A land abstract can be thought of as a complete historical "book" related to an individual piece of land based on its legal description. It shows the entire chain of ownership transfers from the time the property title was first recognized by the government up to the present. This set of documents will also include any court items filed in the court clerk's office that pertain to either the property or the property's owner(s). Therefore, the abstract can be used to establish a "clear title" to a piece of property.

In the old days - before photo copiers - an abstractor read each document pertaining to a piece of property, made "takeoff" notes, then summarized them on a sheet of paper. This page would list all the pertinent information related to an item, such as a deed, by including the grantor, grantee, date of the deed, filing date, legal description, signature block, and notary information. The abstractor's page was then added to the "book" and called an abstract, because the information from the original deed was "abstracted" thus the name. The ability to pick through numerous pages of information and abstract the important details was considered an art form.

Today, when the abstract has been brought up to date, an abstractor will place a "certificate page" at the very end of the abstract. This page certifies the legal description of the abstract, Ad Valorum tax status, personal property tax status, and any other court items that fell within the time period covered by the certificate from the last certificate page to the present.

A title report is a document used by lenders for various reasons, though the most common is for the purpose of determining the title's current status. Several issues must be satisfied before a lender will approve a loan. This results in the need of a title search the gathering of pertinent information such as the last deed of record stating the present owner's name; the property's legal description; any open liens (judgments, federal and/or state tax liens, mechanic liens); open mortgages, as well as any other notations of title concern. The gathering of this information takes place in the county clerk's office.

Once completed, the title report falls under the scrutiny of the lender. Along with credit bureau checks and appraisals, the lender will use the report to determine the approval of home equity loans, refinance loans, or lines of credit.

Indian land titles are of particular significance in Oklahoma. Individual Indians of different tribes initially owned a substantial amount of the land here. Under various acts of Congress and certain treaties, allotments were made to Indians, subject to various restrictions. Indian land titles can present very complicated legal issues because of the over 4,000 pertinent statutes and the mass of treaties and their associated judicial and administrative rulings.

Great care must be exercised in transactions involving property in which title originated from an Indian, or is still owned by an Indian. Of particular importance are the restrictions on the alienability of Indian land. Specifically, a title examiner must determine that the restrictions applicable to Indian land have been removed by Congress or by the approval of the Secretary of Interior. Usually this can be done by reviewing the historical record of title in an abstract. Sometimes restrictions still affect property, and approval of the transaction must be obtained from the Department of Interior. If a property has been transferred without the restrictions first being removed, judicial action is usually necessary to cure the defect.

The State of Oklahoma grants the right of individuals to select certain parcel(s) of land as a "homestead." The special attributes of homestead property have a significant impact on the sale, encumbrance, execution by creditors, and taxation of property in Oklahoma. Homestead issues arise in virtually every Oklahoma real estate transaction due to the impossibility of ascertaining from the record whether a particular tract of land is or is not a homestead.

Except for size restrictions, the Oklahoma Constitution provides little direction as to what comprises a person's homestead. Courts consider factors such as length of residence, the property's tax roll designation, a person's intent to return or remain on the property, etc. Since not all factors can be determined from an abstract examination or search of the county records, it is usually prudent to assume that property is the homestead in order to avoid a problem that will require expensive court action to correct.