Covenants Running with the Land

[Daryl L.]

Has anybody run into a property with a Covenant on it? How does one go about researching what this entails? I found a property that seems like a good deal but this is not something I want to get burned on because I didn't know. 

Thanks in advance!

[Peter Walther]

Originally posted by @Steven Segal:

A bit more to it than that, but it would be a five page essay. This makes it seem like title companies have no liability which at least in Florida, is untrue (https://www.floridabar.org/the...). Settled with title co and they paid over half of the $. The issue came about after I built one of the homes and went to sell it (called out as exception on that commitment but not mine). They found the language that ran with the land at that time and required satisfaction which they didn't before. They denied my claim, I sued, and we settled. An attorney on the front end would have been cheaper than the backend. My overall point is easier and cheaper to do on front end than backend. 

It's a common misperception that a title company (agent or underwriter) and or title commitment/policy, is there to advise the insured what the status of title is.  It's not.  All they do is tell the insured the terms and conditions under which the underwriter will reimburse the insured for a loss.  I can't count the number of times an insured filed a claim and I had to explain to him/her and/or their attorney that the policy had an exception for the matter be complained of and therefore wasn't covered.

Keep in mind also, an exception in a policy doesn't explain how the title might be affected by the covenant.  It doesn't even assure the insured that it does affect title.  Only that if someone claims the covenant does affect title, the insurer doesn't have liability for it.

If you let me know the county where your suit was filed I'd love to look at it and see what the dispute was about.