Some Deeds Guarantee Nothing

If you are new to real estate, you may hear people using terms interchangeably. For instance, a deed and a title are not the same. Deeds are a legal instrument that conveys legal property from one party to another. There are different types of deeds, and we will go over those in a minute.

A title is the legal ownership of something. If you possess the title to something (e.g., a car, home, or boat), then you own it and even have the right to sell it. When you buy a home, you will receive “title” to the property through the deed. Although it is easy to see why people would get these confused, they are two different things.

To take it one step further, you will see that not all deeds were created equally.

Various Types of Deeds

Your next real estate transaction will involve a deed. Although deeds transfer real property from one party to another, they don’t have the same guarantees for buyers. A general warranty deed gives buyers the most amount of protection as opposed to quitclaim deeds.

Before explaining why, you should know that the seller of the property is commonly known as the grantor. That is important to understand because a quitclaim deed conveys the grantor’s interest in the property. However, it does not guarantee anything about the title of the property.

For example, a quitclaim deed says that the grantor gives away their interest in the property to someone else. But the title to the property may not be clean. Are there liens on it? Did the grantor owe money to a creditor who is trying to get paid by seizing the property? A quitclaim deed will not guarantee that any of those things will not be attached to the property. A quitclaim deed also does not guarantee that the grantor has any interest in the property at all, meaning the grantor may not own the property they are trying to convey.

Why?

The question that most people have is why would people ever choose to accept a quitclaim deed? Usually, it is because the grantor is trying to add another party as an owner to the property and no money is being exchanged. For example, If someone gets married, the grantor spouse may use a quitclaim deed to add their new spouse as an owner of the property.

Quitclaim deeds may even be utilized during a divorce. If someone moves out of a home, they may transfer their interest in it to their former spouse who will be staying in it.

Thomas and Webber Law At The Lake

At Thomas and Webber, we believe that purchasing a home is all about the experience. We want you to enjoy the homebuying process. Though we want you to have fun, we will still go over every piece of paperwork you receive so that you leave the closing understanding what just happened. Contact us through our website to schedule a consultation.