A home is one of the largest purchases you make in your life. When the contract is signed, a home inspection is completed, and a mortgage is secured, the next step is the closing when the transfer of ownership is done. It is very exciting and stressful! As you review the settlement statement with all your closing costs, you will see a line for the title search.
Title search may not be a term you’re familiar with but it’s a critical part to the successful transfer of ownership to your new home!
What is a Property Title Search?
A title search completed by Fusion Title Search always encompasses information and documents related to the property filed within the preceding 40 years.
This involves a thorough abstract of past deeds, wills, and trusts to verify the proper transfer of the property’s title across various owners. Our goal is to confirm the legitimacy of the seller’s ownership and to identify any potential financial or legal encumbrances on the property. All covenants, easements and restrictions are also searched on a full title search.
In order for ownership to change hands the property title must be clean of any defects; this is called marketable title. That is the purpose of a title search, to confirm that the person selling the property aka the current owner does legally own the property and there are no claims on the property.
How Does a Property Title Search Work?
When transferring property, a title search is requested by your real estate attorney or the title company issuing your title policy. At Fusion Title Search once we’ve received a title request, we start the title search process by assigning it to one of our experienced, professional title searchers. Connecticut is a very unique state so only a professional title searcher should complete your title search for the most accurate results. Public records, municipal records, court records and probate records are researched as part of your title search. There are several key components of a title search and to complete it properly the title searcher will visit the town’s tax collector’s office, the assessor’s office, the building and zoning office and the town clerk’s office. In Connecticut we have 169 municipalities that are independent of each other. Each municipality houses their towns land records.
By visiting the town’s offices and not relying on online databases you can feel comforted knowing your title search always includes anything that is open on the property such as mortgages or liens, and our research will always find if there are any defects, open permits or unpaid real estate taxes that need to be taken care of prior to the transfer of title.
In Connecticut, when a full title search is completed, we also research any and all covenants, easements, and restrictions on the property. Also, research is done to find any new A-2 Survey maps that have recently been completed and records along with copies of all prior maps including the metes and bounds or the property also described as the legal description of the property.
A Marketable Property Title vs. A Defective Property Title
Besides the examples listed above, there are other possibilities that create what is called a defective property title.
Erroneous surveys, unresolved building code violations, or the misspelling or misapplied information by previous parties or the filing clerk are all further examples of the issues that one might face when doing a title search.
How long Does It Take to Complete a Full Title Search in Connecticut?
The time it takes to perform a title search varies and is based on the complexity of the documents with the property in question.
Most full property title searches take 24-48 hours to complete with Fusion Title Search.
What A Property Title Search Can’t Protect From
A property title search is critical to the transfer of real estate ownership. It researches all the legal encumbrances that could possibly cause a problem for the new owner.
If any encumbrances are found, those must be cleared before ownership can be transferred. Professional title searchers can find any title defect that needs to be resolved before the new owner can take possession of the property.
But a title search cannot protect you from hidden defects. For example, un-recorded spousal claims, fraud, undisclosed heirs, forgery, lost wills, adverse possession, and illegal trusts, to name a few. In Connecticut only an attorney could do a property closing. by hiring a professional licensed realtor, a licensed attorney, a licensed appraiser, a licensed inspector and a professional title searcher the transaction to your new home will be safe guarded.