February 13, 2019
Some of the Most Common Issues We Find in Curing Title

In our business, there may arise any number of issues with the title to a parcel of real estate. The variety would likely astound many unfamiliar with the industry. But we have noticed in the course of our title curative dealings that a certain set of issues tends to turn up again and again.
When we move to cure title, what we are doing is undertaking certain procedures to ensure that we solve problems that occur in the chain of ownership of title to a property; essentially we use the process to determine whether the record title for the land under consideration matches with the land’s real-life use and possession. When one of our attorneys crafts a Title Opinion that describes any unresolved items in the land’s title, then it becomes necessary to cure those items.
One of the most common issues we confront are errors in the public records made on the property. Just because it’s a mistake—and someone else’s mistake at that—doesn’t mean it won’t cause headaches, and potentially cost a lot of money, to undo.
We also find that unknown easements crop up a lot more often than one would expect. Even if you own a property in fee simple, such an easement might prevent you from using your whole property as you would like to, and might allow other people access to the property.
Despite a transfer of ownership, undiscovered encumbrances—a situation in which a third party or interest holds a claim to part or even all of a property, whether because of a previous lien or mortgage, or even through a non-financial claim like some sort of exclusionary or restrictive covenant placed on the property—can cause very real troubles.
Speaking of former liens, unknown liens placed on the property by a previous owner can continue to affect the use and enjoyment of a property throughout the chain of ownership. Foreclosed properties and other properties in a state of distress tend to cause this problem to arise most frequently.
Topouzis & Associates, P.C. is your bulwark against these sorts of problems arising from the past. We do title searches and cure title in Florida, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, to ensure you are gaining clear title to your property—and we back our services with offerings of title insurance (click here), in case someone along the line of ownership did something that might weaken your title at some point in the future.