|
William J. Thomas
Senior Underwriter
Pinnacle Title & Escrow Inc.
In a recent round of professional e-mails that floated through
an industry platform, there was a remark that many “newbies in
the profession as well as “old-timers” could use a quick
resource for finding important cases, statutes and computer
links. Below is a list of helpful links and cites which may be
found to be useful.
After September 11, 2001, the Federal Government under the
Patriot Act and Presidential Executive Order that followed, made
our industry one where it was mandated for practitioners to
confirm if any of the parties in a transaction are on the
Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List of the United States
Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Some industry insurers have processes in place to computerize
the search. The list can be downloaded in Portable Document
Format (PDF) and then pertinent pages printed out. Here is the
link:
http://www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sdn/
Since the late 1990’s, there has been a push for the
computerization of Land Records in the anticipation of e-filing
and in consideration for the Clerk’s to use modern computer
technology for scanning and indexing documents. Even though
these are not official records, the Internet Maryland LANDREC
system is a very helpful source since it is a Digital Image
Retrieval System for Land Record Indices in Maryland and is a
Joint eGovernment Service of the Maryland Judiciary and the
Maryland State Archives. Sign up is required. Here is the link:
http://ww2.mdlandrec.net
The Assessment Records for properties located in the State can
be found at the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation,
Real Property System website. The location is:
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/
At times, owners of record are entities. Many of the States have
their own corporate charter division with computerized entity
information freely available. Much information for Maryland can
be found under Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation
Charter Record Search website. The location is
http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/ucc-charter/
Many abstractors note exceptions on their reports that there are
restrictions “as noted on the recorded plat(s)” without listing
them specifically. Without debating the sufficiency as to this
reporting, for the examiner to find the plats throughout the
State, one can go through the LandRec system or directly through
the Maryland State Archives Geographical Services Digital Image
Reference System for Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium
Plats at the following:
http://plats.net Username: plato
Password: plato#
Deaths of Owners in the chain of title, can be problematic for
the examiner. Many offices of the Register of Wills for the
State of Maryland have death information for Decedents. The Link
is:
http://www.registers.state.md.us/
Montgomery County, Maryland’s link is:
http://www.mdprobate.net/sindex.cfm?county=mo&serno=c2499
It is generally may be helpful to have evidence of the date of
death if a Death Certificate can not be located. One place that
is helpful is the Social Security Death Index. Each underwriter
may have their own opinion as to its use as an examining tool
but as an alternative to the Death Certificate copy or Register
of Wills information, this free source could be helpful. You can
Google to find this index and there are a number of genealogical
research sites that have this. Here is one link that can be
utilized:
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
Potential federal Bankruptcy filings nationally and locally
would have an affect on the title to property. Also, the filing
of Federal Civil Judgments in favor of the United States in
areas where there is a Bankruptcy Court sitting (Baltimore City
and Prince George’s County) would also have a detrimental
effect. Since the cost of use is so inexpensive per case, the
prudent examiner should run the PACER System for current owners
and purchaser for each case. What is PACER? PACER is an acronym
for the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) which
is an electronic public access service that allows users to
obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate,
District and Bankruptcy courts, and from the U.S. Party/Case
Index. The link is as follows:
https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl?court_id=00idx
There is a debate as to the effectiveness of property street
addresses as part of the description of the property. Many
jurisdictions in Maryland use them while others do not. Since
the address is useful as to some of the new ALTA products, it is
good to include them somewhere close to the formal legal
description which comprises the requirements of Real Property
Article §4-101 of the Annotated Code of Maryland. Some rely on
the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation, Real
Property System records or that from the US Postal Service. When
a discrepancy exists, one learns that the street addresses and
zip codes are set by the post office and planning departments.
Unless there is a discrepancy, it may be best to rely on the US
Postal Service Zip Code Look-Up site for the information. This
site is:
http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
At times, it has been helpful when examining property searches
for my Frederick County settlements to use the Frederick County
Street Index. The site is:
http://www.co.frederick.md.us/SearchRoads/
Another source of information to get Maryland information is the
Nationwide Environmental Title Research, Online or NETRO
website. That website is located at:
http://www.netronline.com/frameset.asp?StateID=22
For actual real estate taxes, many of the County sites are
online. Even though not exhaustive, here are links for several
jurisdictions:
Montgomery County
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/tax/index.asp
Prince George’s County
http://tax-acct-info.co.pg.md.us/servlets/resqportal?rqs_custom_dir=taxes&rqs_cleancache=0
Forms
http://www.co.pg.md.us/Government/AgencyIndex/Finance/forms.asp
Anne Arundel, Calvert, Cecil, Frederick, and Howard
http://www.munis.ws/portal/state.asp?cd=md
(For those Frederick County areas that have special Community
Development Assessments, they are on the tax bills however, if
unsure as to their accuracy you can get information from the
servicer:
MuniCap Public Finance
10015 Old Columbia Road, Suite B-215
Columbia, MD 21046
Tel: (410) 290-5935
Fax: (410) 290-7665
Baltimore City
http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/realproperty/default.aspx
Charles County
http://www.charlescounty.org/treas/taxes/acctinquiry/selection.jsp
Baltimore County
http://egov2.co.ba.md.us/taxbamd.html
At times, tax rates for new homes must be calculated. The Tax
Rates are found on each county’s site. A simple spread sheet can
be developed to help calculate estimated levy’s for improvements
and the required escrows to be held. In Prince George’s and
Montgomery Counties, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
(Front Foot Benefit Charges) can be investigated. Here is the
link to investigate these charges
http://www.wsscwater.com/service/aow/disclosure.cfm
At times, if an abstractor reports a case, sometimes dockets of
the case may not come or you might want to investigate a
reported case if a gap has occurred and you need current
information form a pending case. Here is a link that is not to
be considered the official record index for a county but a very
useful tool to check out case dockets for both Circuit and
District Courts. It is the Maryland Judiciary Case Search
system.
http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us/inquiry/inquiry-index.jsp
Although the following is not the full method for doing complete
and accurate legal research for an issue, the following may be
helpful as a quick starting point. The FASTCASE research site is
a tremendous help. For members the access point is:
http://www.msba.org/members/fastcase.asp
Also, free Maryland Case Law can be found at the Maryland State
Appellate Courts website. Even though it may be difficult to use
at times, with a reference, cases can be found at no charge. The
link is:
http://www.courts.state.md.us/opinions.html
Maryland statutory law can be found at two sites. The first,
using phrases to search, is:
http://mgasearch.state.md.us/verity.asp
The second, if the actual reference is known, is:
http://mlis.state.md.us/cgi-win/web_statutes.exe
In order to find Maryland Regulations under COMAR, use this
link:
http://www.dsd.state.md.us/comar/
Many Counties have their Codes on the web. These Codes are
useful for researching exemptions and recording requirements.
This list is by no means exhaustive:.
Montgomery County Code
http://www.amlegal.com/montgomery_county_md/
(Zoning)
http://www.amlegal.com/montgomery_county_md/
Prince George’s County Code (Index)
http://egov.co.pg.md.us/lis/default.asp?File=&Type=CodeIndex
Baltimore City Code
http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/
Unreleased Deeds of Trusts are pesky items and chasing releases
has been a messy and undesirable business. However, to help
track entities the following sites have been helpful:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Directory
http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main.asp
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-bank-mergers-in-united-states
http://www.ffiec.gov/nicpubweb/nicweb/nichome.aspx
Sometimes there is a need to obtain information as to Federal
National Mortgage Association (FNMA) forms. For those
interested in the site, go to:
http://www.efanniemae.com/sf/formsdocs/documents/index.jsp
Obtaining access to American Land Title Association (ALTA)
Forms may be helpful. For access to the forms site:
http://www.alta.org/standards/index.cfm
Sometime a specific non-ALTA endorsement may be needed. Two
major sources of other commonly used title endorsements are
California Land Title Association (CLTA)
http://www.clta.org/
and Land Title Association of Arizona (LTAA).
Here is a brief list of frequently used Codes, Statutes,
Regulations and Cases:
Annotated Code of Maryland
Business & Professional Occupation Article §10-101 and §10-102
Business & Professional Occupation Article §17-524
Commercial Law §12-120
Constitution Article IV, Section 45.
Corporation & Associations Article §1-303
Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article §5-106 and §5-114
Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article §10-204 and §10-803
Courts & Judicial Proceedings Article §11-401 and §11-402 and
§11-801 and §11-802
Criminal Law §9-101
Estates & Trusts Article §1-210
Estates & Trusts Article §3-101 to §3-105 and §3-110 and §3-202
Estates & Trusts Article §4-101
Estates & Trusts Article §7-401
Estates & Trusts Article §9-105
Estates & Trusts Article §10-105
Estates & Trusts Article §13-601 to §13-602
Estates & Trusts Article §15-104
Family Law Article §5-328
Family Law §10-140
Land Use Article 66B §1 and §5.05 and §5.04
Natural Resources § 8-1006
Real Property Article §1-102 and §1-103
Real Property Article §2-101
Real Property Article §2-104 to §2-106; §2-108 to §2-110;
§2-112; §2-115 to §2-117 and §2-122
Real Property Article §3-101 to §3-102 and §3-104 and §3-108 and
§3-108.1
Real Property Article §3-202 and §3-203
Real Property Article §3-301 to §3-302 and §3-304
Real Property Article §3-501
Real Property Article §3-601
Real Property Article §4-103 and §4-106 to §4-109 and §4-111
Real Property Article §4-201 to §4-202 and §4-204
Real Property Article §7-104 and §7-109
Real Property Article §9-102 and §9-104 and §9-105
Real Property Article §8-110 and §8-402.3
Real Property Article §11-106 and §11-120
Real Property Article §14-104; §14-112; §14-113; §14-116 to
§14-117; §14-122 and §14-127
Real Property Article §14-201 to §14-206
Rules of Interpretation Article 1 §6; §9; §11; and §24.
State Government Article §18-105 and §18-108 to §18-109 and
§18-112 to §18-113
State Government Article §19-101 to §19-105 and §19-107 to
§19-111
State Government Article §19-202 to §19-203 and §19-205
Tax General Article §7-201 and §7-203
Tax General Article §7-302 and §7-308
Tax General Article §7-503
Tax General Article §10-101
Tax General Article §10-912
Tax General §13-802 and §13-805 to §13-809
Tax Property Article §12-101 and §12-103 to §12-106 and §12-108
to §12-109 and §12-110
Tax Property Article §13-101 to §13-102
Tax Property Article §13-202 to §13-204 and §13-206 to §13-208
Tax Property Article §13-301 to §13-305 and §13-308
Tax Property Article §13-401 to §13-402.1 and §13-403 and
§13-408
Maryland Rules Section 12-102
United States Code
11 USC 704
11 USC 1302 and 1303 and 1306
12 USC 1701j-3
26 USC 2001 and 2010 and 2501
26 USC 6321 through 6324
28 USC 3201
31 USC 5312
Baltimore City Code
Article 13 §6-1 to §6-10
Article 28 §16-1 to §16-2
Article 28 §17-1 to §17-16
Montgomery County Code
Section 52-16B
Section 52-19 to Section 52-24 and Section 52-24C and Section
52-27
Prince George’s County Code
Article 10 Sections 187 to Sections 192
Regulations
31 CFR 594.202 and 31 CFR 594.202
24 CFR 3500.2; 24 CFR 3500.7; 24 CFR 3500.8 ; 24 CFR 3500.10; 24
CFR 3500.12; 24 CFR 3500.17 and 24 CFR 3500 Appendices (all).
COMAR 9.13.06.01 to §9:13.06.12
COMAR 09.11.02.01
Case Law
Harman v Hurst 160 MD 96;
153 A 24; 1931
Greenpoint v Schlossberg
390 MD 211; 888 A2d 297; 2005
Watson v.
The Calvert Building and Loan Association of Baltimore City 91
Md. 25; 45 A. 879; 1900
Brewer v.
Bowersox, 92 Md. 567; 48 A.1060; 1901 as quoted in State
of Maryland v.One 1984 Toyota Truck, 69 Md.App. 235; 517
A.2d 103; 1986.
Young v. Cockman, 182 MD
246; 34 A2d 428; 1943
Eastern Shore
Building and Loan Corporation v.Bank of Somerset, 253 Md. 525;
253 A.2d 367; 1969
Edwin M.
Alexander, Adm’r of Estate of Evelyn Virginia Alexander, etc. v.
Mehrl T. Boyer, Ex’r under Last Will and Testament of Helen M.
Boyer, 253 Md. 511; 253 A.2d 359; 1969
McManus v Eva
Sampson Summers, Administratrix of the Estate of Mary Sampson
Smith; 290 Md. 408; 430 A.2d 80; 1981.
United States v. Craft, 535 U.S.
274; 2002
John W.
Belt, Clerk of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County
v.Prince George’s County Abstract Company, 73 Md. 289; 20 A.
982; 1890
Himmighoefer v. Medallion
Industries, Inc. ,302 Md. 270; 487 A.2d 282; 1985
Boucher v.
Boyer 301 Md. 679; 484 A.2d 630; 1984.
Automobile
Acceptance Corp. v. Universal C. I. T. Credit Corp., 216 Md.
344; 139 A.2d 683; 1958
Manor Real
Estate Company v. The Joseph M. Zamoiski Company.251 Md. 120;
246 A.2d 240; 1968
Morris v. Ehlers 211 Md.
23; 124 A.2d 776; 59 A.L.R.2d 1035; 1956
King v. Bankerd 303 Md.
98; 492 A.2d 608; 1985
Gebhardt
Family Investment, L.L.C., et al. v. Nations Title Insurance of
New York, Inc.752 A.2d 1222; 2000
Chevy
Chase Bank, FSB v. Chaires 350 Md. 716; 715 A.2d 199; 1998
Richardson
v Makowski et al Unpublished Court of Special Appeals No.
1343 September 1985
Corcoran
v. Abstract and Title Company of Maryland, Inc.; 217 Md. 633;
143 A.2d 808 1958.
Long et ux.
v Dixon et al 201 Md. 321; 93 A.2d 758; 1953 quotes Drury
v. State Capital Bank, 163 Md. 84, 161 A. 176
Schlosser
v. Creamer 263 Md. 583; 284 A.2d 220; 1971.
Rossville
Vending Machine Corporation v. Comptroller of the Treasury 114
Md. App. 346; 689 A.2d 1295, 1997
Roper v.
Camuso Court of Appeals of Maryland, No. 100 September Term,
2002 Opinion filed: July 30, 2003
Miller v.
Kirkpatrick Court of Appeals of Maryland, No. 2 September
Term, 2003, Opinion filed: October 9, 2003
Stansbury
v. MDR Development, L.L.C. 390 Md. 476 889 A.2d 403, 2006.
Drolsum v
Luzuriaga 93 Md.App. 1; 611 A.2d 116, 1992.
Hopefully,
the practitioner will find this list and provided links useful
for servicing their clients.
|
