Chain of Title
The series of conveyances affecting a tract, arranged in order from the government or other original source of title down to the present holder.
Detailed Definition
Chain of title is the series of instruments that carries ownership of a tract, or of an interest in it, from the original source of title to the present owner. The BLM Glossary of Surveying and Mapping Terms defines it as "the series of conveyances, or other forms of alienation, affecting a particular parcel of land, arranged consecutively from the Government or original source of title down to the present holder." Each instrument in the series is a link.
Where the chain starts
In the public land states the first link is usually a federal patent or grant. The same glossary notes that "In common BLM usage, alienated lands are lands that have been patented." BLM's General Land Office Records site holds images of "more than five million federal land title records issued since 1788," and BLM notes that the site "does not contain every federal title record issued." Instruments between the first grantee and the present holder are what the glossary calls mesne conveyances: "An intermediate conveyance, one occupying an intermediate position in a chain of title between the first grantee and the present holder."
How recording holds the chain together
Recording rules are state law and they differ. Two examples:
- Nevada (NRS 111.320): a recorded conveyance must "impart notice to all persons of the contents thereof; and subsequent purchasers and mortgagees shall be deemed to purchase and take with notice." Under NRS 111.325 an unrecorded conveyance "shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser, in good faith and for a valuable consideration" whose own conveyance is recorded first.
- Arizona (A.R.S. 33-411(A)): "No instrument affecting real property gives notice of its contents to subsequent purchasers or encumbrance holders for valuable consideration without notice, unless recorded as provided by law in the office of the county recorder."
Both states let a federal patent be recorded without an acknowledgment (NRS 111.310; A.R.S. 33-411(E)).
Chain of title for an unpatented mining claim
An unpatented mining claim has no patent at the start, because the United States keeps title to the land. The first link is the location, recorded in the county and filed with BLM. BLM's mining claims brochure says claimants "must record any amendments (changes) in claim boundaries and any changes in ownership with the BLM," and warns that "Failure to file a transfer of interest will result in the BLM only recognizing the last owner of record as the responsible party for maintaining the mining claim or site." So a mining claim has two parallel chains, county and BLM, and they do not always match.
Why it matters in mineral title research
- Every ownership conclusion rests on an unbroken series of links. A missing deed, an unprobated estate, or a transfer recorded in the county but never filed with BLM is a gap that has to be explained.
- For patented ground the chain begins with the patent (see Patent); for federal minerals under private surface, with the reservation in it (see Split Estate).
- The working documents used to build the chain are the runsheet and the abstract of title. The legal conclusion drawn from it is the title opinion.
Related Terms
Mineral Title
Ownership of the minerals in a tract of land, which may be held together with the surface or severed from it and owned by someone else, including the United States.
Fractional Interest
Ownership of a share of an interest in land or minerals rather than the whole of it, such as an undivided one-half of the minerals or a one-quarter interest in a mining claim.
Quitclaim Deed
A deed that conveys whatever interest the grantor has in the described land, without any promise that the grantor has any interest or that the title is free of encumbrances.
Title Opinion
A written legal opinion on the ownership of land or minerals, based on the record, that identifies the owners, the exceptions and defects found, and the steps needed to cure them.
Curative
The work of correcting defects and gaps in title identified in a title opinion or title report, by obtaining and recording documents, filings, or court orders.
Abstract of Title
A condensed history of the title to land, summarizing every conveyance affecting it together with the liens, charges, and liabilities to which it may be subject.
Runsheet
A landman's working list of the recorded instruments affecting a tract, prepared from courthouse and other title sources as the foundation for an abstract and a title opinion.
Encumbrance
A right to or interest in land held by someone other than the owner that makes the land subject to a charge or liability, such as a mortgage, lien, lease, or tax.