Oklahoma · 12 O.S. §§1141–1141.5Oklahoma curative instrument request: clearing a cloud on title without going straight to court

An Oklahoma owner in possession may sue to quiet title against anyone claiming an adverse estate or interest, and if the adverse claim is sham legal process the court may award costs and attorney fees and, if the plaintiff wins, three times the damages (12 O.S. §1141). Before suing, a person claiming an interest who in good faith believes a recorded instrument clouds the title may use the Nonjudicial Marketable Title Procedures Act, though it isn't required (§§1141.1, 1141.3(A)–(B)). The requestor sends the respondent, by certified mail, a notice identifying the requestor, the recorded instrument by county, book and page, parties, legal description and dates, why it clouds the title and the corrective action sought, together with the exact curative instrument the requestor would accept (§§1141.3(C)–(D), 1141.4(A)). The respondent has 30 days from receipt to respond and may ask for clarification, which gives the requestor 20 days to answer and the respondent 20 more days; an unclaimed certified letter counts as a refusal (§1141.4(B)–(F)). A respondent who signs the curative instrument isn't liable for those damages even if later named in a quiet title suit (§1141.4(G)). If the respondent fails to respond, refuses or doesn't claim the letter, and the owner then wins a quiet title action that the curative instrument would have made unnecessary, the owner recovers the actual expenses of the notice and the litigation, including costs and reasonable attorney fees; a respondent who wins recovers its own (§1141.5).