Legal Definitions - warrandice

In Scots law, warrandice refers to a seller's legal obligation to protect a buyer of land against the risk of losing that land due to a defect in the title. Essentially, it's a guarantee that if another person successfully proves they have a superior legal claim to the property and takes possession of it, the original seller must compensate the buyer for their loss.

There are two main types of warrandice:

• Personal Warrandice: This is a direct promise from the seller (the grantor) and their heirs to indemnify the buyer. It means the seller personally guarantees the title and is responsible for compensating the buyer if the title proves to be defective.
• Real Warrandice: This is a more specific arrangement where certain other lands belonging to the seller are designated as security. If the buyer is evicted from the purchased land due to a superior claim, these designated security lands are then transferred to the buyer as compensation.

Here are some examples to illustrate how warrandice might apply:

• Imagine a couple, the Millers, purchase a charming old cottage in rural Scotland. Several years later, a distant relative of the original owner comes forward with an ancient, previously undiscovered deed that legally proves their family has a superior claim to a significant portion of the cottage's garden. If this claim is upheld in court, leading to the Millers losing part of their property, the person who sold the cottage to the Millers would be obligated under personal warrandice to compensate them for the financial loss and diminished value of their property.

• A property developer acquires a large plot of land to build a new residential estate. After construction has begun on several homes, a local historical society successfully demonstrates that an unrecorded ancient right-of-way crosses a crucial section of the land, preventing the developer from building on that specific area as planned. In this scenario, the developer could invoke warrandice against the seller, seeking compensation for the loss of usable land and the impact on their development project, as the seller had implicitly guaranteed a clear title for the entire plot.

• Consider a unique agricultural transaction where a farmer sells a specific field to a neighboring farm. As part of the sale agreement, they include a clause for real warrandice, specifying that if the buyer ever loses the purchased field due to a superior claim (e.g., an old boundary dispute resurfaces with a definitive ruling), a different, clearly identified parcel of the seller's remaining farmland will automatically transfer to the buyer as a replacement. This provides a tangible asset as security against a title defect.