Real Estate Law – The Deed Document

Though deeds vary from state to state, all deeds contain basically the same information. The names of the grantor, the words of conveyance, name of the grantee, consideration of statement, property of description, the agendum, the signatures and certifications.

Each section communicates the important information about the nature of the parties or the property or the transaction. Since the deed is the heart of most real estate transactions, it must be scrutinized carefully by both the buyer and there seller, if they’re to protect their interests. The person giving up ownership is the grantor.

Then the person receiving the deed is calling the grantee. The name of those exciting the deed as grantor appears first. These persons must be the owners of the estate conveyed on the order that interest to pass.

The words of conveyance generally determine which promises or warranties the grantor makes to the grantee. When the words “warrant and convey” or “grant and convey” are used, this indicates the grantor promises or warrants the following:

1. That the grantor owns the estate transferred and will pay the grantee for his or her injury if it turns out that the grantee doesn’t receive the state described in the deed.

2. There are no liens, easements, leases, mortgages or other encumbrances which bind the grantee other than those disclosed in the deed.

Deeds of this type are generally called warranty deeds or grant deeds. They are the kind that are most used today. The other major type of deed is called the quitclaim deed. The words of conveyance, for it often included the word “quitclaim.” This deed merely transfers the grantor’s ownership, if any. No promises or warranties are implied in the deed.

If a professorship gave a student a warranty deed to the school building in exchange for $10,000 the student could sue and recover the money if it turned out that the professor did not own the building. If however, a quitclaim deed were given, the student could not recover the money.

Quitclaim deeds are often used to remove “clouds on title.” For example if a divorced man sold property and then died and the buyer feared that the man’s ex-wife might have a dower claim. The buyer could ask the ex-wife to execute a quitclaim deed. She might sign–perhaps in return for $75; but her lawyer would surely advise he to not to exude a warranty deed because she is not to certain that she owns any interest in the property.