Title Examination Standards
Chapter 1, App.
Chapter 24. Mortgages and Other Liens
§ 24.14. Incomplete Mortgage Foreclosures

1. A. A properly executed and recorded release of all of the mortgages set out in the foreclosure action as to the real property covered by the title examination;
2. B. If a statement of judgment or affidavit of judgment has been filed in the land records of the county clerk in the county in which the real property is located evidencing a judgment lien for a money judgment granted in the foreclosure action and the judgment lien has not expired by the passage of time, a release of the judgment lien filed in the land records of the county clerk in the county in which the real property is located;

3. C.

   1. (1) A dismissal, with or without prejudice, of the entire mortgage foreclosure action filed in the court case, by the plaintiff and any cross-petitioners or by court order; or (2) a partial dismissal, with or without prejudice, of the mortgage foreclosure action, filed in the court case, by the plaintiff and any cross-petitioners or by court order, dismissing the action insofar as it relates to or affects the subject real property; and

4. D. If a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure has been recorded, the items listed in A, B, and C above, as applicable, and a release of any attorney's lien created pursuant to 5 O.S. § 6.

   Authority: 12 O.S. §§ 686 and 706; Anderson v. Barr, 1936 OK 471, 62 P.2d 1242; Bank of the Panhandle v. Irving Hill, 1998 OK CIV APP 140, 965 P.2d 413; Mehojah v. Moore, 1987 OK CIV APP 43, 744 P.2d 222; and White v. Wensauer 1985 OK 26, 702 P.2d 15; and Hub Partners XXVI, Ltd. v. Barnett, 2019 OK 69.

   Comment: In instances in which a proper dismissal of the foreclosure action has been filed in the court case, the absence of a release of a notice of lis pendens of such foreclosure action shall not be deemed to be a defect in the marketability of the title. A release of lis pendens is not a substitute for a dismissal of the foreclosure action.

Standard 24.14

The title to real property shall be deemed marketable regarding a mortgage foreclosure action in which no sheriff’s sale has occurred or, the sheriff's sale has been vacated or set aside by order of the court, if the following appear in the abstract:

The 2011 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee, 82 O.B.A.J. 2566 (2011), proposed this new Standard be adopted to guidance to a title examiner as to what is required when title is being passed to property that is subject to a pending but incomplete mortgage foreclosure proceeding. The proposal was approved by the Real Property Section on November 3, 2011, and adopted by the House of Delegates on November 4, 2011, 82 O.B.A.J. 2694 (2011).

The 2014 Report of the Title Examination Standards Committee recommended an amendment to the Standard to add a Paragraph D to outline the required documentation when a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is given in settlement of a filed foreclosure action. The Real Property Law Section approved the proposal on November 13, 2014, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 14, 2014. (superseded document available)

The 2020 Title Examination Standards Sub-Committee of the Real Property Law Section recommended Standard 24.14 be amended as follows to reflect the effect of Hub Partners XXVI, Ltd v. Barnett, 2019 OK 69. The Real Property Section approved the proposal, and the House of Delegates adopted the amendment on November 13, 2020. (superseded document available)