Home deeds come in two general categories: private, and official.
- If the seller listed a home on the market and you’re buying it, either to live in it or to rent it out, you’ll receive a private deed.
- But if you get the property as the result of a court’s action, you’ll receive an official deed.
As long as there are legal issues that need to be solved between people, official deeds will always be created. Yet most real estate transfers happen person-to-person, with private deeds.
Getting to Know Your Private Deed
All valid deed forms contain legal language to convey the piece of property from the person you’re buying from (the grantor) to you, the new owner (the grantee). The bulk of U.S. home deeds are private deeds between individuals (and the businesses we own, such as LLCs).
The private deed can be one of several forms, depending on what title warranties the recipient gets. So, the deed could come in one of the following types:
Quitclaim Deeds
A quitclaim deed passes whatever interest one person has to the next person, with no guarantees to vouch for a clean title history. It offers no legal recourse if any title defects later show up.
If the homeowner holds a free and clear title, the owner quitclaims that good title to the recipient. In the right circumstances, that’s a sensible move.
Consider someone who was on the title to help a co-owner get a mortgage. Or consider one joint owner who is divorcing the other. These owners could easily quitclaim an interest in the property so that the remaining owner gets the whole thing.
The one who comes off the deed should be sure to file and record the quitclaim. Once it’s in the public records, a quitclaim relieves the person of their legal stake or financial responsibilities for the property going forward.
☛ One alternative to quitclaiming a home is to transfer the home with a gift deed, for no consideration (no money), or for only token consideration.
General Warranty Deeds
In most states, ordinary home buyers (those who didn’t know the property until they decided to buy it) will want a general warranty deed. Why? Because a general warranty deed gives home buyers the best protection for their titles.
A general warranty is a promise that there will be no surprise liens or third-party claims, no unpaid loans taken out against the property, no surprise easements. Basically, no restrictions on the buyer’s ownership rights. Should any surprises occur, the seller is supposed to make the new homeowner whole.
How long is the seller’s promise good for? There is a statute of limitations on a deed’s warranty.
Home buyers should be sure they receive title insurance at the closing table. It’s the surest way for a new owner to have recourse for any potential title issues.
Limited Warranty Deeds
Then there’s the limited warranty deed or “special” warranty deed. Limited is the better word for this deed. It doesn’t give any “special” rights. It lacks the strong protections of a warranty deed.
The limited warranty can appear in conveyances like these:
- When an estate conveys the home to an heir. Here, the personal representative is promising that nothing has been done to compromise the chain of title — during the probate period only.
- In tax sales or foreclosures. The limited warranty assures the deed’s recipient that nothing negative has happened with the chain of title — but only for the time it held the title, not before. Learn more here about the relationship between the foreclosure and the home’s title.
- In business-to-business transfers of real estate. The business owner might offer only a limited warranty deed to promise a clean title — only for the time the company held the title, not before.
These are just a few examples.
☛ A grant deed, in some places, is the name for a limited warranty deed. A grant deed in California is common in regular sales. In some states, the grant deed can be used for trusts or divorces. Deeds.com has downloadable grant deed forms, valid for both the state and county where your property is.
Taking a Look at a Variety of Official Deeds
Now, what kind of deeds are used by someone in an official capacity? These are the deeds you do not find in an ordinary home purchase. Instead, they are used for special purposes. Here are a few different types of these special-purpose deeds:
- An estate issues an administrator’s deed if a homeowner dies without a will. The administrator is a personal representative that the court appoints to distribute assets. So, an administrator’s deed passes the home’s title to its next owner. This form of official deed shows the recipient and the public that the real estate is being transferred by someone who bears no personal responsibility for the state of the title or its history.
☛We think every homeowner needs a will. Judge our reasoning for yourself.
- If the homeowner names a personal representative in a will, the named person is an executor. This person uses an executor’s deed to distribute the asset — the title to the home. An executor does not guarantee the title they’re transferring from the estate to the buyer or beneficiary. Like the administrator’s deed, the executor’s deed passes property to new owners without title warranties.
- Some homeowners tragically lose their home to tax debts and default. When a property is conveyed in accordance with a court order, the property goes to auction. The successful bidder gets a sheriff’s deed. The local government could make an attempt to pass on good title, or simply say the title will be transferred as-is. Typically, the title that comes out of the process is only as good as the title that went into it.
☛Are your county courts doing their work in a tax deed sale state? Or are they auctioning tax lien certificates rather than deeds? Tax deeds (but not the certificates) are used to transfer titles to bidders. So, a buyer who gets a tax deed gets the actual property.
- Some homeowners who go into mortgage defaults use the deed in lieu of foreclosure. This is the debtor’s handing over of a deed to the lender. If the lender allows it, a deed in lieu of foreclosure means the foreclosure process can be avoided. Also, the loan agreement ends. (Whether the debtor can do a deed in lieu relies on the lender’s discretion. Many lenders want a clean, court-issued title, and choose to foreclose on the home for precisely that reason.)
That Is Just a Sampling…
But we hope the overview above helps illustrate the wide variety of deeds available, whether in private transactions or in some form of official process.
Every situation is unique! A consultation with a real estate lawyer in your state is the way to deed-specific legal advice when you need it.
Supporting References
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): What Is a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure? (last reviewed Sep. 4, 2020).
Deeds.com: Tax Deed Sales: Buying Homes by Paying Other People’s Taxes (May 14, 2021).
Victoria Araj for Quicken Loans® via QuickenLoans.com: House And Property Deeds: A Guide (Jun. 17, 2022).
And as linked.
Photo credits: Ivan Samkov and Sora Shimazaki, via Pexels.