What Does It Mean to Cure a Defect in Title?
When you sign a contract to buy a home, you expect to receive 100% undisputed ownership of the property. However, a title search often reveals a title defect (a 'cloud'). This could be an unpaid IRS tax lien, a forged signature on a deed from 1995, or a missing heir who never signed away their rights during a probate case.
If a defect exists, the title company will refuse to issue title insurance, and the buyer's bank will refuse to fund the mortgage. To save the deal, a real estate attorney must engage in curing a defect in title (also known as curative title work).
Methods of Curing Title
The method used to cure the defect depends entirely on how severe the problem is:
- Administrative Fixes — If a previous owner paid off their mortgage 15 years ago but the bank forgot to record the official release document, curing the title simply requires calling the bank's legal department and forcing them to record a "Satisfaction of Mortgage."
- Correction Deeds — If a historical deed contains a typo in the property's legal boundary description, the attorney must draft a correction deed and hunt down the previous owner to sign it.
- Quiet Title Actions — If an ex-spouse or a missing heir technically still owns a fraction of the house and refuses to sign a Quitclaim Deed to surrender it, paperwork won't fix it. The attorney must file a Quiet Title lawsuit, asking a civil judge to forcefully extinguish the heir's rights and declare the title cured.
The Seller's Obligation
Under a standard Florida purchase agreement, the seller is legally obligated to deliver a "clear and marketable title." If a defect is found, the contract usually grants the seller a strict cure period (often 30 days) to hire a lawyer and fix the problem. If the seller cannot cure the defect in time, the buyer can cancel the contract and demand their deposit back.
Related Terms
- Curative Title Work — The broader industry term for this legal process
- Title Defect — The specific error or lien being cured
- Cure Period — The contractual 30-day deadline the seller has to fix the issue
Barnes Walker Title Resolution
Barnes Walker's real estate attorneys specialize in rapidly curing severe Florida title defects, utilizing aggressive negotiation with old creditors and complex quiet title litigation to clear clouded titles and rescue stalled commercial and residential closings. Request a legal inquiry for assistance.
Reviewed by the attorneys at Barnes Walker, Goethe, Shea & Robinson, PLLC