample? What do you think about my solution?

I figured this was the place to come.

Thanks in advance for any help/input.

Christian Offenburger, RPLS

Charles L. Dowd...

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Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Charles L. Dowdell on Apr 13, 2011 2:18 pm

Do an an amended plat and state on the face of it why it was amended.

ron berry

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Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by ron berry on Apr 13, 2011 3:37 pm

I've done both, but I do believe a Deed of Correction being recorded is easier to find in a chain of title....that's what I've been told by many title people....

Rusty Chain

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Joined: 06/09/10

Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Rusty Chain on Apr 13, 2011 3:43 pm

I agree with Charles. It seems like a pretty easy fix in terms of drafting. The title company should cover any review, recording, and other governmental fees since it was their omission which is now requiring the amendment. They should also pay your fees for making the corrections. How hard you press for those fees may depend upon whether you have an ongoing and good relationship with that title company.

Back when title officers were familiar with the records, the local history, and appreciated the importance of one upon the other, they were a great resource for surveyors and a really good person to become friends with. An omission used to be quite rare, but because of the importance of the relationship between surveyor and title officer, a surveyor might wisely choose to just eat the cost of drafting to help the title company rectify the matter. That level of care and knowledge by the title officer has become increasingly rare over the years, and with it the close professional relationship between surveyor and title officer.

Christian Offe...

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Joined: 07/02/10

Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Christian Offenburger on Apr 13, 2011 5:56 pm

I should have also stated that the only reason I was thinking of doing a Correction Deed was the time element. The bank wants this done as quickly as possible. A Correction Deed could be filed within a matter of days whereas an Amending Plat will be 30-60 days before finally getting recorded.

Does anyone have a sample Correction Deed I can take a look at?

Christian Offenburger, RPLS

Rusty Chain

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Joined: 06/09/10

Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Rusty Chain on Apr 13, 2011 7:48 pm

California has a documentary vehicle for making simple corrections to a map called a Certificate of Correction. On it, the surveyor describes the change to be made, and in some cases may include a sketch. Fairly simple to do, and it gets reviewed and recorded fairly quickly as well. The county surveyor looks over the map, reviews the correction stated in the CoC, and upon approval, a notation of the CoC recording number is placed on the original filed map.

Does Texas have such a thing?

DWoolley

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Joined: 04/17/11

Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by DWoolley on Apr 17, 2011 12:49 am

In California, the situation described does not qualify for an Amended Map due to the fact the map is changing title (a property right). See Government Code 66469 (g). The only solution is a re-subdivision of the property. Hopefully, the tentative map is still active, California has extended tentative for years due to the economy, in which case it is a matter of re-filing a new subdivision map (not Amended). Anything less would open you up to a marketable title claim, disclosure issues, slander of title, subversion of the subdivision map act claims and so on.

DWoolley

Stuart Home

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Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Stuart Home on Apr 20, 2011 6:04 pm

As a lawyer, it seems to me, that unless the title company says otherwise, that a correction deed is probably best. who was the original owner? if not the owner of the plat being transferred, then that original owner should be the grantor, and the new owner be the transferee.

Stuart

Christian Offe...

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Joined: 07/02/10

Re: Correction Deed or Amending Plat?

Posted by Christian Offenburger on Apr 23, 2011 6:29 pm

A friend of mine sent me an Affidavit to Correct Plat which he has used before and it looks very good. I think this is the route I will be going.

Thanks for all the good replies.

Christian Offenburger, RPLS