ABSTRACTING
Are you a Land Surveyor trying to navigate current or former MnDOT right of way or complete an Acquisition Plat?
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Abstracting Quicklinks
Future Asset Management
Unlike traditional transfer of property, road authorities continually maintain, expand, and/or move road locations. Having a complete title package is not only beneficial for your current project needs but also for future asset management. Dawna Bernhagen has experience using old parcel records to establish and defend existing right of way as well as for disposal purposes such as turnbacks and conveyances. Bernhagen Right of Way knows the importance of having good records.
Product Delivery
Bernhagen Right of Way has experience using titles to sort out the current conditions of the real estate for a project. It can be easier to follow out a complicated legal description from a printed document. However, staff may be working in different locations so having an electronic copy to share is beneficial. That’s why both a physical and electronic copy are provided. Electronic files are complete and bookmarked .pdf documents to reduce time scrolling through large files and dealing with dysfunctional links.
Suggested Legal Description for the Acquisition
The most current record deed may have a lengthy description made up of several tracts or exceptions and/or may have conveyed out a tract without a residual deed recorded. Bernhagen Right of Way provides a legal description that can be used in the acquisition document.
Road as a Boundary
Roads are often used as a call in a legal description without a measurement or date of the location of the road. Some will assume that it is the current road centerline location. Bernhagen Right of Way knows the road alignment may have moved as design standards changed over time, but the property boundary remains fixed. Having a complete title package means providing the document when the call was added to the chain of title.
Forms of Acquisition and Disposal
Right of Way may be comprised of many generations of records, dedicated by a Subdivision Plat or by prescriptive easements. By hiring Bernhagen Right of Way, you get an expert on the various forms of acquisitions, underlying fee, oddities that were included such as cattle passes, and experience with MnDOT’s acquisition and disposal processes like turnbacks and Commissioner Orders. It is inadequate to rely on MnDOT’s final maps and acquisition plats for the right of way boundary, but you can rely on Dawna to provide what you need.
Beyond the Marketable Title Act
Minnesota State Statute 541.023 created the 40 year standard or what is known as the Marketable Title Act. Some may end their search at the 40 year mark if defects in the title are not present. However, most easements, railroads, and other title changes such as road vacations have been recorded for over 150 years. You can trust that Bernhagen Right of Way will look beyond 40 years and provide useful documents
Beyond the County Parcel Identification Numbers (PID) and County GIS
Some will only provide titles as requested by the PID number and rely on County GIS for layout of the ownership. This identification number is for taxation purposes and the same owner, even the same deed, may fall under multiple PID numbers. Bernhagen Right of Way will simplify the acquisition and reduce costs by creating one title.
GIS is a great system that can display layers of information in a condensed format. The parcel layer aids many officials at the County by replacing the old county plat book. But it is still a reference tool. Ownership can be difficult to layout with gaps, overlaps, missing or conflicting information. Bernhagen Right of Way understands the nature of GIS and PID and will work with staff to ensure all the title is captured for the project needs.
Beyond the Common Title Documents
County offices often have hidden gems to aid in painting the real estate picture. Certificates of Survey, Sketches from County Surveyors and Plats will be provided if easily located.
What your Land Surveyor Needs
Land Surveyors often need more than the current deed document to layout the title. Common description issues are junior/senior rights, calls to other deeds, auditor’s plat, overlaps or gaps in measurements. By hiring Bernhagen Right of Way, you get a land surveyor doing research that recognizes the impact of these issues and provides recorded documents that help with the decision-making process.
What your Appraiser Needs
Bernhagen Right of Way understands that there are other professionals using the titles to complete project tasks. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires private property owners be given just compensation for the taking of land for public purposes. Appraisal staff utilize the title package for any encumbrances affecting the acquisition area. The value may also be affected by contiguously owned property. If noticed while searching, these deeds will be included in the title package for reference purposes only.
What your Project Needs
Construction must be completed within the right of way boundary and right of way needs to be acquired before project letting. Bernhagen Right of Way knows that design often changes but the timeline for acquisition remains fixed and that for a variety of reasons parcels may need to go into condemnation. Having a solid foundation helps navigate whatever obstacles a project has.
Affordable and Statewide
Unlike private ownership, road authorities don’t acquire title insurance for right of way. If there is a title issue for a parcel of land, eminent domain can be utilized, and the court grants the right. The common idea is that government isn’t in the business of cleaning up title. The focus at Bernhagen Right of Way is to provide title services for right of way projects and is not a full-service title and closing company. The cost per title reflects the difference.
Many Counties have electronic search databases dating back to 1996 or further. Some may only provide what can be gathered from the online database. Bernhagen Right of Way prefers to spend time at the Recorder’s Office, reviewing the tract indexes and accessing the wealth of knowledge from the staff. No County is too far.