Deed Types: Warranty, Special Warranty and Quitclaim

What the different forms of deed promise about the title they convey - the general warranty deed's guarantee against every defect, the special warranty deed's narrower one, and the quitclaim deed's none - and what each is used for.

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What it means

A deed is the written instrument that transfers ownership of real property, and its form determines what the seller promises about the title. A general warranty deed carries the full set of title covenants: that the grantor owns the property and has the right to convey it, that it is free of encumbrances except those stated, and that the grantor will defend the grantee against any claim to the title by anyone, arising at any time in the property's history - including before the grantor owned it. If a defect surfaces, the grantee may sue the grantor for the loss. It is the deed a buyer expects in an ordinary sale.

A special (or limited) warranty deed makes the same promises but only as to the grantor's own period of ownership: the grantor warrants that they did nothing to cloud the title, and says nothing about what earlier owners did. Banks selling foreclosed property, estates, trustees and builders commonly convey by special warranty deed because they cannot vouch for the property's history. A quitclaim deed conveys whatever interest the grantor has, if any, and promises nothing at all - not even that the grantor owns the property. It is used to clear a cloud on title, to transfer property between spouses or family members, to add or remove a name, and in divorce settlements; a buyer paying market value should not accept one.

A deed must identify the grantor and grantee, describe the property adequately, be signed by the grantor and, in most states, acknowledged before a notary, and it takes effect on delivery to and acceptance by the grantee, not on recording - though it is recorded at once to protect the grantee against later claims. Several states use a statutory short-form deed whose warranties are implied by a single word such as "grant" or "convey and warrant". The deed's warranties do not replace title insurance: a grantor may be dead, insolvent or gone by the time a defect appears.

Where this comes from

When people hire a lawyer for this

The deed is the one document in a sale that should not be improvised from a form found online: a description copied wrongly, a grantor who is not the record owner, a missing spouse's signature in a community-property or homestead state, or a quitclaim used where a warranty was bargained for can each take years and a lawsuit to undo. A person asked to sign a quitclaim deed - by a family member, a contractor, a lender or a stranger offering to "help" with a foreclosure - should have a lawyer read it first, because a quitclaim gives away everything and cannot be taken back.

Worried about the cost? A lawyer can be hired for one part of a case only (limited-scope representation), may be paid from what a claim recovers (contingency fee), or may be free through a pro bono program or legal aid; a court can also waive its own filing fees.

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Related terms

Other entries in the same area of law, each written from the same primary sources.

• Adverse PossessionThe doctrine by which a person who occupies land they do not own, openly and continuously for the period the state sets, becomes its owner - the elements, the "color of title" and tax-payment variations, and why it decides fence and driveway disputes far more often than it transfers whole parcels.
• EasementA legal right to use someone else's land for a defined purpose, without owning it.
• Eviction (Unlawful Detainer)The court process a landlord must use to make a tenant leave - and in most states, the only lawful way to do it.
• Foreclosure (Judicial and Non-Judicial)The process by which a mortgage lender takes and sells a home after default - the court-supervised route some states require and the trustee's sale others permit, the federal servicing rules that must be followed first, the loss-mitigation alternatives, and what the borrower can still owe or reclaim after the sale.
• HOA Covenants and Assessment LiensThe recorded restrictions that bind every owner in a planned community or condominium, the association that enforces them, and the assessment lien that lets it foreclose on a home for unpaid dues - what the documents control, how they are amended and enforced, and the limits the states have placed on association power.
• Homeowners Insurance ClaimHow a property loss claim actually works - what the policy covers, the duties it imposes on you, and where claims most often fail.
• Implied Warranty of HabitabilityA landlord's obligation to keep a rented home fit to live in - one the lease usually cannot sign away.
• Mechanic's Lien (Construction Lien)The statutory lien a contractor, subcontractor, supplier or laborer may record against a property for unpaid work or materials - the preliminary notices and filing deadlines that make or break it, why an owner who paid the general contractor can still face a subcontractor's lien, and how the lien is enforced or released.
• Purchase Contract ContingenciesThe conditions in a home-purchase agreement that let a buyer walk away with the deposit - inspection, financing, appraisal, sale of the buyer's current home, title - how each is exercised and waived, and what happens to the earnest money when the deal fails.
• Quiet Title ActionThe lawsuit that asks a court to declare who owns a property and to remove a competing claim from the record - used to clear an old mortgage never released, a break in the chain of title, a tax-sale or adverse-possession claim, or a deed that should never have been recorded.
• Security DepositMoney a tenant leaves with a landlord against damage or unpaid rent - held under state rules that usually require an itemized accounting within a fixed period after move-out.
• Seller Disclosure DutiesWhat a seller of a home must tell a buyer about the property - known material defects, water intrusion, structural and system problems, and under federal law lead-based paint - the state disclosure forms, the "as is" sale, and what a buyer can do when a problem was concealed.
• Title Search and Title InsuranceThe examination of public records that establishes who owns a property and what claims stand against it, and the insurance policy that pays if that examination missed something - who is protected by the lender's policy, who by the owner's, and what neither covers.
• Transfer-on-Death DeedA recorded deed that leaves a house to someone at death while changing nothing during life - available in many states, and not all.

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