Legal Ruling Defines Validity of Real Estate Leases
A court case in Port Townsend clarifies the strict requirements for property leases, warning landowners that failing to notarize agreements can lead to disastrous litigation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
There was a suit tried at Port Townsend last week, Dennison vs. Blanchard, in which was involved, among other questions, that of the proper manner of executing leases of real estate under the laws of this Territory. In July 1875, Samuel Tingley entered into a contract and made a lease of his farm, being a part of the Snohomish flats, to Owen Boland for three years. The lease was signed and settled by the parties and witnessed by two persons, but not acknowledged. Boland went into possession and has ever since occupied the premises. In July last, Boland brought a suit at Port Townsend against Tingley, claiming damages to the extent of over three thousand dollars for an alleged breach of the covenants in the lease. The whole matter turned upon the lease, and when the plaintiff offered the lease in evidence, it was objected to by the defendant’s attorney on the ground that it was not acknowledged as required by law. The court held that in order to have any validity, leases must be acknowledged before an officer as provided by our laws, and as it was not acknowledged, it could not be received in evidence. The plaintiff was forced to dismiss his suit.
“The court held that in order to have any validity, leases must be acknowledged before an officer as provided by our laws.”
This 1876 ruling highlights the historical evolution of property law in the Washington Territory, where technical errors in documentation could invalidate massive financial claims. Today’s real estate transactions are still governed by strict statutory requirements, emphasizing the need for legal diligence.
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