Asked and Answered
I'm buying a condo and my attorney just ordered the "title report". What's a title report?When purchasing a condominium apartment or any other type of real property, after the contract is signed, the buyer's attorney will call a title insurance company and "order title." Although that process might not start until the buyer obtains a mortgage commitment (if the transaction is subject to financing), the title is usually ordered shortly after the contract is signed. When the attorney orders title, he is asking the title insurance company to search various city, state and county records to determine the status of the title owned by the seller. The results of that search are manifested in a document known as a title report. Under ordinary circumstances, the completion of the title report takes about two weeks. Once the title report is completed, the title company will forward copies of the report to the attorneys for the buyer and the seller and the attorney for the bank who is making the mortgage loan to the buyer. The buyer's attorney will review the report to determine whether any action has to be taken by the seller to "clear title". Clearing title relates to the removal of any impediment to title that may show up in the report, such as a mortgage, judgment or tax lien. Unless the title is in a condition acceptable to the buyer's attorney and the attorney for the buyer's bank, the closing cannot take place. For more on title issues and how the process works, see "What Exactly is Title Insurance".