The following are some of the types of title defect that would adversely (negatively) affect your property:
- Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfaction or release of mortgages and other instruments
- False impersonation of the true owner of the land or his consort
- Instruments executed under fabricated or expired power of attorney (death or insanity of principal)
- Deed apparently valid but actually delivered after the death of the Grantor or Grantee, or without the consent of Grantor
- Deeds by persons of an unsound mind
- Deeds by minors
- Deeds not properly delivered
- Deeds which appear to convey title but are really mortgages
- Outstanding prescriptive rights not of record and not disclosed by survey
- Descriptions apparently but not actually adequate
- Duress in execution of instruments
- Failure to include necessary parties in judicial proceedings
- Federal estate and gift tax liens
- State inheritance and gift tax liens
- Errors in tax records (For example, listing payment against wrong property)
- Ineffective waiver of tax liens by tax or other govern authorities repudiated later by successors
- Corporation franchise taxes as lien on all corporate assets, notice of which does not have to be recorded in the local recording office
- Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials, but not binding on municipality
- Tax homestead exemptions set aside as fraudulently claimed
- Lack of capacity of foreign personal representatives and trustees to act
- Deeds from non-existent entities
- Interests arising by deeds to fictitious characters to conceal illegal activities on the premises
- Deeds in lieu of foreclosure set aside as being given under duress
- Ulta vires deed given under falsified corporate resolution
- Conveyances and proceedings affecting rights of servicemen protected by Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act
- Federal condemnation without filing of notice (Federal law does not require filing of notice of taking in local recording office)
- Deed from record owner of land where he has sold property to another purchaser on unrecorded land contract and the purchaser has taken possession of premises
- Defective acknowledgment due to lack of authority of notary (acknowledgment taken before commission or after the expiation of commission)
- Deed of property recited to be separate property of Grantor which is in fact community or joint property
- Lack of a legal right of access to and from the property
- Matters affecting title whose origins existed before the period of title examination and which have not prescribed by operation of law
- Deeds by persons apparently single but actually married
- Deed from bigamous couple (prior existing marriage in another jurisdiction)
- Undisclosed divorce of spouse who conveys as sole heir of deceased consort
- Undisclosed heirs
- Misinterpretation of wills, deeds and other instruments
- Birth or adoption of children after date of will
- Children living at date of will but not mentioned therein
- Discovery of will of apparent intestate
- Discovery of later will after probate of first will
- Administration of estates and probate of wills of persons absent but not deceased
- Conveyance by heir, devisee or survivor of a joint estate who murdered the decedent
- Deed from trustees of purported business trust which is in fact a partnership or joint stock association
- Deed of executor under non-intervention will when order of solvency has been fraudulently procured or entered
- Deed to or from corporations before incorporation or after surrender of forfeiture of charter
- Claims of creditors against property conveyed by heirs or devisees within prescribed period after owner’s death
- Mistakes in recording legal documents (for example, incorrect indexing, errors and omissions in transcribing and failure to preserve original instruments)
- Record easement, but erroneous ancient locations of pipe or sewer line that does not allow route of granted easement
- Special assessments where they become lien upon passage of resolution and before recordation or commencement of improvements for which assessed
- Lack of jurisdiction of person in judicial proceedings
And there are many others…