Marketable Title Acts have been enacted in almost half of the 50 states. Some of these state statutes are titled "Marketable Record Title Act." These Acts statutorily remove title defects of ancient origin, and act as statutes of limitation to clear the public record of remote property rights that cloud title. These rights include nonpossessory interests, future interest, or interests held by persons under a disability.

All interests of ancient origin, present and future, vested and contingent, possessory and nonpossessory, become liable to extinguishment unless appropriate measures are taken by their holders or claimants to place said interests on the recent records.

All the Acts establish procedures for subsequently recording notice of any interest created or having its origin prior to the period prescribed for the record search.

Marketable Title Acts vary greatly in the following areas:

• The property interests subject to the Act.
• The periods of limitation.
• The periods of time selected for recording of preservation notices.
• The exceptions contained in the acts.

The following states have marketable title acts, sometimes called a Real Property Marketable Title Act or a Marketable Record Title Act:

Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.