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.

Define real property as land and attached structures with physical presence. Explain identifying it by location, boundaries, and legal description for title search and title insurance.

Explore how real property development transforms undeveloped land into improved assets through acquisition, planning, permits, construction, and sales, and understand why this process informs the title examining process.

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

Explain how real estate development proceeds from land acquisition through surveys, legal descriptions, blocks and subdivisions, easements, zoning, tract maps, and final sales via developer's deeds.

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.

CC&Rs are property restrictions created by developers to guide how owners may use their lots, with rules on fencing, exterior colors, pets, lawn care, parking, and trash containers.

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

Compare tract maps, which define land areas with uniform lots and easements for urban planning, to parcel maps, which show varied lot sizes and boundaries.

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.

Explore property exceptions and reservations, including easements and depth surface rights, and how developers reserve these portions from sale, affecting ownership and legal descriptions.

Explain how the developer deed transfers ownership from developers to home buyers, recording details, terms and conditions, easements, CCRs, and master base policy.

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.

Explore how a preliminary title report verifies ownership and property details, including legal description, taxes, and mortgage liens, and outlines conditions for owner’s and lender’s title insurance policies.

Learn how title insurance policies protect buyers and lenders from title defects, including owner and lender policies, coverage for liens, back taxes, and easements.

Explore the types of property taxes—secure, unsecured, supplemental, corrected, escape, and default—and learn about exemptions, pay plans, and the power to sell tax default 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.

Identify common real estate deed types, including interspousal, quitclaim, general and special warranty, life estate, tax, sheriff, trustee, deed in lieu, and trust deed.

Identify what a full value deed (FVD) is, the five criteria it must meet, and how to distinguish FVD from other deeds with title insurance and transfer taxes.

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.

A subordination document changes the priority between two DOTs, making one lender senior and the other junior to prevent foreclosure losses; ensure reference to original DOT numbers.

Explore substitution of trustee, modifications, rerecording, and assignment of leases and rents in the deed of trust, including referencing the original deed of trust instrument number and handling multiple records.

Identify the notice of default, notice of trustee sale, request for notice, and reconveyance documents in the foreclosure process, including current trustee name, original dot year, and instrument number.

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.

Learn how a UCC financing statement records a security interest on personal property, with validity up to five years, and how continuation, modification, termination, and associated documents affect the lien.

Describes substandard property as failing to meet building safety standards, prompting a county health and safety declaration in public records, pendency notices, liens, and potential foreclosure if unresolved.

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

Explore writt of attachment and writt of execution as court orders to freeze or seize assets before judgment.

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.

Explore affidavit of death, probate, and power of attorney, including death certificates attached to affidavits. Learn how probate courts determine asset distribution and how these records appear in property records.

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.

Show all easements and CCR documents in the report and verify their legal descriptions. Use the developer name and plat maps to locate CCR and easement documents in public records.

Explore starter concepts in real estate title searches, including streamline, non streamline, comparable, and master base starters, and identify easements and seizures from property descriptions and track data.

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.

Identify easements on the track map or parcel map by reading dotted lines, locate the developer name and lot number, and document public utility and other easements in a report.

Explore how the property index or PI chain links postings to map book pages, lot numbers, and legal descriptions. Verify current owners and postings using the order sheet.

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 types, non-judicial and judicial, through the deed of trust, promissory note, notices of delinquency and default, and the foreclosure sale process.

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.