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Abstract

Conveyancing procedure in Maine, as in many other states, has become progressively more complex. Under the traditional recording system two elements—an ever-growing labyrinth of land records and the consequent likelihood of a defect in the chain of title—make repetitive, over-meticulous title examinations common, and uncertainty almost inevitable. Both of these elements must be eradicated by effective legislation, redefining and promoting marketability. No longer should landholders be faced with a constant challenge from the past, protection against which is by means of an expensive title report, carefully conditioned and couched in terms of the title-searcher's opinion rather than law. Attorneys should not be continuously compelled to fear that an interest will arise from somewhere which they felt was "dead," or at least older than their client could afford to discover and inspect. Under present Maine law, numerous circumstances create long-lasting title defects. Unrecorded conveyances may be effective against the grantor and others with actual notice. Individuals may be fully cognizant of deeds and, therefore, bound by them though they be unrecorded. Undischarged mortgages and contracts to convey real estate may avoid the statutes of limitation by partial payment or reaffirmation, neither of which are recorded within the title searcher's purview. The interests of the United States, Maine and its subdivisions, a real property owner with a legal disability, a cotenant adversely possessing against his co-owner, and all future interests are expressly excepted from at least one of Maine's two real estate statutes of limitation. The doctrine of laches may be of some help on occasion, but equity is far too flexible to be relied upon prior to formal judicial action. This group of old interests, probably stalking in the years previous to the title searcher's root of title, as well as clouding the title exposed by the abstract, is good reason for the Maine attorneys' long and cluttered title reports. Actions to quiet title are not a solution. Not only are the precise elements of the quiet title statute strictly construed, and proof thereof exactingly required by the court, but a cost of 300 to 500 dollars makes it a prohibitive procedure for many land transactions in Maine and at best an additional step in a procedure already too expensive. Further overloading of court dockets and greater expense to individuals and the State are not the desired end. The increasing number of actions to quiet title in Maine is a manifestation of the illness, not its cure.

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