Title research, curative and land services FAQ

No. We prepare the title packet: runsheets, copies of the instruments, ownership summaries and a requirements tracker. The client's attorney reviews it and writes the opinion. That is why we call the service title opinion support.

The county and state, the legal description, how far back you want the search, what you want back, and your due date. The contact page has a checklist you can paste into an email. Send anything already done, such as old runsheets or lease lists.

Yes, in the parts of the work where it helps: reading and sorting documents, making scanned records searchable, keeping runsheet rows consistent, and catching mismatches in names, dates and descriptions. It does not replace the person doing the work. A landman reviews everything before it goes to you, and your attorney still writes the opinion.

Contract landmen do the work. Section Line works with hundreds of landmen around the country, a network of independent contractors and not employees. That lets us put the right people in the right counties and finish large projects on a deadline. Tell us the due date when you send the scope.

Yes, it is one of our specialties. Gaps in the chain, missing probates, old mortgages with no release and name differences are the kind of files we work. We note each problem on the runsheet, list it on a requirements tracker, and do the curative work to clear it. Your attorney decides what counts as cured.

It is the record research behind a well or a lease: who owns the minerals and the leases, in what shares, and what has to be fixed before drilling or paying owners. We build runsheets, ownership reports and requirements lists for it. See oil and gas title work.

It is a search of the county records to find who owns the oil and gas minerals under a tract, what was reserved along the way and what leases are of record. The surface can have a different owner. See mineral title research.

Curative is the work of fixing the problems an attorney lists in a title opinion, such as a missing probate, an unreleased mortgage or a name that does not match. It ends with a recorded instrument. See title curative services.

A drilling title opinion, also called a drillsite title opinion, is an attorney's opinion on who owns the land under a planned well. We build the title packet for it and track the requirements that come back. See title opinion support and the guide to drillsite and division order opinions.

A runsheet is a table with one row per instrument. An abstract adds a written summary of each instrument. Many clients want the runsheet plus images, and ask for abstracts only on tracts that need a closer read. See abstracting.

As far as you ask. The usual choices are from the current owner's source deed, a set number of years, or patent to present. If your attorney has a starting point, we use it.

The counties page lists the counties with notes so far, in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas. If yours is not there, send it with the legal description and we will tell you what we can do. Our landmen are spread around the country, so it is worth asking.

Yes. Our services include land work in Montana: title research, abstracting, curative, document imaging, lease support and due diligence. We have a county note for Richland County, Montana. If your Montana county is not on the counties page, send it with the legal description and we will tell you what we can do.

Usually a spreadsheet runsheet and PDF images, named and indexed so they match. We can use your template or your attorney's checklist instead. See imaging delivery formats.

Green rows are conveyances, which move an interest from one party to another. Orange rows are everything else, such as leases, mortgages, releases and easements. There is also a Conveyance column that says the same in words. See the sample.

It goes in the notes for that row and, if it needs fixing, on a requirements tracker. We do not skip the hard ones. If your attorney lists a requirement in an opinion, we can work it through to a recorded instrument. See curative and common curative requirements.

Yes. A bring-down runs from the last date searched to a new date and adds the new instruments to the sheet. Send the earlier runsheet so we can match its format.

We can image records from the county's online system or the recorder's office and deliver them indexed, with text recognition so the PDFs can be searched. Certified copies come from the recorder's office, and its fees apply. See document imaging.

We support lease acquisition with ownership research, lease take-offs and tracking, and lease and curative paperwork for review. See lease acquisition support.

We scope it first. Send the details and we reply with the scope and a date. Pricing depends on the size of the project and what you need back. Ask for a quote and give us your due date. Large or rushed projects are staffed from our network of landmen.

By email at [email protected]. That is the only way to reach us for now.

No. The guides explain common practice in plain terms. Ask your attorney about your own situation.