Runsheet

A runsheet is a working list of the recorded instruments affecting a tract, prepared by a landman or abstractor from the courthouse and other title sources. It is the raw material from which an abstract of title is built and a title opinion is written.

How the profession describes it

A training course offered by the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL) opens with the statement that "A well-organized runsheet is the foundation of an efficient title examination." Its learning objectives describe what a good runsheet does:

• "Organize and format runsheets for maximum clarity and efficiency."
• "Create well-formatted runsheets with proper document details, comments, and clear organization to support title examination."
• "Understand the appropriate scope of a runsheet to ensure relevant information is captured without unnecessary detail."
• "Distinguish between helpful and unnecessary information to include for attorney review."

The same course places runsheets alongside "cover letters, ownership reports, flowcharts, plats" as parts of a title work product. The sources cited here do not set a standard column layout, and this entry does not describe one.

Where runsheets fit in landwork

AAPL's 2020 definition of landwork, as published by the Tulsa Association of Petroleum Landmen, includes "Determining ownership in minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources through the research of public and private records," and "Reviewing the status of title, curing title defects, providing title due diligence and otherwise reducing title risk." The runsheet is the record of that research: what was searched and what was found.

Runsheet, abstract, opinion

• The runsheet lists the instruments found, in order, with enough detail to find each one again.
• The abstract of title condenses the operative parts of those instruments (see Abstract of Title).
• The title opinion states the conclusion drawn from them (see Title Opinion).

Runsheets on mining claim ground

The AAPL definition of landwork is written around energy sources and courthouse records. For federal minerals and mining claims, the county record is only part of the picture. A runsheet for mining claim ground has to cover:

• The county index, where notices of location, deeds, and other instruments are recorded under state law
• BLM mining claim case records in the Mineral and Land Records System (MLRS), where BLM says claimants must record "any changes in ownership"
• BLM land records, including master title plats and the Control Document Index, which BLM describes as "organized by legal land description only"
• The federal patent, where the land has left federal ownership

Why it matters in mineral title research

• The runsheet is what lets someone else check the work. Every conclusion in a report should trace back to an instrument listed on it.
• A runsheet built only from the county index will miss federal actions, and one built only from BLM records will miss county conveyances. On mining claim ground both are needed (see Chain of Title).