Judgments

[kwilson]

I am surveying a property that was involved in a boundary dispute. The parties went to court and a Judgment was rendered by the Court. The judgment was recorded as a Document in the Recorder's Office. It was entitled "JUDGMENT AND RESERVATION OF JURISDICTION" . The document was a typical court type brief with the numbers along the left side. The two parties were listed first and then a series of statements were made concerning the dispute and the fact that the parties had come to an agreement. So the judgment documented the agreement with the following statement:

_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The parties have waived notice and approval of the form of this judgment. NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ADJUDGED, ORDERED, AND DECREED that:
1. The common boundary shall be redefined as follows:

Beginning at a point on the northern boundary of Defendant's (name included in document) property which is
more or less fifteen (15) feet east from the northwestern corner of Defendant's property as described in
Exhibit "B" hereto

and continuing from that point in a straight line to a point on the southern boundary of Plaintiff's property
which is more or less fifteen (15) feet west along the southern boundary from the southeastern corner of
Plaintiff's property as described in Exhibit "A"
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Even though this legal description is a bit goofy we have no issues with it and it can be located in the field.

The Judgment is dated June 9 1995.

A Record of Survey was prepared and recorded in November of 1995 which shows the new boundaries per the Judgment. On the map, the County Surveyor signed a statement saying that the boundaries shown are in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act.

The current Assessor Map does not include any dimensions so it is impossible to know if the parcels agree with the current Assessor Map but the Record of Survey is listed there.

We have no record or proof that any grant deeds were created and recorded subsequent to the Judgment.

A new Condition of Title report was created for this property. The legal description on the title report uses the previous legal description (not the one in the Judgment).

So the question is - Did the Judgment transfer or convey title? Or is a Grant Deed required?

[Warren Smith]

What is necessary for an adjudicated action to impart constructive notice is for the judgment to be recorded. The record of survey merely retraced the new location of the line(s). The compliance statement refers to showing a division of land shown on the latest assessment roll as a unit or contiguous units into additional parcels. That doesn't appear to apply here.

Much like the approval of an application for a lot line adjustment, it requires transfer by deed to consummate the judgment from a title standpoint. A well crafted order will address this aspect.

[m4man]

Warren nailed it

[DWoolley]

Interesting situation. Thank you for posting the issue.

I do not know that answer, precisely.

However, what I do know, generally, is land title falls under contract law. When a contract is disputed the courts can resolve the issue by applying the law to the facts of the case. It appears the boundary location is resolved and settled.

The remaining issues are:

1. The judgement did not get into title.
2. Title may have been incorrectly conveyed, possibly a loan secured, based on a faulty title description. A title company is sure to be puckered up if they issued a policy on the faulty description.
3. If either party named in the judgement is still on the property a quitclaim of interest on the other side of the adjudicated line would cause the title to be picked it up in the future.

I wonder if there were court orders that were not completed i.e. filing a title document.

The only thing I can compare it to in my experience is the execution of a boundary line agreement - which do not always get picked up in title. When I have completed a boundary line agreement the owners file quitclaim deeds to the agreed line and reference “as shown on record of survey…”.

Please let us know what becomes of the issue.

Thanks again,
DWoolley

[Dave Lindell]

My guess is a faulty title company, after all, the document in question is 26 years old, and what title company puts any effort into searching beyond 25 years?

[mpallamary]

Apply for a Certificate of Compliance, and see what happens.

[Jim Frame]

Much like the approval of an application for a lot line adjustment, it requires transfer by deed to consummate the judgment from a title standpoint.

The above sounds correct for the matter described because the title line was locatable by survey and the court created a new ownership line. But it doesn't apply to all situations. When a judgment that is not successfully appealed fixes the location of the title line in question, there's no transfer involved, thus a deed isn't required. You *could* swap quitclaim deeds from some imaginary line to the title line, but that would have no legal effect, it'd just be an exercise in paperwork.

In other words, if the location of the north line of Lot X is unlocatable and an agreement between the coterminous owners fixes the line in place, that line *is* the north line of Lot X going forward. It's not an adjustment to the line, it *is* the line. If in a subsequent dispute a court finds that the details of the original agreement met the legal standards for an agreement boundary, it would rule in favor of the party asserting to the agreement line, and there would be no transfer of title involved.

[Warren Smith]

Great distinction, Jim!