644.104—Procurement of deed and title assembly.
In any case in which the Court determines that the United States has taken an interest in real property, the Department of Justice will attempt to have included in the findings and in the judgment a precise description of the interests taken. An attempt will also be made to provide in the judgment that payment by the United States will not be required until the plaintiff has delivered a deed or other acceptable conveyance of the interest taken.
(a) Preparation of instrument.
Upon receipt from the Department of Justice of information as to the nature of the settlement which has been reached, a deed will be prepared, drafted in accordance with § 644.70, covering the estate provided in the judgment.
(b) Execution and recording of deed.
The Division or District Engineer will obtain proper execution of the deed, record the same, procure a final certificate of title of a commercial title company or a staff attorney, and obtain a final title opinion pursuant to the provisions of the Delegation to the Department of the Army for the Approval of the Title to Lands Being Acquired for Federal Public Purposes, dated December 4, 1970, and issued by the Assistant Attorney General, Land and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice. The title assembly and final title opinion should be forwarded to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314, with information copy of transmittal letter to Division Engineer.
(c) Notification to the Department of Justice.
If the recorded deed and the final certificate of title are not readily available, the Division or District Engineer will notify the Land and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice by letter, with a copy to the appropriate United States Attorney, that the deed has been properly executed and delivered by the plaintiff and has been entered for record in order that settlement will not be delayed.
(d) Disposition of final title assembly, mapping, and audit.
When a final title opinion has been obtained, the Division or District Engineer will assign a tract number to the areas in which the interest has been acquired, will add the tract to the project map, and will transmit the final title opinion and related papers to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314. The tract will be included in the audit of the installation to which it pertains. Audits will be revised for this purpose, if necessary. The amount of the judgment received by the plaintiff will be shown in the audit assembly, with a proper notation that it represents the amount of the judgment entered in the litigation, which will be identified in the audit by its civil number, and by designation of the Court in which it was rendered. A copy or abstract of the judgment will be inserted in the District Office audit assembly, identified as follows:
Directive by judicial decree for the acquisition of Tract No. ; being an easement (or other interest), containing __ acres.
(e) Action in lieu of confirmatory deed.
Where a confirmatory deed cannot be obtained, the Division or District Engineer will obtain from the Clerk of the Court a copy of the final judgment (or an appropriately excerpted copy of the final judgment), acknowledged or properly certified to permit recordation in the local land records. The Division or District Engineer will record same and later transmit the appropriate title assembly to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314. If the final judgment does not contain language which clearly vests title in the United States of the interest in land for which compensation was paid, request should be made of the United States Attorney to move the Court to amend the judgment to show that such title has vested.