On Jun 8, 8:27 am, jiangsuk...@gmail.com wrote:
> I just bought a vacant land. It was closed through a title company. I
> have received a new wanrranty deed and title insurance.
Sounds like you did everything right. A warranty deed -- as opposed to a mere quitclaim deed, which only gives up whatever claim the seller may have had to ownership in the property, whether or not that claim was valid -- includes a representation and promise (i.e. a warranty) by the seller that he indeed has good title to convey and is conveying all of it to you. The title insurance will cover your loss in the event an undisclosed defect in the chain of title turns up later. And doing the whole thing thru a title company is usually the best way to make sure all the necessary i's get dotted and the t's get crossed, and that the papers all get properly filed where they're supposed to be, in the land records office at the courthouse.
> My question is
> about the old warranty deeds that the previous owners had.
Going back, I presume, thru your entire chain of title to Colonial times, when the original European owner may have bought it from the Amerindian natives for 24 bucks worth of pretty shell beads (or may have just taken it without asking)? Or just back 100 years or so?
> - What happen to the old warranty deed?
The actual deed, the one that matters, is on file for public view at the land records office of your county. Whatever the seller had is just a copy of the official record. Yes, all of those deeds going all the way back to the original purchase by Miles Standish from Wampanoag, or the original land grant from King Charles or Louis or Ferdinand to Lord Baltimore or Comte Francoise or Don Conquistadore, should be in the land records, unless there was a fire in the courthouse or something that destroyed the older records. In either case, with a warranty deed and title insurance, the possibility of defects in your chain of title is not something you personally need to lose any sleep about. The copy of the deed you have, showing the transfer of the fee simple ownership interest in that particular piece of property from your sellers to you as buyer, is all you need to keep in your files.
> - Should I ask for the old wanrranty deed?
You can ask for a copy of it, sure. But mainly as a historical curiosity; all you really need is your own deed. The previous deed in the chain of title may not even be a warranty deed; maybe your seller acquired title through a quitclaim deed, or thru a foreclosure purchase, or by adverse possession, or some other means. However, your seller's warranty deed warrants to _you_ that, by whatever means he acquired it, he had good title to convey to you.
> - Will I need it when I sell the land in the future?
No. You really don't even need the copy you have of your own deed for that purpose -- if you lose or destroy your copy of the deed, that doesn't mean you lose title to the land -- although you should retain a copy of it because the information on it is useful for a variety of other purposes and you won't have to go to the courthouse and search for a copy of your deed all over again if e.g. you want to do a survey, establish your tax basis, or whatever. When you sell the land, your buyers will certainly want to go back to the original, official land records and get their own copy -- if for nothing else, to make sure it matches yours and that yours has not been altered from what is on the official record. But having your copy of the deed available is a courtesy that makes it easier for them to find the original when they do search.
Good luck with your new lot,
--
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