Definition
Title Search
A title search is an examination of public records to confirm who legally owns a property and what claims — mortgages, liens, judgments, unreleased loans — attach to it. Title companies run one before insuring any sale.
The search surfaces what must be resolved before clear ownership can transfer: the obvious (a current mortgage) and the surprising (a HELOC from the nineties, a code-enforcement fine, an old loan paid off but never formally released in the county records). Each is fixable; each takes weeks — which is why running the search early beats discovering problems at a closing table.
For inherited property, the search also reveals how the home was titled — solely, jointly, in a trust, or with a transfer-on-death deed — which determines whether probate is required and who can sign a sale.
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