Montana Says No Reasonable Search Duty For Preliminary Title Commitment

The Montana Supreme Court recently held that there is no duty to conduct a reasonable search when a title insurer prepares a preliminary title commitment. Phipps v. Old Republic Nat'l Title Ins. Co., 2021 MT 152 (Mont. 2021). In the case, a couple ("Plaintiff") acquired parcels of real property, used for ranching, through multiple transactions. The property was physically accessible using certain roads, but the legal accessibility was uncertain, as the public records of the county in which the property was located lacked records establishing these two roads as public roadways. In 2017, Plaintiff entered into an agreement with another couple to sell the property, which was conditioned in part on the provision of title insurance, as well as Buyer's approval of a preliminary title commitment. A preliminary title commitment was ordered from an abstract company, and due to the lack of records concerning the roads, legal access to the property was listed as an exception to