Title and Ownership

Disagreement about property lines that can affect title review, surveys, and mortgage closing.

Homeowners association claim that can affect title clearance and mortgage closing when dues or charges are unpaid.

Court-related lien that can attach to property and affect mortgage title clearance.

Formal property description used in deeds, mortgages, title records, and recording documents.

Contractor or supplier lien that can affect mortgage title clearance when property work remains unpaid.

Recorded map showing property lots, boundaries, easements, or subdivision details used in title review.

Lien tied to unpaid taxes that may affect title clearance, priority, and mortgage closing.

Old lien that still appears in title records and may need release before mortgage closing.

Title-insurance-related letter that may protect against certain closing-agent problems in a mortgage transaction.

Marital-property ownership concept that can affect how title and mortgage closing documents treat spouses in some states.

Deed recorded to correct an error in a prior deed or recorded ownership document.

Married-couple ownership form available in some jurisdictions that can affect title and mortgage closing review.

Time between the latest title check and recording when new claims or documents could affect the property record.

Warranty deed form commonly understood to provide broad seller promises about title across the property's ownership history.

Deed label used in some states for transferring real estate ownership, with details controlled by local law and form.

Joint tenancy is a co-ownership structure in which multiple owners hold equal interests in the property, often with survivorship rights under state law.

Ownership interest tied to a person's lifetime that can complicate mortgage title review, refinance, or sale.

Seller or owner statement used in title review to confirm certain property, lien, possession, or ownership facts.

Deed that transfers whatever ownership interest the signer has, if any, without the same title-warranty promises.

Opening title-commitment schedule that identifies the proposed insured parties, property, policy amounts, and basic transaction facts.

Title-commitment schedule that lists requirements, exceptions, or listed matters affecting title coverage.

Affidavit used to address certain clerical or drafting errors in recorded real-estate documents.

Warranty deed form commonly understood to limit title promises to the seller's own ownership period.

Ownership feature that may let a surviving co-owner receive another owner's interest after death.

Co-ownership form where owners hold separate interests in the same property, often without automatic survivorship.

Final or updated title check used to catch new recorded matters before closing or recording.

A title commitment is the title company's statement of the conditions under which it is prepared to issue title insurance.

A title defect is a problem in the ownership record, documentation, or recorded claims that can prevent clean, insurable transfer of a property.

Matter listed in title work that the title policy may exclude from coverage or treat as a known limitation.

Item the title company says must be satisfied before it will issue final title coverage for a mortgage transaction.

Vesting describes how ownership is legally held on title, including whose names appear and what form of ownership they are taking.

Deed type that transfers real estate with seller promises about title, depending on the deed form and local practice.

An assignment of mortgage records the transfer of a recorded mortgage or deed-of-trust interest to another party.

A deed is the signed legal document that transfers ownership of real estate from the current owner to the new owner.

A deed of reconveyance releases a deed-of-trust claim from the property record after the secured mortgage debt is paid.

Senior property claim that usually gives the main mortgage lender first position against the home.

Property claim that sits behind a senior lien, often a second mortgage or HELOC.

Order that determines which property claims stand ahead of others when mortgage liens are reviewed or enforced.

Documented clearing of a property lien after payoff, satisfaction, reconveyance, or another accepted resolution.

A security instrument is the mortgage or deed-of-trust document that gives the lender a property-based claim securing repayment.

A substitution of trustee is a deed-of-trust document that replaces the trustee named in the security instrument.

Title insurance is a policy that helps protect against certain title defects or claims connected to events before closing.

A title search is the review of public records used to confirm ownership history and identify recorded claims against a property.

A trustee in a deed of trust is the document-named party connected to the lender's security rights in deed-of-trust states.

Subordination is the agreement or priority structure that allows one lien to remain behind another in claim order against the property.

A document in which an existing junior lienholder agrees to stay behind a new or modified first mortgage.

Clear title means the ownership record is free enough of unresolved claims or defects for the transaction to proceed and be insured.

A deed of trust is a security instrument used in many mortgage transactions that places property-related security rights into a trustee structure.

Lender's title insurance is the title policy that protects the lender's secured interest in the property.

A lien is a legal claim against property, often used to secure repayment of a debt or performance of an obligation.

Owner's title insurance is the title policy designed to protect the buyer's ownership interest in the property.

Recording is the act of filing deeds, mortgages, and related documents in the public property record.

A recorded document showing that a mortgage debt has been paid and the related claim against the property has been released.

Title refers to the legal ownership rights in a property and the recognized basis for claiming those rights.

Mortgage title and ownership terms that explain legal ownership, title review, insurance, deeds, and property claims.

The chain of title is the documented history of ownership transfers and other recorded changes affecting a property.

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.

An easement is a legal right that allows someone else to use part of a property for a limited purpose without owning the property.

An encumbrance is a burden, claim, restriction, or other right that affects a property's ownership or use.

Lis pendens is a recorded notice that real-estate litigation is pending and may affect title to the property.