[WSBARP] Who signs a corrected quit claim deed?

[Bickel, Dwight]

Kary - You are wise. The "scrivener's error" theory that a document can be changed without requiring a signature (or initial) of the grantor PLUS a new acknowledgement is very, very limited.  It has to be a patent error, which means you can see from the erroneous document that there was an error.  It has to be in the legal chain of title without the correction.

A "typographical error of the legal description" can be a scrivener's error that can be corrected by a new corrected recording that is done by the title company. An obvious misspelling of words is clearly a scrivenor's error, which probably does not need correcting at all.  A call to go "12.7 feet to a pint on the Wset lin of the secshun" is an example.

However, a mistaken lot number is also a typographical error [lot 4 was intended but Lot 40 is on the deed]. Often that cannot be corrected without a grantor signature and acknowledgement. Lot 40 of a 4-lot short plat is a patent error. But if there is both a lot 4 and 40, then the error is not patent. If the grantor also owns Lot 40, then the mistake is latent and not a scrivener's error that can be done without a new grantor signature and acknowledgement. There is no indication on the incorrect document that Lot 40 is an error.

A typo to the grantee's spelling of the name is an easy and clear scrivener's error. But a significant error on the grantor's spelling means that the deed is not in the legal chain of title. Our chain of title is based on a grantor-grantee name search.  A deed from Schmitz is not in the chain of title from Schmidt.

A typo on the name of the subdivision can be a scrivener's error if there is no other plat of that name.  A call in a legal description to go 1.27' feet to a point on the west line of the subdivision is a scrivener's error if it is 12.7' feet to that point. But a call in a legal description to go East instead of West probably puts that outside the chain of title. Clearly not possible if the grantor owns the mistaken land too.

Too many people think that a new recording can done of an altered deed without a new acknowledgment. Even if a title company uses the scrivener's error theory and insures validity, a wise and appropriately conservative real property lawyer might want a new document with a new grantor signature and acknowledgement. Getting the document recorded does not mean it is in the legal chain of title. Getting the document recorded does not ensure it will withstand a Statute of Frauds challenge.


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