Chapter 25 - § 25.5 • TORRENS TITLE REGISTRATION

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 25.5 • TORRENS TITLE REGISTRATION³⁹⁶

§ 25.5.1—In General

The Colorado Torrens Act, which was originally enacted in 1903,³⁹⁷ has been characterized as "a long-standing, seldom used feature of Colorado real property law." It is intended to simplify the transfer of title and create certainty by strictly limiting attacks on a title registered under the Act.³⁹⁸ The Torrens Act is constitutional;³⁹⁹ it does not constitute title insurance or a taking of property without just compensation.⁴⁰⁰

§ 25.5.2—Background of the Torrens System⁴⁰¹

The Colorado Torrens Act is similar to statutes incorporating systems of title registration adopted in other states during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These statutes were modeled after a South Australian title registration system devised in 1858 by Sir Robert Torrens to simplify the process of conveyancing of land titled to patented land.⁴⁰² All of these acts seek to enhance certainty of titles by establishing mechanisms to resolve all adverse claims to real property in one proceeding.

In contrast to other recording systems, the Torrens system is based on the principle that once title to land is registered pursuant to the statutory procedures and a certificate is issued by the court, subsequent good faith purchasers for value may ascertain all matters relating to the validity of the title from the certificate alone. This system is intended to eliminate the need to search records in a recorder's office to determine the status of a title, as required under traditional recording systems. In addition, Torrens system legislation typically contains some form of indemnification provision under which registrants pay a fee into a fund from which persons whose interests are wrongfully affected by the registration of the land may seek compensation.

§ 25.5.3—Procedure for Registration

An applicant seeking to register title to patented property under the Torrens Act must file an application for such registration together with an abstract of title with the district court of the county in which the land is located.⁴⁰³ Any number of contiguous pieces of land in the same county and owned by the same person and in the same right, or any number of pieces of land in the same county having the same chain of title and belonging to the same person, may be included in one application.⁴⁰⁴ The content of the application is prescribed by statute.⁴⁰⁵ Among the items to be included is whether any other person has any estate or claims any interest in the land, in law or equity, in possession, remainder, reversion, or expectancy, and, if any, the name and post-office address of every such person and the nature of his or her estate or claim.⁴⁰⁶ The applicant must exercise reasonable diligence under all the circumstances to ascertain the names of persons who claim interests in the property subject to the proceedings. The test for determining reasonable diligence is an objective test: that conduct a reasonably prudent applicant would undertake under all circumstances known or reasonably discoverable by the applicant at the time the application is filed to ensure that all interested parties are identified and served as named defendants.⁴⁰⁷

Immediately after the filing of the abstract of title, the court must refer the application to an examiner of titles, who must examine into the title and into the truth of the matters set forth in the application, and file a report thereon, including a certificate of his or her opinion upon the title.⁴⁰⁸

If the examiner's report is favorable to the applicant's claim of title, the clerk of the court, upon the filing of the report...