1.11 Office of the Circuit Court Clerk

• Library: Real Estate Practice Deskbook (2019 Ed.)

5. (§1.11) Office of the Circuit Court Clerk

The searches made in the office of the circuit court clerk concern the following:

· Judgments and transcripts creating money liens

· The child support record

· Mechanic's liens

· Judgments directly affecting title to real estate

· Pending suits affecting title to real estate when no notice of lis pendens has been filed

Section 527.260, RSMo 2016, states that any suit filed to affect title shall have a notice of lis pendens filed. But attorneys and parties routinely fail to file a notice of lis pendens either because of ignorance of the requirement stated in § 527.260 or the fear of repercussions if the underlying case is adjudicated in favor of the landowner. In the case of the latter, absolute immunity generally attaches when the filing party "has reasonable grounds to believe he has a valid claim." Houska v. Frederick, 447 S.W.2d 514, 518 (Mo. 1969).

In all such cases, the only indexes provided are name indexes, and counsel must decide how many names in the chain of title should be searched and the period for which the search should be made.

To illustrate, assume that the search in the recorder's office has disclosed that Peter Smith acquired title in 1995. In 1997, he conveyed the title to John Jones. Jones conveyed the title to Richard Roe in 2001, and Roe conveyed the title to John Doe in 2003. John Doe is claiming to be the present owner of the property and the one with whom the attorney's client is dealing in 2010.

Because judgments rendered against John Doe even before he acquired title would constitute a lien on the land after he acquired title, it is necessary to search the judgment indexes for money judgments against him for a period of at least ten years before the date of the search. A judgment from the date of its rendition (or from the date of its rendition and indexing, under the categories contained in § 511.500, RSMo 2016) continues as a lien for ten years. Section 511.360, RSMo 2016, and Rule 74.08 provide that a judgment lien is effective for a period of ten years, subject, however, to revival of it in accordance with §§ 511.370 through 511.430, RSMo 2016.

All judgments are effective for the full ten years. Section 511.360. It is possible for a judgment to be kept alive by revival, and it is probable that this could only be ascertained by searching for the name of the debtor.

For example, assume a judgment for $10,000 was rendered against John Jones in 2000, at which time he was the

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