Legal
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Can Your Title To Texas Owned Lands Be Stolen? Yes! (But Under Very Limited Circumstances) By Terry E. Hogwood, Attorney-At-law
Texas
actual possession of the true owner (or its lessee), the title and ownership of that tract of land can be stolen by a forged deed. If it cannot be stolen by a forged deed, is theft of title insurance worth purchasing? Spoiler Alert – In the author’s opinion, theft of title insurance for owner (tenant) occupied Texas lands, as it is issued today, is not worth purchasing. Is theft of title worth purchasing for Texas lands that are not continuously occupied by the owner (tenant)? Again, in the author’s opinion, no, it is not worth purchasing. Problem Scenario 1 - Mr. Crook scopes out a Texas home where its owner resides and decides to “steal the title”. Mr. Crook forges the homeowner’s signature to a deed, records it in the pertinent county deed records and then sells or mortgages same in the hopes of getting money based on his forgery. Sound familiar? Scenario 2 – Mr. Crook looks at a Texas investment property where no one resides. He decides to steal the title via his forgery and recordation of a deed to himself/third party and then his sales or mortgage etc. This is a total different factual scenario from Scenario 1 solely due to who, if anyone, is in actual possession of the targeted land. The following is a brief review of Texas law regarding deeds, forged deeds, adverse possession, good faith purchasers for value and the duty to continuously research one’s title to see if anyone is attempting to claim ownership (NOT).
Preliminary Remarks The following article concerns itself with title to land (real property) located exclusively within the State of Texas. It answers the very simple question of whether the title to a tract of Texas land can be “stolen” by one or more individuals by (1) forging a deed to that tract of land, recording same and thereafter attempting to monetize the forgery by obtaining a loan for the purchase of the property or by selling the property to an innocent third party or (2) merely entering onto the property and possessing (as that term is later defined) the property in accordance with the Texas’ adverse possession statutes. Under (1) above, can Mr. Crook forge the true owner’s signature to a deed, file that deed of record and thereafter utilize that deed to attempt to: (1) defraud a mortgage company (loan) or (2) defraud a subsequent purchaser? Short answer: Yes. Equally as important, can the true owner of that tract of land “lose” its title to Mr. Crook based on a forged deed? Short answer: No. In answering that question, the legal analysis will start with the actual possession of the tract of land. That is, is the true owner actually living and in possession of the tract (with a home located on it) or is the owner an absentee owner not then living on and in actual possession of the tract (Ex: owning the tract as an investment only or the ownership being vested in trusts, heirs, devisees or other third parties who are not in possession)? The legal analysis of whether a Texas landowner’s title can be “stolen” will then lead to a further question of whether, for lands owned and in the
Deed of Conveyance Title to lands in Texas are normally transferred
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N at i onal A ssociation of D i v i s i on O rder A nalys t s
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