Introduction to Title Search and Examining

Identify buyers and sellers in real estate, explain cash and mortgage sales, and describe refinancing and title record research for closing.

The closing agent guides buyers and sellers through real estate transactions, while settlement agents coordinate delivery of securities, funds transfer, and recording of transaction details.

Explore how the real property development process informs title examining, from township planning and zoning compliance to easements, covenants, and tract maps.

Define easements as non possessory interests on others' property that benefit property owners, including easement in gross, prescriptive easement, and appurtenant easements with examples like utilities and road access.

Zoning laws regulate land use and building in defined zones, enforceable by local authorities; violations lead to permits, hearings, demolition, and liens.

Learn how a legal description defines property boundaries through lot and block, metes and bounds, and section land, and how surveyors create maps and records.

Define ownership as the legal possession and control of an asset, with a title proving ownership; differentiate tangible ownership (physical assets) from intangible ownership (non-physical assets).

Understand vesting in real estate. Sole ownership, joint tenants with survivorship, community property, community property with survivorship, tenants in common, tenants by entirety, and trust affect probate and tax implications.

Explore residential property types, including single family residences, multi-family residences, planned unit development (PUD), condominiums, and mobile homes, with examples like duplexes, townhomes, and apartment complexes.

learn how maps represent land surfaces, scale, and directions in real estate, focusing on tract, parcel, assessor, and condominium maps used in subdivisions and property taxes.

Explore homeowners associations (HOAs) within subdivisions and condo buildings, including rules, dues, board governance, common area maintenance, and enforcement tools like fines and liens, plus CCRs governing property.

Identify what a deed is as a conveyance document transferring interest from grantor to grantee, and list key details: property address, APN, legal description, title insurance, notary information, and signatures.

Learn how deed of trust functions as a loan document, with the lender holding title until repayment, and identify three parties (trustor, trustee, and beneficiary) and reconveyance or foreclosure details.

Learn how mortgagor and mortgagee interact, compare mortgage and deed of trust, and review terms, riders, property address, original mortgage amount, signatures, and the legal description.

Learn how a deed of trust's beneficial interest transfers through assignments, why recording these assignments matters, and how chains flow from ABC Bank to MERS and beyond.

Review various property agreements, including solar city agreements, option to purchase, oil and gas leases, and lease agreements, focusing on property address and legal description.

Explore notice of commencement, mechanic liens, and lis pendens, detailing parties, validity periods, releases, and their roles in real estate transactions and property encumbrances.

Learn to identify hoa liens and trash liens, including water, garbage, and sewer liens, in property searches, verify property identification, and understand state validity periods and foreclosure for nonpayment.

Understand property index, general index, and plan date, including owners, encumbrances, CRS easements and status, and how to retrieve these via paid databases by address or APN.

Use public records online portals to locate property details, owner names, parcel numbers, and subdivision data, and access deeds, easements, liens, and taxes from appraiser, recorder, and tax collector.

Learn to use the general index to retrieve person-based postings via last name and first name across paid apps or free websites, with optional SSN filters and nicknames.

Explore foreclosure scenarios and how the highest bidder gains ownership. Understand how senior and junior liens are prioritized by recording sequence and how to present foreclosure documents in reports.