Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals recently interpreted a statutory exception to “marketable record title” under Ohio’s Marketable Title Act (R.C. 5301.47 et seq.) (OMTA). In Blackstone v. Moore, 2017-Ohio-5704, the court held that whether a reference to an interest inherent in the muniments of the chain of record title is “specific” – and thus not extinguished by the OMTA – or general depends upon four factors: (1) does the reference state the type of mineral right created; (2) does the reference state the nature of the encumbrance (an estate, profit, lease, or easement); (3) does the reference state the original owner of the interest; and (4) does the reference identify the instrument creating the interest. In so holding, the Court expressly rejected Ohio’s Fifth District Court of Appeals decision in Duvall v. Hibbs, 1983 Ohio App. LEXIS 13042, which held that a reference to an interest inherent in the muniments of the chain of record title is specific only if it recites the volume and page number of the instrument creating the interest.
