Is there any law that prevents someone (attorney or title search company, etc.) from omitting a restrictive covenant on a real estate deed(warranty) by subsquent buyers? The restriction reads: It is agreed between the parties hereto that the above property shall not be used for any commerical purposes whatsoever and is limited to residential use only by the parties of the second part, their heirs or assigns.

Thanks.

jrpilt

I think it is dependent upon the state your property is located in, as each state law differs.

GRBOregon

Being in real estate 30 years I would say that you cannot just arbitrarily leave a restrictive covenant off. If the covenant does not expire or have some other provision to make it not in effect then it should still be a viable covenant. If you bought a piece of property, and a covenant does not show, and you have title insurance then the title company may have to pony up. The only covenants I have seen not enforceable were ones put on years ago restricting people of certain race or religion from owning property in a certain subdivision. If the covenant was a legal one to begin with it should still be in full force and effect. Whoever left it off is the one that could have a problem. I specifically owned a property with a similiar covenant and you could not build commercial on the property.