VOLUME XXXVIII NOVEMBER, 1959 NUMBER II A LETTER
""'"'""""' ;;::~ ······"" ""'"""" ' """"""""'"~"'"""'"'"""""""""""'"""l
THE PRESIDENT I
I ~ Dear Friends: Our newly elected Secretary, Jim Robinson, still our i Public Relations Director too, encouraged Ernie Loeb becke to keep in touch with you via a monthly com munique in TITLE NEWS. Jim has encouraged me to I do the same, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I If you were at the Convention in New York, I know you ·enjoyed it, and thanks again for making me the i President of our Association. If you weren't there you ! were missed; and I send my sincere condolences, for I you missed the stimulation and the benefit that a really ~ top·notch meeting provides-not to mention missing the = that our New York hosts pro beautiful entertainment I= vided. (Title men and women everywhere leave no enjoy stone unturned to give their guests the greatest I;; ment possible.) § I realize, too, that many of you who couldn't be in New York last month have given me your support in past years and my thanks to you for it, and I am count ing on you to lend a hand at our job this year. In that connection I have asked Jim to change the title of this page from "Postscript" to "Letter." This is to emphasize that I am hopeful that this will encour age a true correspondence between us, a two-way affair, that could develop into a wonderful source of informa tion for all of us as to what is going on in our business in 50 States. Let me hear from you. Sincerely, EDITORIAL OFFICES: 3608 Guardian Building Detroit 26, Michigan Telephone WOodward 1-0950
NOVEMBER, 1959 EDITOR: JAMES W. ROBINSON
Features
Title Insurance-A Panacea? 2 Boyce Outm Where Is That Land?-What of It? ...... 6 T. f. McDermott A Successful Convention ...... 10 53rd Annual Convention Highlights The New Look at ATA Headquarters ...... 25 Re-organizati01~ to Improve ATA Service Judiciary Committee Report ...... 38 F. W. Audrain
Departments
A Letter from the President ...... Inside Front Cover Meeting Timetable ...... 9 In the Association Spotlight ...... 29 On the Cover ...... 30 Letters 37 In Memoriam ...... 3 7 TITLE INSURANCE A PANACEA? BY BOYCE OUTEN A rrdown-to-earth" look at the title insurance industry is offered us by Boyce Outen, Chief Title Officer of the Lawyers Title Insurtmce Corp., Richmond, Virginia. I-Iis article is reprinted here with ;bermis sion of the editor of that company's official publication, 11Lawyers Title News."
There is probably no one of mellowed maturity who has com pletely forgotten the familiar and colorful patent medicine vendor of earlier and less complicated days, whose "showcase" was any main street. More often than not, a home made beverage was the dubious ware which he represented to credulous hearers as a cure for all their ills. Even the more sophisticated clustered around him, though drawn more by curiosity and anticipated entertainment than by the prospect of purchasing an incomparable "cure-all." Actually, recalling this remnant of the near past will serve the purpose of this article to no unusual extent except as a springboard, but that it will do well. Title insurance was not conceived and has never been advertised as a panacea for all the inherent needs, ills, aches and pains of real estate conveyancing. The doctors, nurses and medicines of the real estate and mort· gage loan fields are found in many diverse people and their services. Each has an integral place and a part, but in evitably as in all other fields there are very real needs un filled or unmet. These needs chal lenge ingenuity and resourcefulness. Title insurance companies for their part in the scheme of economic af fairs must constantly review and re appraise their policies and procedures in the light of the needs of their customers as molded by changing business conditions and practices. This they must do fully recognizing in the process that title insurance was not launched fully grown into the busi ness world and still must grow. Their product is not a static thing. While the history of the more se cure form of title assurance is not BOYCE OUTEN -2- within the scope of this article, some cidental to, and not part and parcel benefit may .accrue from recalling of that title. Perhaps such an une that over the years it was the pres quivocal statement should be support- sure of customer need, the desire to ed by further comment. serve, and competition that caused Possession of real estate in an un title insurance underwriters to en civilized state is taken and maintain larg.e their concept of the function of ed by force, in the exercise of per title insurance. But despite this prog sonal discretion, and such possession ress, if indeed it was progress, these is synonymous with title. Thinking same pressures have never diminish imaginatively and assuming a desire ed, but, rather, have constantly height for insurance, the only need for pro ened with the passing years. By tection would relate to the fut1.1-re and these same pressures title insurance partake of the nature of casualty in companies even now may have been surance. In a civilized state, "title" brought to a new and perhaps dan is possession or right of possession gerous crossroads. based on a right of property accru ing under law and as extensive as Need Informati.on the state permits. When adequately evidenced and limited to' a particular It must be fully recognized that property and to a certain quantity of lenders, especially non-resident na interest, ordinarily called an "estate," tional lenders, have entirely legiti such a title constitutes a legal "sta mate needs in connection with their tus" capable of being insured. extensive real estate securities for By definition, applying what might which they can find no ready univer be called a "title" test, not forgetting sal solution under current practices. the limiting property description, the Many of these needs devolve, to a requests for affirmative insurance large extent, from the feeling of mentioned above are obviously not lenders that available information requests for title insurance at all. about their properti-es is not complete. Whether inclusion of such risks in Their need is for information in these title policies would be beneficial to cases, not insurance. In some cases lenders in the long run is a serious there are other needs which do not question meriting adequate considera properly belong to the fi.eld of title tion, and comment on that question insurance, but which also, must con becomes the burden .and challenge of veniently to the lender can be fur this article. nished in a title insurance policy in Sound, responsible and conservative the form of affirmative statements or title insurance companies issuing, certificates. Among the latter, to be after certain protective steps, a uni· somewhat specific, is a growing de form and well defined product for mand for inclusion in policies of af reasonable premiums is the concern firmative statements of facts relat of all lenders, national and local. Such ing to land contiguous to, but not insurance companies do not overlib part of, the property, title to which eralize their practices in an effort is insured by the policies. Many re to obtain business or under the pres· quests are received for affirmative sures of competition, friendship, and certification that the insured is pro the desire to serve. How close to the tected against possible damage aris edge of the precipice they tred de· ing out of mining operations, or the pends upon their own integrity and existence of easements. Requests in sound judgment exercised in the crease for affirmativ.e certification 1 i g h t of customer pressures and that the builder in construction has needs. complied with all building and use regulations of government. Many Casualty Coverage other requests of similar nature are becoming more and more frequent. Affirmative certification in title in· They pertain to matters highly im surance policies, which cover mat portant to the owner of a particular ters not of title, do constitute addi· property, or its use, but are only in- tional coverage or something tanta- -3- mount thereto. The kind of certifica· lateral to the record and to assure tion most often requested involv.es continuance of coverage after fore casualty coverage, which in a title closur.e have left us not with true insurance policy is priming material evidence of title but with an indem for misunderstanding and even liti· nity contract." gation. "Conjectural" is certainly the Lawyers might be fascinated by word most applicable to the con some of the current requests for af struction our courts would put on firmative statements and certificates .such affirmative casualty coverage. in title policies. Often they involve Moreover, if such certification begins the sufficiency of instruments, dedi to appear regularly in title insurance cations, contracts or proceedings not policies, it could alter the nature of constituting a part of the title to be the title policy .and bring about a insured. Affirmative statements rela new concept of title insurance. tive to such matters as zoning are perhaps suceptible to constructions Restraint Exercise that they are legal opinions rendered via title policy. The title insurer is Lenders and their counsel, in the not engaged in the practice of law mrain, exercise some restraint in and ought not to be pressurized by bringing pressure for inclusion in competition or friendship into render title policies of matter foreign to ing legal opinions. The lenders them· their nature or concept. Those who selves and their counsel have a stake do exercise restraint evidently recog. here. nize that an uncluttered policy is a One of the more interesting fea less expensive policy both as to pre tures of the requests for inclusion in mium and interpretation, to company policies of specific affirmative state and insured. They realize too that ments or certification is that occasion lender's benefits will be dubious if ally they do not involve casualty cov the product of the title insurance erage, but merely restate the actual companies is debased or if it loses coverage of the policy in affirmative its character and definition as a title terms. At fir.<;t blush, such inclusions insurance contract and becomes an would appear completely unobjection indefinite hybrid of the economic able from any standpoint. Neverthe world. less, experience has demonstrated Lenders and their counsel have al that every affirmative reiteration of ready to some extent concerned them coverage raises in someone's mind selves with some facets of the prob doubts of the real negative coverage lem. For example, consider the words of the policy and results in all sorts of Warren H. Mendel, Vice President of new and different requests for and Counsel of The Equitable Life affirmative coverage. The title com Assurance Society of the U n i t e d panies. therefore, must resist where States in an article on the subject possible even this apparently innocu "Title Insurance, Tranquilizer or ous form of affirmative coverage in Boon to the Mortgage Lender." order to maintain a uniform and "Actually, can title policies still be concise title insurance policy. looked upon as• guaranties of a care fully searched record, with some Policy Not A Cure-All skilled decisions as to the impor tance of minor discrepancies and in The correct philosophy of a title surance against risk collateral to the insurance policy is that it should record, which are substantially mini cover a sound insurable title, identi mized by well understood protective fied by proper description and based devices, or are they to be looked upon upon a careful title examination by as being in the nature of indemnity qualified persons, reviewed by experi or casualty insurance? It is possible enced underwriters who weigh the that without realizing the true impli· title in the light of adequate actuarial cations of our actions our past efforts experience. This philosophy assumes to obtain uniformity in policies, to that the risks involved are matters secure insurance against risks col- of title, all departures being looked -4- upon with disfavor. While it does not standards by substantially all the eliminate a legitimate field of busi· title insurance companies, or by the ness risk in matters of title where individual company's own imposition the insured is acquainted with the of standards, business loss notwith facts, it does not contemplate either standing, in which responsible lend insuring o•ver real hazards to peace ers concur, the title policy as we ful ownership and possession, or know it should be preserved and im affirmative coverage of matters mere proved. In this process the policy ly incidental to the title. It is not so should not be forced into a mold for cluttered with affirmative certifica which it was not designed and which tions as to render its interpretation might impair its value. difficult or to obscure its true nature. The lens of any camera is capable In this light a :title policy has real of adjustment for better results, solid worth to a lender even if it is opening under properly exerted pres not a cure-all. sure until the lens is expanded to The title policy is not, and ought largest aperture. The lens properly not to be considered, a panacea of adjusted by pressure meets adequate all a lender's needs. This is not to ly the demands made upon it by out say that the underwriting principles side influences, but irresponsible pres of a responsible company ought to sure can disrupt the sturdy mechan be inflexible and subject to the charge ism and impair the function for that they are arbitrary or capricious which it was designed. From the out rather than based on sound under· side have come the agitations that writing reasoning or experience. This have caused title insurance companies is not to say that the title insurance to broaden the coverage of title poli company cannot serve the lender cies, but it behooves us all to proceed apart from the specialized title insur· and progress together with caution. ance function. Nevertheless, either by None of us wants a dubious product nationwide adoption of recognized - a side show panacea.
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN YOUR CO.
Executives all over the country shoes, etc.) for economy and good agree that advancement goes to those looks. Remember- a next exterior who show themselves to be outstand· suggests an orderly interior, and the ing in their jobs. man or woman with an orderly mind is always in demand. Shoes should "No matter what you do for a liv· always be shined and clothes pressed. ing," says one corporation vice presi· Everybody associates proper dress dent, "you can accept as gospel one with success. And if you dress the fact: there is always room for im· part, you're on your way. provement. The people we keep our eyes on in this company are the ones 2. Get to know your company. It is who have learned to get more out of vitally important to understand just their jobs." how your company fits into the na tional economy, how it contributes to To help you get ahead, and, in the the general welfare, how it is doing. process, realize many new advan Keep posted on current policy, read tages, here are ten tips on getting your company magazine and bulletin more out of your job. boards; if possible, get to see a stock 1. Watch your appearance. First holder's report. Once you grasp the impressions rank high, and when you big picture and see how important look your best, you do your best- in your company's contribution to soci every department. So be sure you ety is- you'll have a new respect for dress right. Make sure you have at your job. And respect for your job least a basic wardrobe. Rotate your is one of the first requisites for doing c 1 o t h i n g whenever possible (hat, a better job. -5_: WHERE IS THAT LAND WHAT OF IT? BY THOMAS J. McDERMOTT
It has been our pleasure from time to time to present artic:les on st1bjects of general interest to title men written by Thomas f. Mc Dermott. It is hoped that the following discussion will prove to be helpful to the young attorney and abstracter.
After you have puzzled over an in does not affect the grant unless an tricate or erroneous description you intention to convey only a part of the may be inclined to say, "Where is lot is manifested_ For example, where that so-and-so land?" I better omit it is clear that grantor intended to such descriptive words here. convey the entire lot, the inclusion of an erroneous dimension is not Descriptions a defect. A standard of the Ohio State Bar Association is that an er A description is, sufficient for a ror in the plat book and plat book conveyance when it identifies the page is not a defect when the sub land with certainty; it suffices for division is referred to by an exclusive our purposes when capable of being name. made certain of record, as by refer When ence to a recorded deed. The lines the calls of a description are may be read in the reverse conflicting, preference is given in this direction order: or an erroneous call may be disre natural objects and land garded if the description marks; artificial monuments; adja is thereby cent made entirely clear. When the loca boundaries; courses; distances; tion cannot be determined quantity. Thus, a call which goes to of record, the street a conveyance should be rejected even (an artificial monument) though the intention can be will go to the street notwithstanding ascer an incorrect tained and be upheld in a court ac distance. tion. The expressed intention of the Reference to a monument usually parties is not given effect if it con means the center thereof; thus, the tradicts the terms o·f the description; distance from a highway (not a dedi thus, a recital of intent to convey a cated street) is generally measured larger tract is not an effective con from the center line. Reference to a veyance of the part not included in plat, as a conveyance by lot number the description. which is assigned by a plat, incorpor The addition of erroneous details to ates the plat in the description; this a general description by lot number is so even where the plat is insuffi- -6- cient as a dedication. When there is appear to be from the corporation, actually a deficiency or excess of land that is, not from the officers as from the dimensions, the deficiency grantors. or excess is divided proportionately A standard of the Ohio State Bar between the owners of the platted Association is as follows: lots; the operation of this rule is Problem: precluded where boundaries have When should the authodty of offi· been established by adverse posses cers of a corporation for profit to sion. execute a corporate deed not be A description is presumed to con· questioned? vey to the center of the road if the Standard: grantor owned so far. The side line "The authority should not be ques is presumed to be intended when the tioned when the deed is executed by thoroughfare is dedicated as a street two officers, in the absence of known and the fee is in the government. A facts creating a doubt. This standard grant is presumed to go to the center is not intended to apply to require instead of to the side of a private ments of the attorney for the pur easement or a watercourse on the chaser at the time of closing the boundary. The adjoining land of the purchase. grantor which is under water or Comment: which is subject to an easement does "Conveyances from nonprofit cor not have pass when a contrary inten· porations are governed by express tion is shown. The presumption of statutory provisions." such a conveyance is always rebutted Special statutes control the dispo· by a clear expression excluding the sition of all or substantially all the adjoining land. An application of corporate assets if not sold in the the.o e rules is that a vacated street, usual course of business. A dis which is contiguous to the described solved corporation or one whose ar lot, passes by the grant unless an ticles have been cancelled continues intention to except it is expressed. for the purpose of winding up its "North" means due north unless business and affairs; however, the controlled by other terms of the de statutes providing procedure upon scdption. "Northerly" implies that a dissolution should generally be con general direction is intended but is sulted in such a case. construed the same as "north" in the absence of other expres·ed intention. P•artnerships commonly hold that "north" Courts a means parallel with the liens of the Prior to September 14, 1949 tract being subdivided. partnership could not acquire or con Caution should be exercised in vey the legal title to real property. changing a description by which the On that date the Uniform Partner has been previously conveyed. ship Act became effective. Under the land deal For example, in combining supposed Act, partnerships can own and ly contiguous parceL>, a strip be with land. the tween the parcels m a y n o t be The title standard adopted by actually described by the previous State Bar is as follows: conveyances. Problem A: What should be required to show Oorporations the authority of partners to execute After we have found the land, conveyances in behalf of the part what of it where a corporation is in nership? the chain of title? An investigation Standard A: should be made for franchise taxes "A conveyance from a partnership which may be a lien; these liens do holding the title is sufficient if it re not appear in the county records, cites that the partners executing it and inquiry is made at Columbus. are all the partners, in the absence Failure to affix the corporate seal of information to the contrary. When does not affect the validity of any tt does not appear that all the part instrument. A corporate deed must ners executed the conveyance, satis- -7- factory evidence of authority should fected by the incompetence of the be required. grantee if the grant is beneficial to Problem B: him. "Should an objection be made to the title because a deed to a partner Restraints Upon Alienation ship does not disclose that the gran Restraints which prohibit the con· tee is a partnership? veyance or encumbrance of a fee Standard B: simple absolute are void. E'xceptions "No, the requirement should be are made when the transfer is to a considered directory, and the defect charity. Po·stponement of the right to not such as will prevent the title partition has been upheld in Ohio. from passing to the partnership." Recourse should be had to the books when Other organizations alienation of an estate less than a fee simple is restrained The statutes provide for the owner or when the restraint provides that ship and alienation by "Any unincor the estate shall be forfeited for at porated lodge or other subordinate tempted alienation. A forfeiture may body of any society or order which is be enforced even where the restraint duly chartered by its grand lodge or is void. body." Special statutes must be strict ly complied with as upon conveyances Rule Against Perpetuities by boards of education, municipal Grants and devises of land may be corporations and other subdivisions void under the rule against perpetui· of the state, and by religious or char ties. Two rules are in affect in Ohio. itable organizations and certain other The former statuatory rule applies organizations. Unincorporated asso· to deeds or wills which became af ciations cannot require nor convey fective at a time prior to 1932. It the legal title to land unless author prohibits a transfer to persons who ized by statute to do so. were not either in being, or the im mediate issue or descendants of per Incompetent persons sons in being, at that time. For ex· Persons under twenty-one years of ample, a devise of a remainder is age do not have capacity to convey void where it is given to the grand or encumber lands owned by them. children of a life tenant who has A statutory exception to the rule no children when the testator dies. exists where a minor obtains a GI A possibility of violation of the rule mortgage. Alienation by an infant is is fatal to validity under thi:s rule voidable, not void; however, minor's and also under the present statute. transaction may be set aside until The common-law rule against per· twenty-one years have elapsed after petuities applies where the testator his majority. died or where the deed was delivered A deed made by a grantor while he since 1931. It is concerned only with lacks ufficient mental capacity to the time of vesting; it is not con understand in a general way the cerned with the time the property nature and effect to the transaction comes into possession and enjoy may be declared void by the court. ment. No interest in property can be If he had been pveviously adjudged created unless it must vest not later mentally ill, his incapacity is pre than twenty-one years after a life sumed. Methods are provided by stat or lives in being. For example, a ute for a finding by the court that a devise of a remainder is void where person mentally ill is competent to it is to vest in a child of life tenant execute an instrument, or for a find when the child becomes twenty-five ing that his competence has been re years of age, if the child is not alive stored. when the testator dies. In such a case After a guardian has been ap· it is possible for more than twenty pointed for an incompetent person, one years to elapse after the life in the latter's conveyances are generally being (that is, after the death of the held to be void. life tenant) before the gift vests. The validity of a, deed is not af- The rule against perpetuities does -8- not apply to rights of re-entry, pos sibilities of reverter, nor to rights which are incidental to vested in m eeting- :Ametatle terests as rights of a lessee. FEBRUARY 15-18, 1960 'Dax Sales One of the methods of transfer American Title Assn. Mid-Winter ring title which we have not men Riviera Hotel tioned is sale for non-payment of Las Vegas, Nevada taxes and assessments. The statutory provisions for these sales must be APRIL 15, 16, 1960 followed strictly, at least when the sale was within one year of the ex Okla homa Title Association amination. AftE!T the tax deed has Ramada Inn been of record for more than one Tulsa, Oklahoma year, t he title cannot be questioned for any irregularity or omission in the proceeding, provided there is com MAY 1, 2, 3, 1960 pliance with all jurisdictional require Iowa Title Association ments. F or instance, a tax foreclosure Hotel Fort Des Moines is not binding upon a mortgagee who was not made a party to the proceed Des Moines, Iowa ing. The d ifficult que s t ion s are whether particular statutory require MAY 4, 5, 6, 1960 ments ar e j urisdictional or are barred aftE!T one year when omitted. A tax At lantic Coast Regional sale does not extinguish easements, Seaview Country Club restrictions or the lien of taxes not (Just outside Atlantic City) due. Descent JUNE 16, 17, 18, 1960 Don't rely upon your memory of the statutes of descent for further Colorado Title Association than i nheritance by spouse and chil Harvest House Hotel dren. Your recollection might play Bou lder, Colorado you falsely with dire consequences. Another "don't" is as to reliance JULY 9- 12, 1960 upon the court's certificate for trans fer. The certificate has no effect upon New York State Title Assn . the title, although it may cause an Sa ra nac Inn inconvenience to the true owner be New York cause of an erroneous tax listing. Aside from t he tax listing, an error AUGUST, 1960 or omission in the certificate is of no consequence unless its recitations Minnesota Title Association cast a doubt upon the accuracy of Duluth, Minnesota other title records. The ownership passes according to the statutes of OCTOBER 3-6, 1960 descent; the certificate does not transfer the title as does a deed. Mortgage Bankers Assn. of America The course of inheritance is gov Conrad Hilton Hotel erned b y t he law as it existed on the Chicago, Illinois date of decedent's death. No change has been m ade in the general statute since September 2, 1935. Prior to OCTOBER 9-13, 1960 1932 separate provisions were made for descent of ancestral real estate. American Title Association Annual Until the 1932 revision, the wife was Convention not a n h eir of her deceased husband Statler Hilton Hotel where children also survived. Dallas, Texas A Successful They meant business in New York when the 53rd A n n u a l Convention was called to order by Presi dent, Ernie Loebbecke.
There were months of planning, thousands of de tails and a mountain of cor respondence to back them up as these officers tackled the problems facing the title industry.
Upper left, the retiring President gives an account ing of his stewardship for the 1958-1959 season.
-10- Convention Lower left, George Rawl ings smoothly leads the title insurance section at an important meeting.
Upper right, Our new new P r e s i d e n t, Lloyd Hughes, is in a s e r i o u s mood as he outlines plans for the ensuing year.
Lower right, equally re sponsive to the seriousness of the occasion is Arthur L. Reppert, Chairman of the Abstracters Section.
-11....., BIG NAMES FEATURED
Upper left, Maoolm Wilson, Lt. Governor, State of New York. Up;per right, Honorable Norman P . .Mas'On, Admin.istTator, Housing and Home Finance Agency. Lower left, Dexter D. 1\lacBride, National Sec11etary, American Right of Way Association. Lower right, Mar.tin R. Gainsbrugh, Chief Economist, National Industrial Conference Board. -12-. MORE BRASS ' ,
Counter Clock-wise: B. B. Bass, Presi dent, Mortgage Banker's Association, President, American Mortgage and Invest ment Company, Oldahoma City, Olda homa; James lU. Udall, President, National Association of lteal Estate Boards, Presi dent, James M. Udall, Inc., Beverly Hills, Calif.; Perry Morton, Assistant Attorney General, Lands Division, De1mrtment of Justice, \Vashington, D.C.; and \Villiam c. Gould. Insurance Department of New York; Chief of Property Bw·eau, Depart ment of Insurance State of New York.
-13- Industry Leaders at Work Left to Right: Top Itow; Hale Warn, Executive Vice-Prl"sident, Title Insurance and Trust Com pany, Los Angeles; Clem Silvers, ' ecretary, F. S. Allen Abstract Co., El Dora Center Uow: Richard H. Howlett, Senior Vice l>resident, 1,itlc Insuranne and Trust Company, Los AnJ.:eles; 1.'. W. Audrain, Chief Counsel & Vice-l'resi Carroll 'West, Vice-President of the Title htsurance and Trust Company, Los Angeles, draws upon his years of experience in the public relations fleld to bring an important message to the members. Ceuter: ATA Treasurer, Joseph S. Knapp, Jr., reports to the delegates on the As~ocation's financial status. Below: A. F. Soucheray, Jr., Presi deut of the St. Paul Abstract and Title Guaranty Company brings us •p-to-date on abstracters Hability and bond coverage. The members wanted action and they got it. Every opportu nity was afforded for a free and open discussion of all subjects of interest to the industry. Those attending were unanimous in ex pressing the conviction that this had been one of the most produc tive and generally satisfying An nual Conventions in the history of the Association. -16- TO REMEMBER ABOVE: Saul Fromkes, President of the City Title Insurance Company, Bl'ooklyn, New York, proudly displays a proclamation from the office of the Mayor, Ci.ty of New York, d'esignating the period beginning October 19 as lteal Esmte Title Week. Past President Loebbecke accept;; the tribute with a typical California grin. UELOW: A unique tribute to an out-standing title man. William Gill, Sr., President of the Gl'eat Western Business Investment Company is honored by his life·long friends and fellow industry members as ex-president Loebbecke presents him with a certificate of honorary membership in the American Title Association. -17- SEA-GOING TITLE MEN AS THEY -18- CRUISE AROUND MANHATTAN -12- soc TRIU :IAL MPH THE p E 0 v p E u R L A R COFFEE BREAK -22- ON DISPLAY Through the cooperation of many of the members the display area leading to the West Ballroom of the Commodore Hotel was filled with old documents, photographs, art sketches, blue-prints, and adver tising material. Point of sale pieces (center), which will be made available to members at cost for distribution to bank windows and real estate counters, were among the many features that drew the interest of those attending. -23--. SPACE IS MONEY ... and Filmsort CRJ is the space-saving pro cess that does away with bulky, hard-to-handle files. Filmsort is built to save SPACE. Since space is overhead, reduce i t ! And. increase profits! It is a UNITIZED system designed b y title men specificallY for the title business. Besides saving a great deal of storage and filing s pace i t works ideally in any type operation-key sorting, key punching, hand sort ing, etc. You pick the exact record immediately- no scanning- no probing. Calt, write or visit . . . I MICRO-RECORD, Inc. P. 0 . BOX 2840 * BOISE, IDAHO -24- THE NEW LOOK AT ATA HEADQUARTERS Executive Vice President ~evv Secretary ~arned Staff Additions ~eet Service ~eeds Vote ~ove to Washington Culminating a thorough study of ATA office procedures, a series of committee meetings and a two-day inspection of the Detroit headquar ters, President Ernie Loebbecke, sup ported by the Vice President, the Chairman of the Title Insurance Sec tion and the Executive Committee and with the approval of the Plan· ning Committee, submitted to the general assembly at the 53rd Annual Convention at the Commodore Hotel in New York on October 22 a recom· mendation for the re-organization of the ATA office. In commenting on the proposed changes, Mr. Loebbecke stated: "The functions of the A.T.A. office and the ,JOSEPH H. SMITH services which the association per forms for the members has been a matter of discussion among the offi around the country I have dlscussed cers for a number of years. The sug the problem with title people in the gestion made most often has been various state associations. A prepon that the office be moved from Detroit, derance of these people feel that the Michigan to Washington, D.C. A.T.A. should increase the scope of its service to its members. In accordance with the instructions of the Board of Governors, I have I then asked Mr. Lloyd Hughes and devoted considerable attention to this Mr. George Rawlings to serve with matter. I discussed it with the Chair me as a committee to study the avail man of the Planning Committee and able data and make a report to the my approach to the problem has been Executive Committee and the Board. made in accordance with those dis Early in September we met in De cussions. I visited the office in Detroit troit and spent the better part of two in the spring, and following discus days in finalizing our thoughts and sions with the staff, asked that cer arriving at a basis for this report. tain material be prepared for study. Basically we reached the following The most important item was a de conclusion: tailed job description for each person in the office. Also, as I have traveled A. That certain structural reorgan- -25- ization and emphasis in fields of to meet the requirements of provid service are indicated. ing anticipated expanded services to the industry. B. That recent experience further confirms our conclusion that the Fifth, that the national headquar A.T.A. office should be moved ters of the ATA be established in from Detroit, Michigan to Wash Washington, D.C. with the details of ington, D.C." the actual selection of office space, remodeling, furnishing, and moving Specifically the following changes to be supervised by a special com were recommended by the committee mittee and approved by the Executive and approved unanimously by those Committee. in attendance at the Convention meet ing. F irst, that Joseph H . Smith be elected at this Convention as Execu ATA OFFICERS 1959-60 tive Vice-President of the American Title Association. President Second, that James W. Robinson, LLOYD HUGHES Director of Public Relations also- be elected as Secretary of the American Denver, Colorado Title Association. Third, that another man be em Vice-President ployed by the ATA in an executive GEORGE RAWLINGS capacity to serve as assistant to the Richmond , Virginia Director of Public Relations. Fourth, t hat the staff be expanded Treasurer JOSEPH S. KNAPP, JR. Baltimore, Maryland Chairman, Finance Committee MORTIMER SMITH Oakland, California Chairman, Abstracters Section ARTHUR L. REPPERT Liberty, Missouri Chairman, Title Insurance Section THOMAS P. DOWD Detroit, Mich igan Executive Vice-President JOSEPH H. SMITH Detroit, Michigan Secretary and Director of Public Rela-tions JAMES W. ROBINSON J Al\rnS W. ROBINSON Detroit, Michigan -26- The American Title iA.ssociation welcomes to its staff at national headquarters two employees who have joined the organization in recent months. Janet Breyfogle, secretary to the Director of Public Relations, is a native of the Detroit area. Following her graduation from Clarence M. Kimball High School she attended the Detroit Business Intitute from which school she was graduated as an accom plished secretary. She lives in Royal Oak, Michigan with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. Roland DOROTHY BEHRENS Breyfogle. Her hobby is music. to their good friend and loyal fellow employee, Colleen Turkie wicz. Colleen, whose eight years of experience in the AT A office was an invaluable asset in meet ing many Association emergen cies, has resigned to assume her even more important duties as JANET BREYFOGLE Bringing a bit of old-world charm and simplicity to the office is hard-working Dorothy Be hrens. Also a graduate of the De troit Business Institute, Dorothy serves as utility stenographer and mail room clerk. In her spare time she assists with the monu mental task of compiling the annual directory, expediting con vention registrations, and pro cessing blotter orders. Her hob bies are bowling, sewing and horse-back riding. It was with mixed emotions that the office staff said good by COLLEEN TURKIEWICZ -27- mother. Colleen's baby is expect Not J-as Vegas ed about December 1st. Maybe you can't take it with you, but these days where can you go without it? DON'T QUIT When things go wrong as they some times will, When the road you're trudging seems all up-hill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit- Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow- You may succeed with another blow. PAULINE MORRISON Success is failure turned inside out The silver tint of the clouds of Taking over as the Associa doubt, tion's bookkeeper is Pauline Mor And you never can tell how close you rision, a member of the ATA staff are- for more than six years. Mrs. It may be near when it seems so has worked successively far, Morrison So stick to the fight when you're in the mail room, in a secretarial hardest hit- capacity, as filing expert, and as It's when things seem worst that accountant clerk. She is familar you must not quit. with all phases of the Associa - Anonymous tion's operations. GENUINE ENGRAVED RECIPE FOR EFFICIENCY l!.rntrTI'rn[;3oo rn£©~ The efficient persons knows he can do a job, wants to do it- and does it. The "doing it" requires self-manage ment in these six channels: • Learn to concentrate. • Read the right things, and read well. • Remember things that should be remembered. • Plan and organize work. • Develop full skills. - 28- 40 employes. Seventeen agents are TITLE MAN HONORED located in various Utah counties. a A strange a n d wonderful E. x pans ion has required three breed of men>JJ we say to our moves to larger quarters. The firm selves about titlemen> recogniz is contemplating construction in 1960 ing all the while how little the of a new office on a site purchased general public appreciates the at 444 S. State, west of the City and good .iudgment> the devotion to County Building. duty> and the contribution to so What services are provided by title ciety that our members make. companies? Not so in Salt Lake where the Mr. Eggertsen describes their mis Sunday Tribune recently carried sion as the searching and compilation the following story about Mark> from official records of all matters recently retired President of the pertaining to the title for a particular Utah Title Association. parcel of land and improvements If Utah had a "titled" class, Mark thereon. D. E'ggertsen would be its regent. An abstract of title is information For the affable Mr. Eggertsen cer· tainly is "Mr. Title" as far as his as sociates in Salt Lake City's steadily expanding t i t I e insurance business are concerned. As president of Security Title Co., 45 E . .. th South, he has watched his profession boom in the state's post war economic growth. With the advent of Utah's building boom - including speculative tract home construction, commercial and industrial expansion and h e a I t h y business activity- the title insurance field has grown proportionately. As an example, in 1945, the newly established Security Title Co. pro cessed 1,338 orders for abstract of title or title insurance and counted $26,000 gross sales. Last year, Se curity Title processed 6,043 orders and added up gross sales of $453,- 811. During the intervening years, the company has expanded from eight to MARI{ EGGERTSEN -29- obtained from a records search and compiled in a chronological manner, ON THE COVER thus enabling an examining attorney to determine the marketability O·f the We salute Lloyd Hughes, Presi dent of Record Abstract and Title title to a particular property parcel. Ins,UL·ance Company, Denver, Colo rado, who was electe Mr. James W. Robinson Director of Public Relations t American Title Association 3608 Guar-dian Building Detroit 26, Michigan Re: Anmtal Convention • Commodore Hotel N ew York, New York A. W. Hoover, President of the Na tional October 19-22 Title Insurance Company, Mi ami, F1orida, one of the pioneers in D ear Mr. Robinson: the title insurance industry, passed Thank you for the CONVENTION away at Coral Gables, Florida, No NEWS just received. vember 7. If I could attend, as I wish I could, Mr. Hoover at one time was con I would probably be the sole surviv nected with the National Title Insur ing charter member of the Associa ance Department of the New York tion, at least the sole active one, Title and Mortgage Company. present. Just 20 years ago I became the sole surviving charter member of the Florida Association, which was for m any years known as the Abstrac • ters Association but at which time I was serving as President of the Flor Jacob S. Regan died October 2, 1959, ida Title Association, recently as a result of a coronary in Minne changed to Florida Land Title Asso apolis. He was Vice President of the ciation, but continuous under those Title Insurance Company of Minne three names since organized in Jack sota. He had been in semi-retirement sonville in April, 1907, in anticipation for the last two years due to ill of the organization in June, 1907, of health. American Abstracters Association in Jake had a wide and varied career Chi.cago, later changed to American being brought up in the bakery busi Title Association. ness and at one time was President My original membership in the of the largest bakery in Minneapolis. .American Association was under the He subsequently was employed by name of J. A. Ormond, Abstracts of the FHA when that program was first Title, Real Estate and Loans, Mari starting. His knowledge of FHA and anna, Jackson County, Florida, Only VA regulations equaled that of any Abstract System in Jackson County man in the title business. (It still is). In 1940 he was employed by the If you will present the status of Title Insurance Company of Minne ow· office and myself it may be of sota as a field man. During the war interest to the Convention, to which, he took a leave of absence from Min through you., we send our compli nesota Title to work for the Treasury ments to the multitude from the sole Department in selling war bonds. survivor of the clan active at 77. After the Second World War, he re Cordially yours, turned to Minnesota Title. J. A. Ormond, President He is survived by his wife, Jule, a Florida Land Title & sister, two daughters and five grand Trust Company children. -37- Judiciary Committee Report F. W. AUDRAIN Vice-President, Security Title Insurance Company Los Angeles, Oalifonua Chairman, Judiciary Committee Title men often are the first to bear by the United States that its tax lien the news to a layman who has a good on an oil and gas lessee survived the working knowledge of property law destruction of the lease by the lease in his state that, when his affairs get terms, operative on the failure of the into the orbit of federal matters, he lessee to perform. The court, after may have to abide by the laws of hearing argument based on the many Congress as to land in his state. Of tax lien cases now well known to title course, the tax liens are a common men, stated: introduction. In a "If the government's contention case arising in Washington were upheld State concerning a defaulted mort and a foreclosure sale ordered here, a most absurd and un gage and the F.H.A., the Ninth Cir just result would obtain. As against cuit Court held that, as to mortgages, the the landowners, the lessee has no rights and remedies thereunder, rights. The property right to which Congress did not adopt all the inci· the tax lien once attached has term· dents of the mortgage relation under inated. If a purchaser at such a sale state If law. the state rules are re were to get a better title than the strictive as to creditors' remedies, lessee had, it then the would mean that a de federal government is not linquent taxpayer enjoys rights not so restricted. In this case, the govern shared by good ment wanted citizens and that a receiver and was not those who, without notice and in required to abide by state law as to good faith, how a do business with him receiver is obtained. U.S. vs. may have the doubtful pleasure of View Crest Garden. 6-22-59·. paying his taxes. Nothing in Section There are surprises for some title 2410 of the 1954 Internal Revenue men as to the suggested reach of Code or in the Bank of America case U.S. tax liens. These situations are demands such injustice." disclosed, on occasion, at the trial court level. Recently, in a Superior It is reassuring to find a federal Court case in California (July 1959) court following state court decisions the court had before it a contention on real property questions. -38- Some of us see instances of deeds by making provisiOn in their prop whereby the grantor excepts part oi erty settlement agreement for each the property granted, from the gran to have an option to purchase from tee whose name occupies the tradi the other, come a certain date, term tional grantee position, and then the inated the joint tenancy. Here the grantor grants the excepted portion daughter of the deceased husband to still another grantee, often in successfully challenged the claim by some later deed paragraph. Close to the wife as the sole owner survivor. this kind of deed is the deed referred Wardlow vs. Pozzi (179 ACA 231). to in Johnson vs. Republic 262 F.2d, 108 (12-58) , wherein, following a con Policy of nefense V'E: ntional deed form, grantor to· gran tee of the property, the grantor adds, Reference was made in an earlier after the description, report by this committee (1959) to "All the coal and other miner the cases dealing with the insurers' als in this deed to Joel Ratliff good faith in defending under poli with a right of way for all roads cies, particularly in those cases and tramways that is necessary where the insurer has doubts as to for working said coal and other its policy liabilities. minerals ... " In a Seventh Circuit case, Grath The court held for Joel, because, vs. Standard Accident, 267 F 2nd within the deed body, he could be 399 (May 1959) the insurer raised found as a grantee. I had an asso the point that its insured never de ciate look and see how close the livered to the insurer the summons, cases in my state came to this rule etc. While it is perilous to lift a and they were close. phrase out of context, the following Suppose you had no books. How phrase, caused more careful reading would you rule for your state? This of this case and a related case, Fi inclines me to recall a custom I delity and Casualty Corporation, vs. frequently use when I put a ques Robb, et al, 267 F 2nd 473. tion to a new lawyer in my office "The fact that the defendant and want to initiate a discussion of (the insurer) had no chance to the point. So often, he evidences a defend this action and thereby desire to head for our library. I stay protect its own interests mat him and make this inquiry: "Sup ters not one iota." pose we had no books and you were These two cases enlarge that on your own and you had no senior group of cases which insurance man to ask- there was no exper company counsel should be informed ienced title officer about to ask- just upon, especially those of us in the think for a moment about the facts title business, who mostly manage and how you would interpret the to take care of our companies with matter all on your own." This im out too much concern over the many mediate running right off to see cases dealing with insurance con what some court or text writer has tracts generally. to say seems less than a credit to a man. Then finally go to the books. Subrogation Terminating A Joint Tenancy Subrogation: Earlier in this com mittee's writing we noted a subroga In this committee's comments in tion case in a U.S. District Court the February (1959) issue of Title (1959). News mention was made of a deci On appeal the favorable ruling for sion that a contract oi a sale by two the title company, based on the pol joint tenants terminated the joint icy provision for subrogation, was tenancy. reversed. Developing the premise A California appellate court in that subrogation is equitable in char May, 1959, likewise ruled, i.e., that acter, rather than an absolute right, a husband and wife, joint tenants, and finding innocence by the bank in -39- its reliance on the forged endorse on the occasion of the meeting ment, the appellate court finds for whereat a trustee is to be ap the bank as against the paid surety, pointed, they may 'transact such i.e., the title insurer. other business as may properly As is our custom in these pages, come befo e the meeting . . . in we refer you to the full decision to cluding petitions ... by the trus form your own views. One further tees . . . to sell assets (as yet point, an express assignment to the undesignated) of the bankrupt insurer by the insured will not im . . . 'at some time and place as prove the insurer's rights if there is yet undetermined.'' found to be no right of subrogation. In re P a r k Distributors, Inc., Bank of Fort Mill vs. Lawyers U.S.D.C. So. Cal, (July 1959) Title Insurance Oorporation, 268 F 2nd 313 (June 1959). QUESTION OF THE MONTH Husband and wife and the trustee in bankruptcy. By a decision (June If you are so set on making good 1959) 268 F 2nd 384, the court of somewhere, \'ll'hY not make good the Filth Circuit found that deeds where you are? given between a husband and wife, pursuant to a property settlement NO CONSOLATION agreement, were given for that qual ity of consideration which would de A dollar doesn't go as far as it once feat a bankruptcy trustee effort, to did. But what it now lacks in dis hold the deeds void in fraud of cred tance, it sure makes up in speed! itors. WOULD YOU BE A LEADER Bankruptcy OF MEN? Title men observe on infrequent 1. Do you rejoice in the success of occasion that a proffered bankruptcy others? order seems to have a procedural 2. Do you give credit where credit background without the antecedants is due? of case precedent or appropriate 3. Are you a good listener? compliance with the law. Persons 4. Do you encourage others to offer active in bankruptcy practice are ideas? not always sympathetic with a title 5. Do you seek the advice of those man's lack of confidence in the order who are more expert than your upon which he is asked to base a self? policy. 6. Do you invite constructive criti This comment comes to mind upon cism? reading a recent U.S. District Court 7. Do you frankly admit your mis decision, wherein a trustee's sale takes and take the blame for without notice was predicated on the them? trustee's claim that at the first meet 8. Do you delegate others their ing of creditors he got kind of a share of responsibility, or do you catchall authority to sell when and let a cause suffer by making it where and what property seemed ex a one-man operation? pedient This contention was not well 9. Do you allow individuals the free regarded by the court: dom they need and deserve to do "In disposing of the trustee's their jobs well? contention that a notice within 10. Do you encourage legitimate self the requirements of Sec. 58a(4) interest that everyone needs in was given in the proceedings, it his work? is unnecessary to decide more 11. Do you recognize the particular than that the 'Notice of First contribution your associates or Meeting of Creditors' falls short, helpers make? being indeed but an attempted 12. Do you in short treat others as catchall telling the creditors that, you wish to be treated yourself? -40- APPITEEZERS Caviar Emptor Chopped Lien Livers Tossed Secretaries Au Jus Au Nertz ENTRIES Tie Point Oysters with Creamed Opinions Half Baked Customer on Half Shell (For Half-Wits Only) Broiled Government Survey Stake Fried Stuffed Shirts Barbecued Wild Deed with Tame Rice Clean Breast of Escrows (Under Glass- Dangerous!) Young Whale Stuffed with Underwriters Ox Joint Tenant Stew Assorted Cold Metes with Running Leaps and Bounds • • • VEGE-TABLES Fresh Abstracters Stuffed Examiners French Fried Titles Mixed Indexes Split Vestings Chopped Department Heads DESSERTERS (TAKE-OFFS) Title Binder Cheese Sugar Bowl Deeds Rat-Race Cheese Missing Heir Sundae (For Bald Men Only) Divorced Pairs with !-Scream Insane or Bankrupt Sundays Creeps Suzette (Warning! Cook is Arsonist) TOPPED OFF with Cup Brimful of Fellowship -Thanks to Wanda Eggertsen Associate Editor Utah Title News