Choosing Your Deed Conveying Land In Pennsylvania
Published on Thursday, 31 March 2011 09:15 Written by Lawrence D. Brudy & Associates, Inc.
A deed is the document that officially transfers ownership of real estate. Throughout the United States, when purchasing real property, almost always some sort of deed is used. In Pennsylvania, there are many different types of deeds that can be used to convey real property. Some are more commonly used than others, and this article will explain and distinguish between each one.
Special Warranty Deeds
The most commonly used deeds are General or Special Warranty deeds. A General Warranty deed transfers ownership but also expressly warrants to the buyer that the seller has not only a legal right to sell the property, but also that the seller has good and lawful title. This type of deed normally contains certain representations about the property such as that the property is free of all liens, encumbrances and competing claims of ownership. In this way the warranty deed operates very much like a contract, by allowing the buyer (or “grantee”) to pursue the seller (or “grantor”) for any misrepresentations made in this document.
A Special Warranty deed operates much like a General Warranty deed. The only real difference is that a Special Warranty Deed is used when the grantor is warranting only that they received title to the property and that the property was not encumbered during grantors period of ownership. The grantor is not warranting that previous owners had clear and marketable title, only that he or she has satisfied any liens placed upon the property.
Quit Claim Deeds
A Quit Claim deed is used when the grantor wishes to convey and relinquish all of his or her title, claim and interest to a particular property. When this type of deed is used, it does not guarantee that the grantor has clear title to the property, nor does it include promises that the grantor has the required legal capacity or right to even make such a transfer. A Quit Claim deed is used most often with a transfer between spouses.
Fiduciary Deed
A fiduciary deed is a deed which is executed by a fiduciary. A fiduciary is a person authorized to handle the affairs of another person who is unable to handle his or her affairs due to illness, incompetence, death or other circumstances. In other instances, the fiduciary may have been appointed as a trustee, executor or conservator for management of the estate of a loved one who has recently passed away.
As you can see there are a number of different types of deeds, yet all operate for a single purpose. They all represent some degree of ownership transfer in real property. Depending on the purpose and circumstances surrounding the conveyance, any of the above discussed deeds will properly convey a piece of property to a grantee. It is important to also remember that the type of deed that a grantor was given when he or she purchased the property does not determine what type of deed he or she can convey to a new grantee. For instance, upon purchase of the property, a buyer receives a Fiduciary Deed from the seller. Years later, upon sale of the property, the now seller can convey a General Warranty Deed to the new buyer. It will not matter that the deed from the previous owner was a Fiduciary Deed.
All of the Attorney’s at Lawrence D. Brudy & Associates, Inc travel at no additional cost to closings for refinance and purchase transactions. The counties we travel to include: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland, Lawrence, Mercer, Fayette, Somerset and Greene. Please contact Darcy M. Dayton, Esquire at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information or to schedule a closing.