Steven Kneizys v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Summary

The court accepted a certified question from the federal district court because the material facts were undisputed, no controlling Maine precedent resolved the issue, and the answer could determine the federal case. It held that merely labeling an instrument “Warranty Deed” does not imply warranty covenants when the deed contains no warranty-covenant language. The court reasoned that the statutory short-form scheme requires the deed to follow the form in substance and that treating the title alone as sufficient would render other statutory language surplusage.