- Warranty deed
A general warranty deed is a type of
deed where thegrantor (seller) guarantees that he or she holdsclear title to a piece ofreal estate and has a right to sell it to thegrantee (buyer). The guarantee is not limited to the time the grantor owned the property—it extends back to the property's origins. A General Warranty Deed includes six traditional forms of Covenants for Title. Those six traditional forms of covenants can be broken down into two categories: "present covenants" and "future covenants".*Present Covenants
**"Covenant of Seisin & Covenant of Right to Convey" - Covenants that represent the seller's promise that he has title and possession and can validly grant or convey both
**"Covenant Against Encumbrances" - Seller promises that there are no encumbrances, other than those that have been previously disclosed
*Future Covenants
**"Covenant of Warranty and Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment" - Covenants that represent seller's promise to protect the buyer against anyone who comes along later and claims paramount title to the property
**"Covenant of Further Assurances" - If seller omitted something required to pass valid title, seller promises to do whatever is necessary to pass title to buyerNote - Not all states recognizes the Covenant of Further Assurances (e.g.
Ohio )Most people hire someone to perform a
title search to determine if there are defects that must be resolved before they purchase real property. They can also purchasetitle insurance , which covers many types of losses that occur if problems are discovered later, but title insurance raises a number of other legal issues.
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