Closings glossary
Chain of title
The sequence of recorded conveyances of a property, from an earlier known owner to the present one. Gaps and defective links in the chain are what a title search is designed to find.
What is a chain of title?
Quick Answer
The full definition
The sequence of recorded conveyances of a property, from an earlier known owner to the present one. Gaps and defective links in the chain are what a title search is designed to find.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside chain of title in the same file.
- Title search
- The records examination behind a title report, covering the chain of title, encumbrances and court filings against the owners. It precedes the commitment.
- Abstract of title
- A summarized history of a property's recorded ownership and encumbrances, compiled from the public record. It is the raw material a title examiner reads before any policy is written.
- Deed
- The instrument that conveys real property. Signature, acknowledgment and delivery make it effective between the parties, while recording is what protects it against later purchasers.
- Cloud on title
- Any claim or encumbrance that may impair the owner's title. New York owners resolve the serious ones through a quiet title action under RPAPL Article 15.
- Marketable title
- Title a reasonable buyer would accept, free of defects that would expose that buyer to litigation. Most New York contracts require the seller to convey it at closing.
Where does chain of title come up in a New York City closing?
A Brooklyn chain shows a 1998 deed signed by one of three heirs, so the other two interests were never conveyed and the seller cannot deliver full title.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- How long does a title search take?Three to five business days for a clean NYC house or condo, longer for co-ops, estates and multi-parcel files. What slows a New York title search d...
- What happens if the title search finds a problem before closing?Schedule B-I requirements are the punch list, not a dead deal. How New York closings clear old liens, missing satisfactions and name hits before th...
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