Title and Ownership

Title and ownership pages explain who legally owns a property, how that ownership is verified, and what claims or defects can interfere with a mortgage closing. This section is where borrowers learn the difference between having a contract to buy a home and receiving clean, insurable ownership rights.

Start Here by Closing Question

Start with Title, Title Search, Title Commitment, Title Commitment Schedule A, Title Commitment Schedule B, Title Bringdown, Gap Period, Legal Description, Plat Map, Property Survey, and Title Insurance to understand the basic sequence: review the record, compare it with relevant field evidence, identify what must be resolved, and decide what the final policies can cover.

Then compare Owner’s Title Insurance with Lender’s Title Insurance to see why the buyer and lender are protected differently even though both policies come out of the same title process. Title Exception and Title Endorsement explain how the issued policy can remove, limit, add, or clarify coverage.

For ownership transfer and loan security, use Deed, Warranty Deed, General Warranty Deed, Special Warranty Deed, Quitclaim Deed, Grant Deed, Security Instrument, Deed of Trust, Assignment of Mortgage, MERS, Mortgage Nominee, Trustee, Substitution of Trustee, Deed of Reconveyance, Vesting, Sole Ownership, Joint Tenancy, Tenancy in Common, Right of Survivorship, Tenancy by the Entirety, Community Property, Life Estate, and Recording to understand how title is taken, how the lender’s claim is documented, how MERS or a nominee can appear in the security instrument, how a recorded mortgage interest can move, who may appear in a deed-of-trust structure, how a trustee name can change later, how an old deed-of-trust claim can be released, and how those documents enter the public record.

Finish with Clear Title, Cloud on Title, Title Defect, Title Requirement, Title Exception, Owner’s Affidavit, Corrective Deed, Scrivener’s Affidavit, Reformation, Lien, Unreleased Lien, Judgment Lien, Tax Lien, Mechanic’s Lien, HOA Lien, Lien Priority, First Lien, Junior Lien, Release of Lien, Satisfaction of Mortgage, Encumbrance, Easement, Property Survey, Encroachment, Boundary Dispute, Subordination, Subordination Agreement, Chain of Title, Due-on-Sale Clause, Lis Pendens, and Quiet Title Action to understand how ownership is burdened, prioritized, challenged, released, or cleared for closing. When the closing file includes title-insurer protection around the settlement agent, Closing Protection Letter explains that separate document.

In this section

• Assignment of Mortgage
  An assignment of mortgage records the transfer of a recorded mortgage or deed-of-trust interest to another party.
• Boundary Dispute
  Disagreement or unresolved uncertainty about a property line that can affect title, collateral, and closing.
• Chain of Title
  The sequence of recorded ownership transfers used to trace how the current seller obtained title to a property.
• Clear Title
  Closing-ready title with no unresolved ownership or lien problem preventing the proposed transfer and insured mortgage priority.
• Closing Protection Letter
  Title-insurer indemnity addressing specified losses caused by an approved closing agent's handling of instructions, funds, or documents.
• Cloud on Title
  Apparent claim, encumbrance, or record problem that creates doubt about real-property ownership or transferability.
• Community Property
  State-law marital-property system that can affect ownership, debt analysis, and spouse signatures in a mortgage transaction.
• Corrective Deed
  New deed used to correct an error in a previously recorded deed when state law and the title provider require a deed-level cure.
• Deed
  A deed is the signed legal document that transfers ownership of real estate from the current owner to the new owner.
• Deed of Reconveyance
  A deed of reconveyance releases a deed-of-trust claim from the property record after the secured mortgage debt is paid.
• Deed of Trust
  A deed of trust is a security instrument used in many mortgage transactions that places property-related security rights into a trustee structure.
• Due-on-Sale Clause
  A due-on-sale clause is the loan provision that may let the lender require payoff if the property is transferred without an approved assumption or other permitted exception.
• Easement
  Limited legal right allowing a person, utility, or neighboring property to use another owner's land for a defined purpose.
• Encroachment
  Physical improvement that crosses a property boundary or occupies an area subject to another property right.
• Encumbrance
  A claim, restriction, or third-party right that burdens real-property title or limits the property's use or transfer.
• First Lien
  Senior recorded claim that gives a mortgage lender priority over junior property liens.
• Gap Period
  The interval between the latest effective title search and recording when another claim or instrument could enter public records.
• General Warranty Deed
  Warranty deed that generally gives broad title covenants extending beyond problems created during the grantor's ownership.
• Grant Deed
  State-specific ownership-transfer deed that may carry limited implied title covenants based on its wording and local law.
• HOA Lien
  Homeowners association claim against a property for unpaid amounts that can affect title clearance and mortgage closing.
• Joint Tenancy
  Co-ownership form commonly using equal interests and a right of survivorship under state law.
• Judgment Lien
  Property lien arising from a court judgment under applicable attachment and recording rules.
• Junior Lien
  Property claim that ranks behind a senior lien, commonly securing a second mortgage or HELOC.
• Legal Description
  Formal written identifier for the parcel conveyed by a deed and pledged through a mortgage or deed of trust.
• Lender's Title Insurance
  Title policy protecting an insured lender against covered defects affecting mortgage validity, enforceability, or lien priority.
• Lien
  Claim or security interest attached to real property that can secure payment and affect a mortgage lender's priority.
• Lien Priority
  Legal order determining which property claims are paid or enforced ahead of other liens.
• Life Estate
  Property ownership structure dividing lifetime possession from the future remainder interest.
• Lis Pendens
  Recorded notice that pending litigation may affect title to or an asserted interest in a specific property.
• Mechanic's Lien
  Statutory property claim that a contractor or supplier may assert for unpaid labor, services, or materials.
• Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS)
  Mortgage-industry registry framework that tracks registered servicing and ownership information while MERS may remain named in land records.
• Mortgage Nominee
  Party named in a mortgage security instrument to act in a defined capacity for the lender and permitted successors or assigns.
• Owner's Affidavit
  An owner's signed statement about title-related facts that may not be fully visible in public property records.
• Owner's Title Insurance
  Title policy protecting the insured homeowner's ownership interest against covered defects, liens, and claims.
• Plat Map
  Recorded parcel map showing subdivision lots, streets, easements, and other details referenced by title documents.
• Property Survey
  Professional measurement and drawing used to compare a property's physical boundaries and improvements with its recorded description.
• Quiet Title Action
  Court proceeding used to determine competing real-property claims and establish the parties' ownership or other title rights.
• Quitclaim Deed
  Deed conveying whatever property interest the grantor has, if any, without title warranties.
• Recording
  Recording is the act of filing deeds, mortgages, and related documents in the public property record.
• Reformation of a Deed or Mortgage
  Court remedy that changes a deed or mortgage so the written instrument reflects the agreement the parties actually made.
• Release of Lien
  Document or recorded action clearing a property lien after payoff, satisfaction, reconveyance, or another accepted resolution.
• Right of Survivorship
  Co-ownership feature under which a deceased owner's interest passes to a surviving owner under state law.
• Satisfaction of Mortgage
  A recorded document showing that a mortgage debt has been paid and the related claim against the property has been released.
• Scrivener's Affidavit
  Sworn statement used in some states to explain or cure a limited clerical error in a recorded real-estate document.
• Security Instrument
  A security instrument is the mortgage or deed-of-trust document that gives the lender a property-based claim securing repayment.
• Sole Ownership
  Title vesting in one owner, distinct from whether one or multiple people owe the mortgage debt.
• Special Warranty Deed
  Warranty deed that generally limits the grantor's title covenants to claims arising through that grantor.
• Subordination
  Priority arrangement under which one property lien is placed or kept behind another lien.
• Subordination Agreement
  A document in which an existing junior lienholder agrees to stay behind a new or modified first mortgage.
• Substitution of Trustee
  A substitution of trustee is a deed-of-trust document that replaces the trustee named in the security instrument.
• Tax Lien
  Government claim securing unpaid taxes that can affect property title, lien priority, sale, or refinancing.
• Tenancy by the Entirety
  Spouse-specific co-ownership form recognized in some jurisdictions with survivorship and unified ownership features.
• Tenancy in Common
  Co-ownership form in which each owner holds a separate undivided property interest without automatic survivorship.
• Title
  The legal ownership interest in real property that a buyer receives and a mortgage lender evaluates as collateral.
• Title Bringdown
  An updated public-record search used to identify title changes after the earlier search and before recording.
• Title Commitment
  Title insurer's conditional obligation to issue proposed owner or lender coverage after listed requirements are satisfied.
• Title Commitment Schedule A
  The title-commitment schedule identifying the proposed policies, insured parties, ownership interest, current vesting, and land.
• Title Commitment Schedule B
  The title-commitment schedule separating conditions for policy issuance from matters excluded or limited under proposed coverage.
• Title Defect
  Ownership, document, or recorded-claim problem that can prevent a property transfer or mortgage from being insured as proposed.
• Title Exception
  Known matter excluded from title-policy coverage, often listed in Schedule B of the commitment and final policy.
• Title Insurance
  Insurance covering specified ownership and lien risks, generally tied to defects or events existing before the policy date.
• Title Insurance Endorsement
  Attachment that changes, adds, or clarifies coverage in an owner's or lender's title insurance policy.
• Title Requirement
  A condition that must be completed to the title insurer's satisfaction before it will issue the proposed policy.
• Title Search
  Examination of public land records and other title evidence to identify ownership, liens, encumbrances, and defects before closing.
• Trustee in a Deed of Trust
  A trustee in a deed of trust is the document-named party connected to the lender's security rights in deed-of-trust states.
• Unreleased Lien
  A paid, expired, or otherwise resolved lien that still appears in property records because its release was not properly recorded.
• Vesting
  The names and legal ownership form in which title to real property is held and shown in the deed and land records.
• Warranty Deed
  Ownership-transfer deed containing promises from the grantor about title, with scope determined by state law and the deed's wording.