subtitled- fun fun fun in a recording state....
I'm trying to chase various interests in a strip of land. It may be our right of way?ÿ or not.
?ÿI found this- it's an image of the deed as recorded in the county ledger....
250/533
250/534
and this- 463/428 a deed for a tract from the successors in interest that's inconsistent with the right of way (plans) I'm retracing....
So I sent made a few phone calls and sent this email....
Subject: Seeking Documentation for an old State Lands Conveyance Section 16, T28N, R20W, PM, M.
?ÿ
Good Morning Ms. XXXXXX-
I was given your name by *********** in MDT??s Right Of Way Real Estate section as a contact who might be
able to help me in obtaining a copy of a deed from a conveyance of State land in Flathead County in 1930.
Recovering this information is important to clarify state interests in the vicinity of an upcoming construction project.
?ÿ
Attached are 2 PDF??s of the pertinent transaction.
The 250_533 and 250_534 are copies for the initial transaction with the State as the grantor and Mary J. Conlon as the grantee.
The deed is dated 10/14/1941 and recorded 11/9/1943-
You will notice that on 250_534 the hi-lighted clause ??and also reserving to the State of Montana? and the hand entry of ??_ _ _ _ _?,
which appears to indicate a typographical error or omission.
?ÿ
The 3rd attached PDF 463_428 is a copy of the a deed from grantor Roberts (successor in interest to Conlon) and grantee Creston Fire District.
This deed makes reference to the ??southerly right of way of the State highway? which is 40.00 ft south along the section line from the E1/4 corner of Section 16.
Since this call for right of way is not consistent with the existing highway plans from the era, it is very possible it??s referring to the reservation which appears to be missing from the recorded document.?ÿ
?ÿIf you could provide me with a copy of the deed recorded in Book 250 Page 533 and 534 from State land records, or could direct me to someone who can,
I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
She responded with this nugget.
I??ve done a quick look at our database and the land formerly owned by the State was acquired by the State through a loan foreclosure process.?ÿ A little background to this????.in the 1920??s the State Land Board authorized loans from the Common School permanent fund to struggling ranchers/farmers to help get them through the depression and help keep the Montana economy going with the potential of having more crops planted.?ÿ The loans were given based on an ??appraisal? of the value of the land and the improvements upon it.?ÿ Loans were typically a period of 5-15 years with annual payments being due.?ÿ These property owners had to use their land and improvements as collateral and, as in a regular foreclosure manner, if they failed to make their annual payments the property became owned by the State through the conveyance of a QuitClaim Deed or a Sheriff??s Deed, depending on the circumstance.?ÿ In most of the instances the State immediately turned around and put the lands into a certificate of purchase sale program to encourage the prior landowners to re-acquire their land.?ÿ The certificate of purchase program allowed payments to be made out over a 33 year term, thus the annual payments to purchase the property back from the State would have been lower than the annual payment they were responsible for through the Farm Loan.?ÿ In some cases it worked out, in most cases, however, they still struggled to make the minimal payments to gain their property back.?ÿ Generally, the State ended up owning these properties and, based on demand for land in particular areas, later advertised these property for sale much like we do now and they were sold at public oral auction.?ÿ Sometimes under a similar Certificate of Purchase program where the bidders were allowed to make annual payments over a set period of time (generally up to 15 years) to own the property.?ÿ That appears to be what happened with this particular parcel of land.
?ÿ
With that being said, I??ve attached a scan of the Deed to Mortgage Lands issued to Mary J. Conlon in 1941.?ÿ Please note that there is an asterisk with the reservation and at the bottom of the Deed it says to see the reservation, if any, in the certificate of purchase.?ÿ This means that there may not have necessarily been any reservation at all but if there is, it will be found in the original sale and purchase file.?ÿ I will need to actually pull from archives the original files related to both the farm loan and the sale file to Mary Conlon to see what may have been reserved.?ÿ?ÿ....... All of our old sale files are located elsewhere and it will be sometime next week before I will be able to have them retrieved.?ÿ
?ÿand sent this....
I still don't know a final answer on the reservation/ my right of way.....
?ÿBut I do have more information than what was recorded in the courthouse and I can pass it along....
Yep, those old highway files can really be helpful sometimes. Other times, not so much.
Deeds never recorded.
Near my little town is a highway that has all the standard plans from the state to upgrade the highway about 1960. The right of way markers are there, the plans show which landowners where paid for extra land, everything normal. In doing some survey work I start looking for the deeds and couldn't find them. I search the county records in every way I could think of, no deeds. I contact the UDOT regional surveyor, several emails and phone calls. As far as we can determine, the whole project was done, deeds where gotten, money was paid, highway built BUT, the deeds were never recorded. State has a right of way per 10 year statute but not the fee title they paid for. Somebody just dropped the ball and didn't have the deeds recorded.?ÿ The state guy told me "it happens."
Very few condemnations ever make it to the courthouse. ?ÿFortunately, the nice people at the DOT are, indeed, nice people.
[SNIP] Fortunately, the nice people at the DOT are, indeed, nice people. [/SNIP]
We try to be, for the most part. Sure, there's some hard-boiled snarly criminals in the public sector but they tend to be few and they also do a good job at revealing themselves.
The only superior evidence is that which you haven't yet found.