AS Title 34, Chapter 25: Validation of Formal Defects

Chapter 25. Validation of Formal Defects. Sec. 34.25.010. Validation of defective acknowledgments. A defective and informal acknowledgment of a deed, contract, lease, power of attorney, mortgage, or other instrument for the conveyance of real property, or an interest in real property, or pertaining to a right, title, or interest in real property, made in good faith, whether the acknowledgment is taken by or before a clerk, deputy clerk, or judge of a federal, state, or territorial court of record, or a commissioner, notary public, or other person authorized to administer oaths, is validated and declared sufficient in law as to acknowledgment, if no suit is filed in a court of record in the judicial district in which the real property affected by the instrument is located within 10 years from the date of the instrument, or the acknowledgment, to have the instrument set aside, altered, changed, or reformed. Sec. 34.25.020. Adverse title not affected. This chapter is not intended to interfere with vested rights in lands or premises, arising by adverse title, acquired in good faith since the date of the defective acknowledgments. Sec. 34.25.030. Validation of defective instruments and use as evidence. (a) A deed, contract, lease, power of attorney, mortgage, or other instrument for the conveyance of real property or an interest in real property, or pertaining to a right, title, or interest in real property, heretofore or hereafter signed and delivered by a person in good faith, as grantor, lessor, mortgagor, or maker, is validated and is sufficient in law for the purpose for which the instrument was executed and delivered, although the instrument is otherwise defective as to form, if no suit is filed in a court of record in the judicial district in which the property is located within 10 years from the date of the instrument to have the instrument set aside, altered, changed, or reformed. (b) The instrument so executed and delivered shall be received in evidence in all courts in the state and is evidence of the right, title, or interest to the real property described in the instrument against the grantors, lessors, mortgagors, or makers, and their heirs, successors, and assigns. Sec. 34.25.040. Deeds on judicial sales. (a) A judicial sale of real property is valid and sufficient in law to sustain a deed based on the sale when (1) the sale is heretofore or hereafter made in the state on execution to satisfy a judgment, order, or decree of a court in the state or is made under an order or decree of a court in the state; (2) the money bid on the property is paid to the officer making the sale, or to the officer's successor; and (3) the sale is confirmed or acquiesced in by the court from which the execution issued or where the order or decree was entered. (b) When no deed has been executed, a judicial sale that satisfies the conditions of (a) of this section entitles a purchaser at the sale to a deed. (c) The deed, when executed and delivered, is sufficient to convey all the title of the judgment debtor or other person affected by the order or decree in the premises sold to the purchaser at the sale. (d) All defects and irregularities in the proceedings or suit in which execution issues or in which the order or decree is entered, in the issuance of the execution, in obtaining the order or decree of the court, or in the manner of making or conducting the sale shall be disregarded if no suit is filed in a court of record in the judicial district where the real property affected by the deed is located within 10 years from the date of the deed, to have the deed set aside, altered, or otherwise changed or reformed. Sec. 34.25.050. Sale and deed of executor, administrator, and guardian validated. (a) A sale of real property heretofore or hereafter made by an executor, administrator, or guardian is sufficient to sustain an executor's, administrator's, or guardian's deed to the purchaser for the real property when (1) made of the decedent's, ward's, or incompetent person's real property in the state to a purchaser for a valuable consideration; (2) the consideration is paid by the purchaser to the executor, administrator, or guardian, or the successor of the executor, administrator, or guardian, in good faith; and (3) the sale is not set aside by the court, but is confirmed or acquiesced in by the court. (b) If the deed is not given, a sale that satisfies the conditions of (a) of this section entitles the purchaser to the deed. (c) The deed is sufficient to convey to the purchaser all the title that the decedent, ward, or incompetent had in the real property. (d) All defects or irregularities in estate or court proceedings, in obtaining the order of the court for the sale, and in the making or conducting of the sale by the executor, administrator, or guardian shall be disregarded if no suit is filed in a court of record in the judicial district in which the real property affected by the deed is located within 10 years from the date of the deed, to have the deed set aside, altered or otherwise changed, or reformed. Sec. 34.25.055. Conveyances to or from trusts. (a) A person, including a trustee, may convey real property to a trust whether or not a trustee of the trust is named as a grantee in the instrument of conveyance. A trustee of a trust may convey real property from a trust whether or not a trustee of the trust is named as a grantor in the instrument of conveyance. (b) In a conveyance under (a) of this section, notice of the existence of the trust does not affect the status of a purchaser as a bona fide purchaser. (c) Real property that is owned by a trust and that is purchased by a bona fide purchaser from a person in the person's capacity as trustee of the trust is acquired free of any claim of the beneficiaries of the trust. (d) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, a trust instrument may not change the effect of (c) of this section. (e) In this section, (1) “bona fide purchaser” means a person who purchases real property for value from a trust and who (A) has not knowingly been a party to fraud or illegality affecting the interest of persons who are parties to the purchase transaction or beneficiaries of the trust; (B) does not have notice of an adverse claim by a beneficiary of the trust; and (C) has acted in good faith in the purchase transaction; (2) “conveyance” means a conveyance made before, on, or after August 9, 2000; (3) “purchaser” means a person who acquires real property by sale, lease, mortgage, pledge, or lien, or who otherwise deals with real property in a voluntary transaction other than by making a gift; (4) “real property” includes an interest in real property; (5) “value” means acquisition of property (A) in return for a binding commitment to extend credit; (B) as security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a claim that existed before the giving of the security; (C) by accepting delivery of the real property under a contract that is for the purchase of the real property and that existed before the delivery; or (D) in return for other consideration sufficient to support a contract. Sec. 34.25.060. Record of the deed as evidence. When the deed is executed and recorded in the deed records in the proper recording district, the record, certified by the recorder, is evidence in all courts, and has the same effect as the original. Sec. 34.25.070. Validation of sales and action to quiet title. (a) A sale of real estate by an administrator or executor is confirmed and approved, notwithstanding irregularities or informalities in the proceedings before the sale, when (1) the real estate is heretofore or hereafter sold under a license or order of a superior court in the state; (2) the purchaser pays the purchase money for the real estate; (3) the sale is made in good faith, in order to provide for payment of the claims against the estate; (4) the executor or administrator fails or neglects to make or execute a deed conveying the real estate to the purchaser, or if from mistake or omission in the deed or defect in its execution the deed is inoperative; and (5) five years have elapsed after the making of the sale. (b) When these facts are shown in an action to quiet title to the real property against the heirs or their assignees of the deceased person whose property is sold, in the proper court for the suit, the court shall make its decree quieting title and compelling and ordering conveyances of the real estate to the purchaser or the heirs or assignees of the purchaser as if a valid contract to convey the real property were made by the deceased while living. (c) An action may not be maintained by the heirs of the deceased, or their heirs or assignees, to dispossess the purchaser or the heirs or assignees of the purchaser, after the expiration of five years from the sale. Sec. 34.25.080. Tax deeds validated. (a) A sale of real property is valid and sufficient in law to sustain a tax deed based on the sale when (1) the sale is heretofore or hereafter made in the state in a proceeding to enforce a tax lien against real property; (2) the money bid on the property is paid in good faith to the clerk, or the successor of the clerk, of the city conducting the sale; and (3) the sale is confirmed or acquiesced in by the court ordering the sale. (b) When no deed is executed, a sale that satisfies the conditions of (a) of this section entitles the purchaser to a deed. (c) The deed, when executed, is sufficient to convey all of the right, title, or interest of the delinquent owner or a person in privity with the delinquent owner in the real property sold to the purchaser at the sale. (d) All defects or irregularities in the delinquent tax roll, notices, presentations of delinquent tax roll to a court, proofs of notice, orders of sale, confirmation of sale or other proceedings before or in connection with the sale, in obtaining the order of the court for the sale, or in the making or conducting of the sale by the clerk of the city, or by another person authorized to make or conduct the sale, the lack of an order confirming the sale, and the lack of, or failure to issue, a certificate of sale and purchase, shall be disregarded if no suit is filed in a court of record in the judicial district in which the real property affected by the deed is located within 10 years from the date of the deed, to have the deed set aside, altered or otherwise changed, or reformed. Sec. 34.25.090. Definition. In this chapter “conveyance” includes every instrument in writing by which an estate or interest in real property is created, alienated, mortgaged, or encumbered, or by which the title to real property is affected, except a will.