Unless the contract is otherwise required, the seller must provide a marketable security. A marketable security is a security free of any restrictions that a reasonable buyer would object to. Most buyers would refuse to enter into the agreement if there were potential third-party claims on all or part of the security. But a buyer would be unreasonable if he refused to complete the transaction at closing on the grounds that there were supply facilities for the energy company or a known and visible ease of access for the neighbouring land. As a precautionary measure, a seller must indicate in the sales contract that the property is being sold “subject to relief and registration restrictions.” A buyer who sees only such a language should insist that the particular facilities and restrictive alliances be defined in the agreement before signing. Similarly, the deed should identify the fellow – the person to whom the property is transferred. It does not turn off to misreprescize a person`s name or to omit part of a name, or even to omit the name of one of the fellows (as in “Lockewood Filmer and Wife”). Even if this is not technically necessary, the act should present in detail the interests that are passed on to each fellow, in order to avoid serious legal difficulties. “For Francis Lucas, one man, and Joseph Lucas and Matilda Lucas, his wife” was an act of unusual ambiguity.
Did each party have a third of interest? Or do Joseph and Matilda have half as tenants and Francis has half an interest as common tenants? Or maybe Francis had a third of the interest as a shared tenant, and Joseph and Matilda held two-thirds as tenants? Or was there another possible combination? The court opted for the second interpretation, but it would have been possible to save a great deal of time and money if the act had contained a few simple words of explanation. Heatter v. Lucas, 80 A.2d 749 (Pa. 1951). On the basis of the registration statutes, the buyer must check the deed to verify (1) whether the seller has already acquired a valid deed on the property, i.e. whether a chain of ownership can be returned to the seller by former owners – and (2) if the seller has already sold the property to another buyer who has registered a deed. There are any number of potential “clouds” on the title that would defeat a simple fee promotion: among other things, there are potential judgments, mortgages, and facilities that could affect the value of the property. There are two ways to protect the buyer: the title and opinion summary and title insurance. With an exclusive agency list, the seller employs a broker who acts as the exclusive agent of the real estate owner. The broker only collects a commission if he or she is the cause of the sale.