Do your documents do their job?

The Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s case in September of this year granting summary judgment permitting real property to be used for purposes other than a golf course. The Duluth Automobile Club obtained land in 1931 that contained a golf course and related facilities. In 1982, the Duluth Automobile Club agreed to merge into the Minnesota State Automobile Association. A merger agreement was filed as a memorial on the certificate of title, and the agreement contained use covenants. Through a series of mergers, the MSAA became part of The Auto Club Group. In 2017, the Auto Club agreed to sell the property to the respondent, Pike Lake Golf & Beach, LLC. The Auto Club and Pike Lake Golf petitioned the district court for an order deleting the use covenants and other memorials on the certificate of title. Appellants opposed the petition arguing the 1982 agreement created a trust that requires the property be used for a golf course. The court determined that the agreement did not meet the requirements for creating an express trust. The court also determined that the provisions requiring the property be used as a golf course expired after 30 years. Lesson of the case, make sure your documents cover ALL of the bases and are properly executed, or at least monitored, to withstand the test of time. To read the entire unpublished opinion, you can find it at https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/ctapun/2019/OPa190327-091619.pdf.