ors usually examine only the and lawyers examining abstracts base their opinions only on the record therein disclosed. With the exception of the status of the subdivision map which is a matter of record; building code violations as to which have been sent and are on file in the office of the building department; and master street plan maps which are on file in some appropriate city office-most violations cannot possibly be said to be a matter of record but are only matters discoverable on some kind of inspection or survey. Surveyors seem to show lot lines and any violation of set-back lines in zoning ordinances on their surveys but do not ordinarily show violations of other bulk restrictions (e.g., height) and never a violation of a use restriction of a zoning ordinance. The usual inspection report seems to be directed to mechanics liens and possessory claims and not to obvious violations of planning legislation.32 Thus, most of the title industry concerned with records, inspections, and surveys do not seem to pick-up violations in these customary title reports. 26 See MASS. ANN. LAWS C. 41, ?8IFF (1954 Cum. Supp.). Before this statute clarified the situation there was considerable shock at this conclusion among conveyancers. See Tyler, Pitfalls in Title Examinations, 35 MASS. L. Q. 21, 26 (Sept. I950). 27 See Mass. Laws I953, c. 674, ?7, amending c. 41, ?8I, MASS. ANN. LAWS. 28 Petterson v. Radspi Realty and Coal Corp., 290 N.Y. 645, 49 N.E.2d 615 (1943); Bibber v. Weber, 102 N.Y.S.2d 945 (Sp. Term 1951); Agliata v. D'Agostino, N.Y.L.J., May 6, 1953, p. 1524, col. I. 2 Carlish v. Salt, [I906] I Ch. 335; Moyer v. De Vincentis Construction Co., 107 Pa. Super. 588, 164 Atl. II (1933); Lohmeyer v. Bower, I70 Kan. 442, 227 P.2d 102 (195I). 30 Woodenbury v. Spier, I22 App. Div. 396, Io6 N.Y. Supp. 817 (2d Dcp't I907). See also Millman v. Swan, 14i Va. 312, 127 S.E. I66 (1925). 1 Speech of William Wolfman, Counsel, New York Title Guaranty & Trust Co., before the Round Table on Property, at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, in New York City, Dec. 28-30, 1954. In Detroit, notices of violations are now being recorded in the realty records. See Detroit Hits Code Violators in Pocketbooks With Old Law, 12 J. HOUSING 6I (1955). 32 See, e.g., Certificate of Inspection and Possession required by Regulations for the Preparation of Title Evidence in Land Acquisition by the United States. 470 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.163 on Wed, 21 Sep 2016 05:03:28 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms