Title search

In real estate business and law, a title search or property title search is the process of retrieving documents evidencing events in the history of a piece of real property, to determine relevant interests in and regulations concerning that property.

In the case of a prospective purchase, a title search is performed primarily to answer three questions regarding a property on the market:

A title search is also performed when an owner wishes to mortgage his property and the bank requires the owner to insure this transaction.

Anyone may do a title search, with the right knowledge and resources. Documents concerning conveyances of land are a matter of public record. These documents are maintained in hard copy paper format or sometimes scanned into image files. The information within the documents is typically not available as data format as the records are descriptions of legal events which contain terms, conditions, and language in excess of data.

In the United States, the buyer of a property will usually purchase title insurance, which protects the buyer from any title problems that may arise after sale, such as liens that were missed during the title search. The title insurance company issues a report and an insurance policy in support of its findings. However, title searches are most often carried out before contracting is completed between parties, and sometimes during the escrow phase of a closing.

Generally, there are two main types of title searching, a full coverage search and limited coverage search; other types include non-insured reports and foreclosure guarantee search.

It is often the case that people choose to contact a title company or attorney to conduct an exhaustive title search. The process of performing a title search involves accessing the official land records for the subject property. Each record is a document evidencing an event which occurred in the history of the property. A deed records an event of property transfer, a mortgage documents the collateral interest of a home loan, and a lien documents a claim against the property in favor of another, such as a creditor, vendor, or tradesman. The objective of the title search is to establish clear, marketable title by exposing any outstanding claims prior to transfer of title.

Each recorded document must name the parties involved, e.g., grantor and grantee. The grantor is the party transferring away a property right, and the grantee is receiving a property right. In the case of a deed the grantor would typically be the property seller, and the grantee the buyer. A mortgage grantor or mortgagor is the borrower of the loan, since they are giving away certain property rights to the mortgagee, lender, or mortgage grantee. More recent wording simplifies this language with "Borrower" and "Lender."

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Wikipedia