Chain of Title If you are purchasing a home or a piece of property, it is very i

Chain of Title
If you are purchasing a home or a piece of property, it is very important that you conduct a title
search before you complete the transaction. A title search is the process of going through past
deeds, tax records, and other financial transactions linked to a particular piece of property. The
purpose of a title search is to make sure that the person selling you the property is actually the
owner so that the property can legally transfer to you without any problems. Or more
importantly, the property is not subject to liens or encumbrances that would cloud title or
prohibit transfer of clear title.
Check the tax assessor’s records. You need to gather as much information as you can about the
current property owner and the property itself. You do this so that you can more easily locate the
current and past deeds for the property in which you are interested. Most property tax records
can be located at the tax assessor’s or county clerk’s office in the county in which the property is
located. These records are open to the public and many places have their records online.
 You can locate the tax assessor’s office for San Diego County at:
https://arcc-acclaim.sdcounty.ca.gov/
 The property tax records will provide you with the following information: the parcel
number, lot number, a general description, and the tax history, both paid and unpaid of
the property.
Search for the property deed online. Many counties now provide access to deeds online, for
either a small fee or for free. This is the fastest way to begin locating deeds for the property and
conducting your title search. If the online system does not maintain deeds for that many years,
you will have to do in-person search in the records room.
1. Locate the most recent deed first. This deed will contain the name of the owner of the
property, which should match the name of the person from whom you are purchasing the
property. Each deed will reference other previous deeds and maps of the property
location and any liens.
2. Start with the most recent deed and move backwards in time to check that ownership
passed properly. This means that a person who bought a property is listed as the seller
when the property changes ownership. The most recent deed will provide both the
Grantor (seller) and Grantee (buyer). Run a search on the Grantor’s name to find the
previous deed of the subject property which will provide the name of the entity who sold
the property to them (Grantor).
3. Trace back the chain of title by obtaining deeds for the previous 40 to 60 years to ensure
that the title of the property has passed correctly. This is called the chain of title.
Establish chain of title.
 You should create a chart that contains the following columns: Seller, Buyer, Date of
conveyance, Deed type, and Book/Page number.
 Starting with the most recent deed, you want to make sure that the seller was the buyer on
the previous deed. You want this pattern of seller/buyer to continue uninterrupted from
the present back 40 to 60 years.
 By filling this information in on a chart, you can more easily see if there are any gaps in
ownership, which could affect the current property owner’s ability to lawfully sell you
the property.
 For example, if you come upon a seller on a deed whose name was not listed as a
previous buyer, there is a break in the chain of title. It may be that the title was not
properly recorded; was a gift or inherited; or that a person fraudulently passed himself or
herself off as an owner to an unwitting seller.
Sample Chain of Title
Grantor Grantee Date
Arthur Bocephus 1970
Bocephus Cindy 1983
Cindy Donald 1996
Donald Evan & Francis 2004
Evan & Francis Evan 2007
Evan Gilroy 2014
Conduct a tax search. As discussed above, you can search the tax assessor’s records to locate
information on the current owner of a property and the location of the recorded deed. These same
records will also indicate whether there are any outstanding taxes on the property or special
assessments on the land. As a part of the title search, you want to make sure that the property is
not subject to any liens before purchasing the property.
Outstanding taxes are liens against the property and could transfer to the new owner.
If the past due taxes are significant, the county or state may be able to place the property up for
sale even though the new owner was not responsible for accruing the debt.
Determine whether there is a judgment lien against the property. Another important part of
the title search is to determine whether there are any unsatisfied judgments against the seller or
previous owners of the property. A judgment is a lien against a person’s property and the
property acts as collateral for any money owed until the judgment is satisfied.
 If a judgment is discovered, this is considered a defect in the title and the seller should
eliminate the defect before it can be passed to a new buyer free and clear. Generally, a
buyer who is seeking financing will not be able to secure financing for a property with a
judgment lien.
 If you discover a judgment lien prior to purchasing the property, ask the seller to contact
the creditor of the lien and determine how to rectify the judgment, either by paying it off
or if the lien was already paid, ask for a satisfaction of lien. This document shows that the
debt has been discharged and can be used to remove the lien from the title.
Assignment
A. Watch this video lecture on Chain of Title:
B. Based on the information provided for the Subject Property below (123 Black Acre
Blvd.) create a Chain of Title Chart that contains the following columns: Grantor,
Grantee, Deed date, Deed type and Book/Page #.
a. Please note that this is a fictional address. This assignment requires no actual title
search. Performing a title search for 123 Black Acre Blvd., San Diego, CA will
not be helpful in this assignment as the Subject Property is fictional and all
information needed is provided below.
C. In addition, 1) explain in detail as to whether the chain of title is clean or whether there
were any breaks in the chain of title. 2) If there are breaks in the chain of title, please
identify possible explanations for the break. 3) In addition, would the explanations you
offer provide for a clean chain of title?
Subject Property: 123 Black Acre Blvd., San Diego, CA
1. Abe Abelman (Grantor) conveys quit claim deed to Bob Bastille (Grantee) in 1970. Book
58; Page 137
2. Bob Bastille (Grantor) conveys grant deed to Carol Cartwright (Grantee) in 1983. Book
73; Page 58
3. Dylan Cartwright (Grantor) conveys quit claim deed to Ethel & Frank Etheridge, as
husband and wife (Grantee) in 2007. Book 93; Page 243
4. Ethel & Frank Etheridge, as husband and wife (Grantor) conveys quit claim deed to Ethel
Ethelbaum, an individual (Grantee) in 2007. Book 102; Page 30
5. Ethel Ethelbaum (Grantor) conveys grant deed to Grant Garrison (Grantee) in 2014.
Book 108; Page 337.
Sample Chain of Title
123 BlackAcre Blvd., San Diego, CA
Grantor Grantee Date Deed Type Book/Page
TEXT BOOK
Business and the Legal Environment
https://www.oercommons.org/courses/business-law-an…