What is a Recording Title?

          After the completion of the purchase of the piece of real property, you will receive a written document, which is called "the deed", and which transfers the ownership, or title according to the jargon of attorney, of the property to you as the purchaser. The deed gives you a formal title usually in exchange for a specified amount of money. But the conveyance of real property is not complete until the deed is delivered to you or your authorized agent. Be cautious of this last aspect.

          Once you get the deed, you should record it with the county recorder in the county where the property is located. What for? In fact the purpose of recording the deed is to give a legal notice that you now have an ownership interest in that particular piece of real property. You will be officially the owner of this real property.

          The other purpose of the recording is to keep track of the chronological chain of title. Therefore anyone who wants to know who owns a piece of real property can check the records of the county recorder for the county where the property is located. As a consequence before you purchase real property, you may want to follow the chain of sales and transfers of the property, from the original grant of the land all the way down to the current owner. Besides when you will purchase your title insurance, the title insurer will check the change of title to determine whether any defects occurred in prior conveyances and transfers. Then some defects may be pointed out and excluded from coverage. As a purchaser of property, you want to check that every time in the past, when the property was transferred, the grantor had clear title to the property and the previous purchasers obtained clear title. If someone in the past defect, you will not get clear title. As a rule, you should check the chronological path of title of the piece of real property you want to purchase. This might prevent further issues to occur.