Bronson Family Tracks Titles

Tracking a property’s title history can be particularly problematic in Bella Vista Village. Many people who bought land there when Cooper Communities Inc. started selling lots in the 1960s have since died.

Originally intended as a retirement community, Bella Vista is the largest unincorporated community in Arkansas. It has about 24,000 residents on 38,500 lots within 65 square miles.

Bronson is the fourth generation of her family to work in the title business. Her great grandfather, Byron “B.B.” Bronson started Bronson Abstract in Fayetteville in 1926. Her grandfather, Winfield “W.S.” Bronson, ran the company until the early 1990s. Now, Bronson Abstract in Fayetteville and Bronson Title in Bella Vista are both owned by her father, Phil Bronson, and his brother, Scott.

Bronson Title also has offices in Siloam Springs and the Missouri cities of Joplin and Carthage. Bronson Title has been in business in Benton County for 15 years. The company wrote 4,000 policies last year as an underwriter for First American Title Insurance of Houston.

The policies written by Bronson Title usually cost $2.50 per $1,000 of coverage for the owner’s policy and $1.80 per $1,000 for the mortgagee’s policy.

Until the late 1980s, Arkansas was an abstract state like Texas and Oklahoma, Brandy Bronson explained. The abstracts traced land ownership back to the area’s earliest settlers.

But the old law didn’t hold anyone liable for human error that could result in a property owner losing their land.

“The liability of the abstractor was only for the amount you paid,” Brandy Bronson said. “The buyer was not covered really for the sale of the property.”

But that has changed. As a title insurance state, Arkansas law requires title insurance to be purchased when real estate is sold, unless it is a cash sale.

“It’s not a buyer beware thing anymore,” Bronson said. “You’re pretty much covered one way or the other.”

Brandy Bronson said title companies make sure the property is free and clear of any liens, clouds or judgments. Bronson Title usually traces a title history back through the previous two owners or 10 years.

Sometimes it can be a chore to track down heirs and even prove that an original owner is no longer living, she said. Then, there are issues concerning things like tax sales and squatter’s rights.

“Except for tax sales, we just go to court for you and clean it up for you,” Brandy Bronson said.

If a landowner doesn’t pay property taxes for three years, the property can be sold by the state to pay the tax bill. For decades, the original owner had two years to contest the sale, so the buyer usually wouldn’t improve the property until after that time.

But, a Cleburne County case before the Arkansas Court of Appeals may change all that. Brandy Bronson said the final outcome of Bill’s Printing Inc. and First Security Bank vs. George F. Carder III and Sharon L. Carder could extend the waiting period.

Brandy Bronson said insurers are waiting to see what happens in that case before writing more policies on land purchased because of delinquent taxes.

In the case of squatter’s rights, also known as “quiet title” or “adverse possession,” a county judge can transfer property to someone who has been using it and paying taxes on it for seven years.