Title search

A title search is a pre-closing examination of public records (deeds, mortgages, court judgments, tax liens, easements, and similar) to confirm that the seller has clear right to transfer ownership and that no undisclosed claims would attach to the property after the sale. The title company or real estate attorney handles the search during the under-contract period, typically taking a few days to a few weeks depending on the property's history.

How it works: the searcher pulls the chain of title back several decades, looking for any unresolved claims. Common findings that need to be cleared before closing include unsatisfied mortgages from prior owners, contractor liens for unpaid work, judgment liens for unrelated debts, easements that affect the property's use, and gaps in the chain of title where ownership transfers weren't properly recorded. Items found during the search either get cleared (paid, released, or otherwise resolved) before closing, or get noted as exceptions in the title insurance policy.

Why it matters: the title search is the first line of defense against title defects. The title insurance policy covers what the search misses. Most clean transactions have title searches that turn up nothing material; transactions with complicated histories (divorces, estate sales, foreclosures, properties with construction work in recent years) sometimes turn up issues that take weeks to resolve.

Common gotcha: title searches aren't perfect. Records can be misfiled, signatures can be forged, prior owners can have undisclosed heirs, and judgments can be filed under variant name spellings. The search catches the visible problems; the owner's title insurance policy covers the ones that come up later. Skipping the owner's policy to save a few hundred dollars puts the buyer on the hook for any post-closing title defect.