Title Issues
Title is the public record of who owns a property and what claims sit against it. A title problem means that record does not match reality, or does not match what a buyer, a lender or a title company is willing to accept.
Every deed, mortgage, lien, judgment, easement and tax sale that has ever touched a parcel is recorded with the county register of deeds. Ownership is not proven by possession or by a paper deed in a drawer. It is proven by that chain of recorded instruments running unbroken from one owner to the next.
A defect is anything that breaks or clouds the chain. Most owners never learn there is one until they try to sell or refinance, and the title commitment comes back with exceptions the closing cannot proceed over. At that point there is usually a buyer, a lender and a closing date already waiting.
What causes a title defect
- A break in the chain, where a transfer was never recorded or a deed is missing entirely
- A deed signed by someone who lacked authority, such as one heir acting for an estate or a person signing for a dissolved company
- Mortgages, judgment liens or tax liens that were paid but never discharged of record
- Errors in the legal description, so the deed conveys land that is not the land anyone intended
- Heirs of a prior owner who were never accounted for and still hold a fractional interest
- Irregularities in a tax foreclosure or sheriff sale in the chain
- Forged, fraudulent or improperly notarized conveyances
- Recorded easements, restrictions or covenants nobody knew were there
A title policy is a promise to pay on a covered loss. It does not clear the record, and most policies except out exactly the defect that is now blocking your closing. Clearing the record is a separate legal proceeding.
Quiet title actions
The usual cure for a clouded title is a quiet title action, filed in the circuit court for the county where the property sits.
The action names every person or entity that might hold an interest in the property, gives them the opportunity to appear and assert it, and asks the court to determine ownership. Where a party cannot be located, Michigan permits service by publication so the case is not blocked by an heir nobody can find.
The result is a judgment that can be recorded with the register of deeds. That judgment becomes part of the chain and resolves the defect on the record itself, which is what makes the title marketable again and what a title company needs before it will insure.
How a title matter runs
- The record gets pulledDeed, chain of title, title commitment, tax history and any recorded liens or easements. The defect has to be identified precisely before it can be cured.
- Interested parties identifiedEveryone with a possible claim has to be named, including heirs, lienholders and prior owners. Missing a party can leave the cloud in place.
- Filing and serviceThe complaint is filed in the county where the land sits. Parties who cannot be located are served by publication as the court rules allow.
- Judgment and recordingMost quiet title matters resolve by default or consent rather than trial. The judgment is recorded, and the record is clear.
Questions about title
The title company found a problem and my closing is next week. What now?
Call rather than using the form. Some exceptions can be resolved quickly with a corrective deed, a discharge or an affidavit, and the closing survives. Others require a filed action and the closing date will not hold. Which one you have depends on the exception, and that can usually be assessed the same day.
How long does a quiet title action take?
An uncontested matter where the parties are locatable commonly runs several months from filing to recorded judgment. Service by publication, unknown heirs or a party who appears and contests the claim will extend it. You will get a realistic range once the chain has been reviewed.
Someone recorded a lien against my property and I do not owe them anything.
That is a distinct problem from a chain defect, and Michigan treats improperly recorded instruments seriously. The route depends on what was recorded and by whom, and it should be addressed rather than ignored, because it will surface at your next sale or refinance.
Can I just record a corrective deed myself?
Sometimes, and where that is genuinely the right fix you will be told so. Recording the wrong instrument can add a second defect on top of the first, and a deed cannot convey an interest from a party who has not signed it.
A defect on the record does not clear itself.
[PHONE]Matters with a closing date, a filing deadline or a hearing already on the calendar are handled by phone.