Revised Code of Washington - RCW Title 65 Recording, Registration, And Legal Publication - Chapter 65.12 Registration Of Land Titles (Torrens Act)

• 65.12.005 Registration authorized -- Who may apply
  The owner of any estate or interest in land, whether legal or equitable, except unpatented land, may apply as hereinafter provided to have the title ...
• 65.12.010 Land subject to a lesser estate
  It shall not be an objection to bringing land under this chapter, that the estate or interest of the applicant is subject to any outstanding ...
• 65.12.015 Tax title land -- Conditions to registration
  No title derived through sale for any tax or assessment, or special assessment, shall be entitled to be registered, unless it shall be made to ...
• 65.12.020 Application
  The application shall be in writing and shall be signed and verified by the oath of the applicant, or the person acting in his behalf. ...
• 65.12.025 Various lands in one application
  Any number of contiguous pieces of land in the same county, and owned by the same person, and in the same right, or any number ...
• 65.12.030 Amendment of application
  The application may be amended only by supplemental statement in writing, signed and sworn to as in the case of the original application.[1907 c 250 ...
• 65.12.035 Form of application
  The form of application may, with appropriate changes, be substantially as follows:

  FORM OF APPLICATION FOR

  65.12.040 Venue -- Power of the court The application for registration shall be made to the superior court of the state of Washington in and for the county wherein the land is ... 65.12.050 Registrars of titles The county auditors of the several counties of this state shall be registrars of titles in their respective counties; and their deputies shall be deputy ... 65.12.055 Bond of registrar Every county auditor shall, before entering upon his duties as registrar of titles, give a bond with sufficient sureties, to be approved by a judge ... 65.12.060 Deputy registrar -- Duties -- Vacancy Deputy registrars shall perform any and all duties of the registrar in the name of the registrar, and the acts of such deputies shall be ... 65.12.065 Registrar not to practice law -- Liability for deputy No registrar or deputy registrar shall practice as an attorney or counselor at law, nor prepare any papers in any proceeding herein provided for, nor ... 65.12.070 Nonresident to appoint agent If the applicant is not a resident of the state of Washington, he shall file with his application a paper, duly acknowledged, appointing an agent ... 65.12.080 Filing application -- Docket and record entries The application shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court to which the application is made and in case of personal ... 65.12.085 Filing abstract of title The applicant shall also file with the said clerk, at the time the application is made, an abstract of title such as is now commonly ... 65.12.090 Examiner of titles -- Appointment -- Oath -- Bond The judges of the superior court in and for the state of Washington for the counties for which they were elected or appointed shall appoint ... 65.12.100 Copy of application as lis pendens At the time of the filing of the application in the office of the clerk of the court, a copy thereof, certified by the clerk, ... 65.12.110 Examination of title Immediately after the filing of the abstract of title, the court shall enter an order referring the application to an examiner of titles, who shall ... 65.12.120 Summons to issue If, in the opinion of the examiner, the applicant has a title, as alleged, and proper for registration, or if the applicant, after an adverse ... 65.12.125 Summons -- Form The summons provided for in RCW 65.12.135 shall be in substance in the form following, to wit: SUMMONS ... 65.12.130 Parties to action The applicant shall be known in the summons as the plaintiff. All persons named in the application or found by the report of the examiner ... 65.12.135 Service of summons The summons shall be directed to the defendants and require them to appear and answer the application within twenty days after the service of the ... 65.12.140 Copy mailed to nonresidents -- Proof -- Expense The clerk of the court shall also, on or before twenty days after the first publication, send a copy thereof by mail to such defendants ... 65.12.145 Guardians ad litem The court shall appoint a disinterested person to act as guardian ad litem for minors and other persons under disability, and for all other persons ... 65.12.150 Who may appear -- Answer Any person claiming an interest, whether named in the summons or not, may appear and file an answer within the time named in the summons, ... 65.12.155 Judgment by default -- Proof If no person appears and answers within the time named in the summons, or allowed by the court, the court may at once, upon the ... 65.12.160 Cause set for trial -- Default -- Referral If, in any case an appearance is entered and answer filed, the cause shall be set down for hearing on motion of either party, but ... 65.12.165 Court may require further proof The court may order such other or further hearing of the cause before the court or before the examiner of titles after the filing of ... 65.12.170 Application dismissed or withdrawn If, in any case, after hearing, the court finds that the applicant has not title proper for registration, a decree shall be entered dismissing the ... 65.12.175 Decree of registration -- Effect -- Appellate review If the court, after hearing, finds that the applicant has title, whether as stated in his application or otherwise, proper for registration, a decree of ... 65.12.180 Rights of persons not served Any person having an interest in or lien upon the land who has not been actually served with process or notified of the filing of ... 65.12.190 Limitation of actions No person shall commence any proceeding for the recovery of lands or any interest, right, lien or demand therein or upon the same adverse to ... 65.12.195 Title free from incumbrances -- Exceptions Every person receiving a certificate of title in pursuance of a decree of registration, and every subsequent purchaser of registered land who takes a certificate ... 65.12.200 Decree -- Contents -- Filing Every decree of registration shall bear the date of the year, day, hour and minute of its entry, and shall be signed by the judge ... 65.12.210 Interest acquired after filing application Any person who shall take by conveyance, attachment, judgment, lien or otherwise any right, title or interest in the land, subsequent to the filing of ... 65.12.220 Registration -- Effect The obtaining of a decree of registration and receiving of a certificate of title shall be deemed an agreement running with the land and binding ... 65.12.225 Withdrawal authorized -- Effect The owner or owners of any lands, the title to which has been or shall hereafter be registered in the manner provided by law, shall ... 65.12.230 Application to withdraw The owner or owners of registered lands, desiring to withdraw the same from registration, shall make and file with the registrar of titles in the ... 65.12.235 Certificate of withdrawal Upon the filing of such application and the payment of a fee of five dollars, the registrar of titles, if it shall appear that the ... 65.12.240 Effect of recording The person receiving such certificate of withdrawal shall record the same in the record of deeds in the office of the county auditor of the ... 65.12.245 Title prior to withdrawal unaffected *This act shall not be construed to disturb the effect of any proceedings under said registry system, wherein the question of title to said real ... 65.12.250 Entry of registration -- Records Immediately upon the filing of the decree of registration in the office of the registrar of titles, the registrar shall proceed to register the title ... 65.12.255 Certificate of title The certificate of registration shall contain the name of the owner, a description of the land and of the estate of the owner, and shall ... 65.12.260 Owner's certificate -- Receipt The registrar shall, at the time that he enters his original certificate of title, make an exact duplicate thereof, but putting on it the words ... 65.12.265 Tenants in common Where two or more persons are registered owners as tenants in common or otherwise, one owner's duplicate certificate can be issued for the entirety, or ... 65.12.270 Subsequent certificates All certificates subsequent to the first shall be in like form, except that they shall be entitled: "Transfer from No. . . . .", (the ... 65.12.275 Exchange of certificates -- Platting land A registered owner holding one duplicate certificate for several distinct parcels of land may surrender it and take out several certificates for portions thereof. A ... 65.12.280 Effective date of certificate The certificate of title shall relate back to and take effect as of the date of the decree of registration.[1907 c 250 § 40; RRS ... 65.12.290 Certificate of title as evidence The original certificate in the registration book, any copy thereof duly certified under the signature of the registrar of titles or his deputy, and authenticated ... 65.12.300 Indexes and files -- Forms The registrar of titles, under the direction of the court, shall make and keep indexes of all duplication and of all certified copies and decrees ... 65.12.310 Tract and alphabetical indexes The registrar of titles shall keep tract indexes, in which shall be entered the lands registered in the numerical order of the townships, ranges, sections, ... 65.12.320 Dealings with registered land The owner of registered land may convey, mortgage, lease, charge or otherwise incumber, dispose of or deal with the same as fully as if it ... 65.12.330 Registration has effect of recording Every conveyance, lien, attachment, order, decree, judgment of a court of record, or instrument or entry which would, under existing law, if recorded, filed or ... 65.12.340 Filing -- Numbering -- Indexing -- Public records The registrar of titles shall number and note in a proper book to be kept for that purpose, the year, month, day, hour and minute ... 65.12.350 Duplicate of instruments certified -- Fees Duplicates of all instruments, voluntary or involuntary, filed and registered in the office of the registrar of titles, may be presented with the originals, and ... 65.12.360 New certificate -- Register of less than fee -- When form of memorial in doubt No new certificate shall be entered or issued upon any transfer of registered land, which does not divest the title in fee simple of said ... 65.12.370 Owner's certificate to be produced when new certificate issued No new certificates of titles shall be entered, and no memorial shall be made upon any certificate of title, in pursuance of any deed, or ... 65.12.375 Owner's duplicate certificate In the event that an owner's duplicate certificate of title shall be lost, mislaid or destroyed, the owner may make affidavit of the fact before ... 65.12.380 Conveyance of registered land An owner of registered land, conveying the same, or any portion thereof, in fee, shall execute a deed of conveyance, which the grantor shall file ... 65.12.390 Certificate of tax payment Before any deed, plat or other instrument affecting registered land shall be filed or registered in the office of the registrar of titles, the owner ... 65.12.400 Registered land charged as other land Registered land and ownership therein shall in all respects be subject to the same burdens and incidents which attach by law to unregistered land. Nothing ... 65.12.410 Conveyances by attorney-in-fact Any person may by attorney convey or otherwise deal with registered land, but the letters or power of attorney shall be acknowledged and filed with ... 65.12.420 Encumbrances by owner The owner of registered land may mortgage or encumber the same, by executing a trust deed or other instrument, sufficient in law for that purpose, ... 65.12.430 Registration of mortgages A trust deed shall be deemed to be a mortgage, and be subject to the same rules as a mortgage, excepting as to the manner ... 65.12.435 Dealings with mortgages Whenever a mortgage upon which a mortgagee's duplicate has been issued is assigned, extended or otherwise dealt with, the mortgagee's duplicate shall be presented with ... 65.12.440 Foreclosures on registered land All charges upon registered land, or any estate or interest in the same, and any right thereunder, may be enforced as is now allowed by ... 65.12.445 Registration of final decree -- New certificate In any action affecting registered land a judgment or final decree shall be entitled to registration on the presentation of a certified copy of the ... 65.12.450 Title on foreclosure -- Registration Any person who has, by any action or proceeding to enforce or foreclose any mortgage, lien or charge upon registered land, become the owner in ... 65.12.460 Petition for new certificate In all cases wherein, by this chapter, it is provided that a new certificate of title to registered land shall be entered by order of ... 65.12.470 Registration of leases Leases for registered land, for a term of three years or more, shall be registered in like manner as a mortgage, and the provisions herein ... 65.12.480 Instruments with conditions Whenever a deed, or other instrument, is filed in the office of the registrar of titles, for the purpose of effecting a transfer of or ... 65.12.490 Transfers between trustees When the title to registered land passes from a trustee to a new trustee, a new certificate shall be entered to him, and shall be ... 65.12.500 Trustee may register land Any trustee shall have authority to file an application for the registration of any land held in trust by him, unless expressly prohibited by the ... 65.12.510 Creation of lien on registered land In every case where writing of any description, or copy of any writ, order or decree is required by law to be filed or recorded ... 65.12.520 Registration of liens All attachments, liens and rights, of every description, shall be enforced, continued, reduced, discharged and dissolved, by any proceeding or method, sufficient and proper in ... 65.12.530 Entry as to plaintiff's attorney The name and address of the attorney for the plaintiff in every action affecting the title to registered land, shall, in all cases, be endorsed ... 65.12.540 Decree A judgment, decree, or order of any court shall be a lien upon, or affect registered land, or any estate or interest therein, only when ... 65.12.550 Title acquired on execution Any person who has acquired any right, interest or estate in registered land by virtue of any execution, judgment, order or decree of the court, ... 65.12.560 Termination of proceedings The certificate of the clerk of the court in which any action or proceeding shall be pending, or any judgment or decree is of record, ... 65.12.570 Land registered only after redemption period Whenever registered land is sold, and the same is by law subject to redemption by the owner or any other person, the purchaser shall not ... 65.12.580 Registration on inheritance The heirs at law and devisees, upon the death of an owner of lands, and any estate or interest therein, registered pursuant to this chapter, ... 65.12.590 Probate court may direct sale of registered land Nothing contained in this chapter shall include, affect or impair the jurisdiction of the superior court to order an executor, administrator or guardian to sell ... 65.12.600 Trustees and receivers An assignee for the benefit of creditors, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, master in chancery, special commissioner, or other person appointed by the court, shall file ... 65.12.610 Eminent domain -- Reversion Whenever registered land, or any right or interest therein, is taken by eminent domain, the state or body politic, or corporate or other authority exercising ... 65.12.620 Registration when owner's certificate withheld In every case where the registrar of titles enters a memorial upon a certificate of title, or enters a new certificate of title, in pursuance ... 65.12.630 Reference to examiner of title In all cases where, under the provisions of this chapter, application is made to the court for an order or decree, the court may refer ... 65.12.635 Examiner of titles Examiners of titles shall, upon the request of the registrar of titles, advise him upon any act or duty pertaining to the conduct of his ... 65.12.640 Registered instruments to contain names and addresses -- Service of notices Every writing and instrument required or permitted by this chapter to be filed for registration, shall contain or have endorsed upon it, the full name, ... 65.12.650 Adverse claims -- Procedure Any person claiming any right or interest in registered land, adverse to the registered owner, arising subsequent to the date of the original registration, may, ... 65.12.660 Assurance fund Upon the original registration of land under this chapter, and also upon the entry of the certificate showing title as registered owners in heirs or ... 65.12.670 Investment of fund All sums of money received by the registrar as provided for in RCW 65.12.660, shall be forthwith paid by the registrar to the county treasurer ... 65.12.680 Recoveries from fund Any person sustaining loss or damage, through any omission, mistake, or misfeasance of the registrar of titles, or of any examiner of titles, or of ... 65.12.690 Parties defendant -- Judgment -- Payment -- Duties of county attorney If such action be for recovery for loss or damage arising only through any omission, mistake or misfeasance of the registrar of titles or his ... 65.12.700 When fund not liable -- Maximum liability The assurance fund shall not be liable in any action to pay for any loss, damage or deprivation occasioned by a breach of trust, whether ... 65.12.710 Limitation of actions No action or proceeding for compensation for or by reason of any deprivation, loss or damage occasioned or sustained as provided in this chapter, shall ... 65.12.720 Proceeding to change records No erasure, alteration or amendment shall be made upon the register of titles after the entry of the certificate of title, or a memorial thereon, ... 65.12.730 Certificate subject of theft -- Penalty Certificates of title or duplicate certificates entered under this chapter, shall be subjects of theft, and anyone unlawfully stealing or carrying away any such certificate, ... 65.12.740 Perjury Whoever knowingly swears falsely to any statement required by this chapter to be made under oath is guilty of perjury under chapter 9A.72 RCW.[2003 c ... 65.12.750 Fraud -- False entries -- Penalty Whoever fraudulently procures, or assists fraudulently procuring, or is privy to the fraudulent procurement of any certificate of title, or other instrument, or of any ... 65.12.760 Forgery -- Penalty Whoever forges or procures to be forged, or assists in forging, the seal of the registrar, or the name, signature, or handwriting of any officer ... 65.12.770 Civil actions unaffected No proceeding or conviction for any act hereby declared to be a felony, shall affect any remedy which any person aggrieved or injured by such ... 65.12.780 Fees of clerk On the filing of any application for registration, the applicant shall pay to the clerk of the court filing fees as set in RCW 36.18.016. ... 65.12.790 Fees of registrar The fees to be paid to the registrar of titles shall be as follows: (1) At or before the time of filing of the certified ... 65.12.800 Disposition of fees One-half of all fees provided for in RCW 65.12.790(1), shall be collected by the registrar, and paid to the county treasurer of the county in ... Last modified: April 7, 2009