Could have been an ugly situation

[Jogeephus]

I don't know if many of you are familiar with share cropping but it was done a lot around here and is still practiced here to some extent. Anyhow, my wife was talking to a friend of ours and it turned out that his great grandfather gave a bunch of his land to his share croppers for 99 years and after this time the land reverted back to his family. Most of the decendents of the share croppers thought the land was theirs and some built their homes on the land and raised their families. The 99 years is now up and some were surprised to learn they did not own the land they farmed or built their houses on. This could have been an ugly situation but the heirs were good people and they worked everything out and no one lost their homes and there wasn't any killing or bloodshed. Seems reality can be stranger than fiction.

 

[alacattleman]

boy that could have been a mess,,, when i was a kid there was a son of slaves that was over a 100 years old he deeded his land to two white boys ,,,, he was a great old man every one loved

 

[ROCKSPRINGS]

I guess these days that is what title insurance is for. ( To see if the owner is the owner )

 

[TexasBred]

Title Insurance companies only pick up recorded instruments.

 

[Jogeephus]

boy that could have been a mess,,, when i was a kid there was a son of slaves that was over a 100 years old he deeded his land to two white boys ,,,, he was a great old man every one loved

There are several very large farms here that are owned by children of slaves. I know of one who owns the land a gov't instatllation is on and he has a 100 year lease with them. He gets a sweet check each year. Share cropping is about a thing of the past but there are still a good amount of acreage that is farmed on shares. I think the share cropper is getting a better deal now than they did in the past.

Title Insurance companies only pick up recorded instruments.

I don't know all the details of this or why it wasn't known to the share cropper's grandchildren but the only thing I can guess is that the conditions of the deed were recorded at the probate judges office and not with the deed in the clerk's office. I almost got in trouble myself on a land deal cause I didn't bother to check with the probate's office. Its rare that you have to do this.

 

[TexasBred]

True Joe....a lot of legal documents are executed, notarized and filed in a drawer...never make it to the clerks office to become public record and creating clouds on the title. Not beging recorded doesn't make the document voidable but only complicates things for awhile. It is the title company's job to clear these clouds in order to insure title.

 

[peg4x4]

Somehow some land around here was never survaed.. people had bought it,paied taxes on it,thought they owned it.. Was a big mess about 25/30 years ago..

 

[Bandsaw]

I knew a man who inherited a piece of river bottom from an eccentric neighbor. It was his for his lifetime. After his death, it reverted back to the estate. He inherited it as a young man, and was almost 90 at his death. I am not sure how the lady's estate was kept open for so long, or actually what eventually became of the farmland.

 

[TexasBred]

I knew a man who inherited a piece of river bottom from an eccentric neighbor. It was his for his lifetime. After his death, it reverted back to the estate. He inherited it as a young man, and was almost 90 at his death. I am not sure how the lady's estate was kept open for so long, or actually what eventually became of the farmland.

It reverted back to her heirs. All they had to do was wait for the old fellow to die for it to automatically become theirs.

 

[backhoeboogie]

In all these cases, one must ask, who payed the property taxes? I have never been taxed on land I did not own. It may be a Texas thing.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Texasbred, You are right about the title policy. I never buy anything without one. There's too many horror stories out there. If the land does not belong to you in the end, atleast you get your original paid price back.

 

[TexasBred]

In all these cases, one must ask, who payed the property taxes? I have never been taxed on land I did not own. It may be a Texas thing.

The owner of record is always responsible for payment of property taxes. Apparently the owners kept them current since no mention was mentioned of any sheriff's sales throughout the time the land belonged to the different people. Another good reason to always get an owner's title policy when you purchase land. The title company will tell you what years property taxes might be past due and need to be paid to insure you have clear title prior to or at closing.

 

[Jogeephus]

In all these cases, one must ask, who payed the property taxes? I have never been taxed on land I did not own. It may be a Texas thing.

In this particular situation the tenants and their heirs did. Today this would be similar to a reverse mortgages on your home. The person residing on the property is liable for the taxes and upkeep until the end of the contract and failure to do this voids the deal.

What complicates things in this area is that the majority of the land was deemed not valuable enough to justify the cost of a survey. To make matters worse, our survey system the old British system of metes and bounds rather than PLS system that is used in states outside the original 13 colonies. In my county alone we are taxed on 8000 acres that doesn't even exist if you compare the taxed acreage to the total acreage of the county. Of course the tax assessor isn't complaining.

I have never seen a tenant arrangement like this but I can understand the reasoning. With my job I work with over a dozen tenant farmers and only one has squatters rights. This guy quit farming years ago but he still gets to live in a house till he and his wife die. Even though this messes up his health care he chooses not to move. I guess its cause he's got a good deal. If the roof leaks, we fix it. If the AC goes out, we fix it. AND, we pay the land and house taxes as per the original agreement signed about 65 years ago.

 

[upfrombottom]

When my maternal grandfather retired at 65, he put his farm up for sale with his house cut out of the deal. Well the guy that ended up buying it insisted he get it all, so pop shot him a price on the whole thing with the stipulation that he got to live in the house rent free until he and my grandmother both passed. The guy bought it, and my grandmother lived to be 91 and my grandfather lived another 5 years and passed away at 96. I wonder how many times the guy wished he had taken the first deal. :lol2:

 

[TexasBred]

When my maternal grandfather retired at 65, he put his farm up for sale with his house cut out of the deal. Well the guy that ended up buying it insisted he get it all, so pop shot him a price on the whole thing with the stipulation that he got to live in the house rent free until he and my grandmother both passed. The guy bought it, and my grandmother lived to be 91 and my grandfather lived another 5 years and passed away at 96. I wonder how many times the guy wished he had taken the first deal. :lol2:

The purchaser apparently bought it at a price he thought was reasonable. Your grandparents retained what is called a "lifetime estate". They had the use of the place as long as they lived even tho title had actually passed to the new owner. Not uncommon especially for older folks to do something like this.

 

[upfrombottom]

I know what it is called. Seeing as the house was thirty years older, and wouldn't sell now for what he gave for it, I wouldn't consider that a very good investment.

 

[TexasBred]

I know what it is called. Seeing as the house was thirty years older, and wouldn't sell now for what he gave for it, I wouldn't consider that a very good investment.

Would the "whole place" sell for more than he gave for it?