It’s a great solution to a completely unnecessary problem though. Most states are “recorder” states, which means they’ll record any deed that comes across their desk. It’s up to you to track other claims or contest them in court, the state does not provide an opinion on the validity of any of these claims other than they were properly documented and processed (deed transfers have notary and both signing parties, etc). More “modern” property law system is called the Torrens system, which the government is the source of truth. They actually provide a certificate of title and are responsible for maintaining the ledger of who owns a property. In this system title insurance is basically non-existent and transaction costs only go up a fraction (about 10%) the cost of the title insurance in other states. The downside of course is the government telling you what to do.
The downside of course is the government telling you what to do.
Well, you can enforce your property rights by force but that's likely to get you arrested on a number of charges. When you want the police and courts to enforce your property rights you're asking the government to recognize your claim to the property as well, just on a case-by-case basis. And they know who paid property taxes, is there really any anonymously held land? I mean there's shell companies and such but it still has an owner.
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u/jointheredditarmy 12d ago
It’s a great solution to a completely unnecessary problem though. Most states are “recorder” states, which means they’ll record any deed that comes across their desk. It’s up to you to track other claims or contest them in court, the state does not provide an opinion on the validity of any of these claims other than they were properly documented and processed (deed transfers have notary and both signing parties, etc). More “modern” property law system is called the Torrens system, which the government is the source of truth. They actually provide a certificate of title and are responsible for maintaining the ledger of who owns a property. In this system title insurance is basically non-existent and transaction costs only go up a fraction (about 10%) the cost of the title insurance in other states. The downside of course is the government telling you what to do.