A title defect can be an issue that impairs the title of a home and makes buying or selling a property impossible. A defective title can be caused by a number of factors including liens, mortgage, or judgment. Title defects make it so a title cannot legally be transferred to someone else as the claim to the property is essentially up in the air. In order to buy or sell a property, the title needs to be cleared. Property title searches can find these issues in a title and title insurance can protect you should these issues arise after you purchase a property.
What Title Defects Can Be Found in a Property Title Search?
A title search can uncover a lot of information about a title. There are numerous issues that could be attached to a title, some more obvious than others. In an ideal scenario, a title search will reveal everything there is to know about a property and you won’t have to worry about any of it. However, sometimes a property title search can reveal a number of defects including:
- Property and boundary disputes
- Property liens
- Missing heirs
- Contested wills
- Utility easements
- Mechanic’s liens
- False documentation/forgery
- Errors in filing
- Divorce decree settlements
- Bankruptcy issues
If any of these are found, you will want to have the current property owner deal with them prior to purchasing the property or you may simply choose to step away from making the purchase. Sometimes the things a title search team uncovers can have massive costs.
Who Handles a Property Title Search?
If you are considering whether or not you can conduct a property title search on your own, the best advice would be to hire a professional instead. Hiring a professional title company to conduct a property title search is the only way to know for sure you have investigated the full history of a property in order to find any undisclosed information that could impact you as the home buyer. If you try to conduct the search yourself and overlook an important piece of information, you may end up spending way more money than if you had just hired a title company in the first place.
