MORTGAGE / TITLE INDUSTRY

TERMINOLOGIES AND DEFINITIONS

Title:
A title is a Legal document that shows legal ownership to a Property.

Title Search:
A title search is an examination of public records and legal documents to determine and
confirm a property's legal ownership, and find out what loans, claims, judgements, liens or tax dues
are on the property.

Register of Deeds
A register of deeds is a record of real estate deeds or other land titles that is maintained by
a local government official.

Public Records:
Register of deeds which are maintained by the Government and accessible for public
viewing
Source of info for public records
• County Clerk's Office
• Tax Office
• Legal Publications
• U.S District Court

Notices
• Constructive notice
The notice does not have to be direct. Notice simply has to be published and
available for the public to review
Ex: Newspapers, Legal publications etc
• Actual Notice
The notice has to be direct.
Ex: Mails

Conveyance Documents:
Legal Documents which transfer title from one person/Entity to another person/Entity.
• Voluntary Conveyance
Voluntary conveyance refers to an elective transfer of title from one individual to
another without adequate consideration.
Ex: Wills/Testament, Charity Donations, etc
• Involuntary Conveyance
Involuntary Conveyance Is the transfer of real property without the owner’s consent.
Ex: Foreclosure Deed, Tax Deed, etc
Wills:
A will is a legal document that sets forth your wishes regarding the distribution of a property.

Inheritance:
Inheritance refers to the property that an individual pass to his or her loved ones after he or
she passes away.
Deed:
A deed is a signed legal document that transfers the title of a property to a new holder,
granting them the privilege of ownership.

Types of Deed:
• Grant Deed
A grant deed is a legal document used to transfer ownership of real property.
• Warranty Deed
A warranty deed is a document provides the greatest amount of protection to the
purchaser of a property. It pledges/warrants that the owner owns the property free
and clear of any outstanding liens, mortgages or other encumbrances against it.
• Quick Claim Deed
A quitclaim deed releases a person's interest in a property.
Ex: Commonly between family, spouses, partners etc.
• Gift Deed
A gift deed is a document that records the act of giving a gift
• Interspousal transfer deed
An interspousal transfer deed transfers title (ownership) between a married couple.
• Special warranty deed
A special warranty deed only warrants against problems or encumbrances in the
property title that occurred during his ownership.
• Trustee’s Deed Upon Sale
Certificate of title received by the highest bidder at the foreclosere

Mortgages:
A legal agreement by which a Lender lends money at interest in exchange for taking title of
the borrower’s property, with the condition that the conveyance of title becomes void upon the
payment of the debt.
Mortgagor = Borrower
Mortgagee = Lender

Deed of Trust(DOT):
An agreement between the borrower and a lender to have the property held in trust by a
neutral and independent third party until the loan is paid off.
Truster = Borrower
Trustee = Middle man
Beneficiary = Lender

Types of Deed of Trust:

• Purchase-money Mortgage
A purchase-money mortgage is a mortgage issued to the borrower by the seller of a
home as part of the purchase transaction. Also known as a seller or owner financing
• Open ended Mortgage
An open-end mortgage is a type of mortgage that allows the borrower to increase
the amount of the mortgage principal outstanding at a later time.
• Fictitious Mortgage / An air loan
An air loan is a type of mortgage fraud that seeks to profit from unsuspecting
lenders.

Associated Documents of Mortgage(MTG)

Assignment[AS]: Transfer of beneficiary interest in the trust Deed from one party to
another.
Substitution[ST]: Trustee fails or resigns and appoint successor trustee
Modification[MD]: Modifying process
Release[RL]: Loan repaid in Full
 Sub-ordination Agreement[SA]: First Lien assigned to a Lien holder for the claim of one
property.
Notice of Default[ND]: Failed to repay the amount or Debt by Debtor
Notice of Trustee’s Sale[NT]: Trustee issued notice to the trustor defaults to pay the
payment within due time of days assured.
Notice of Racission: Recorded by the trustee to cancel the effect of Default notice.
Vesting: Status and manner in which title of ownership is held with a fixed determinable
interest in a particular parcel of real estate property.
Chain of Title: Chronological listing of transfer of Title or Ownership on particular property.

Different ways of Acquiring a Title:

• Severalty or Sole and Separate property.
• Sole: Inheritance or by quick claim from the spouse or Gift after marriage. Sole
ownership by an individual.
• Co-Ownership
Joint Tenancy: Owned by two or more persons having equal interest rights on the
property, right of survivorship.
Tenancy in entirety: Exists only between husband and wife, with equal rights on
possession and enjoyment during their lives. right of survivorship
Tenancy in Common:
Two or more persons
May or mayn't have equal interest
Created through different will or Transfer
Having no rights of survivorship
Community Property: personal property acquired by either spouse during a
marriage are considered community property.
Divided equally at time of divorce,
Will after death

Corporation: Association of Individual created by Law or under authority of law.

Partnerships: Two or more people carrying a joint venture sharing profit and loss.
Trust: Fiduciary relationship in which one person [Trustee] holds the title of property.
Easement: Provides one party right to use property of another party for specific purpose.
Types of Easement:
Prescriptive Easement: Specified period of time as defined by law of 10-21 years
Appurtenant Easement: A right to use adjoining property that transfers with the land.

All inclusive Deed of Trust:

Continuation of loan through junior deed of trust, which includes previous open loan.

Assignment of Mortgage:
An assignment of mortgage is a document which indicates that a mortgage has been
transferred from the original lender or borrower to a third party. Assignments of mortgage are more
commonly seen when lenders sell mortgages to other lenders.
Assignor = Grantor
Assignee = Grantee

Lien:
A lien is a claim or legal right against property used as collateral to satisfy a debt.

Types of Lien:
• Judgment lien
A judgment lien is a court ruling that gives a creditor the right to take possession of a
debtor's real or personal property if the debtor fails to fulfill his or her contractual
obligations.
 Elements in Judgements:
• Case Number
• File Date
• Plaintiff
• Defendant
• Principal Amount
• Support Judgement:
Amount settlement to the child at the time of divorce.
• Code Enforcement Lien:
A legal claim suit from Code Enforcement Board, if owner violates code and conduct as per
Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs)
• Condominium Association Lien:
A legal claim for Unpaid maintenance charges
• Child support Liens:
A legal claim placed on property if owner fail to adhere to child support obligations
• Hospital Liens:
A legal claim against unpaid hostile expenses
• State Tax Liens:
A legal claim made by the government when a person fails to pay one of a range of taxes
• Federal Tax Liens:
A legal claim when a taxpayer fails to pay Federal Government taxes
• Abstract of Judgement:
An Abstract of Judgment is a judgment lien against real property that the debtor currently
owns, or may try to purchase in the future.

Affidavit:
Statement or Declaration sworn before authority.

Legal Description:
A legal description is the geographical description of real estate that identifies its precise
location, boundaries and any easements for the purpose of a legal transaction.
Types of Description:
• Metes and bounds
• Sectional Property
• Lots and Sub-Divisions
• Condominium

Elements of Full Value Deed (FVD):

• Conveyance Documents,
• Deed recorded by title insurance Company.
• Doc transfer tax paid on the value of property.
• Value of the property conveyed.
• 100% Property Conveyance.
• Legal Description
• Seller and Notary Signature in the Legal Documents.
• Notary License Active.

Encumbrance:
An encumbrance is a claim against a property by a party that is not the owner.
Voluntary: wilfully created by the owner.
Ex: Deed of Trust/Mortgage
involuntary: Claim on the property for unpaid debts
Ex: Tax Lien, Judgement Lien, Mechanic Lien, Municipal lien.
Tax:
Charges levied upon a person by Government.
Types of Tax:
• Secured Tax:
Charges levied on a Property by Government.
• Supplemental Tax:
Additional tax along with the general tax
• Due Payable:
Tax dues to be paid in Fiscal year
• Default Tax:
Tax paid with penalty, when payment is not made on due date
• Delinquent Tax:
When the tax payment has not been made for the entire fiscal year

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Title insurance:
Title insurance is a policy protects lenders and homebuyers from financial loss sustained
from defects in a title to a property.
Risk Covered in Title insurance:
• Unknown defects, Undisclosed Lien, Undisclosed use restriction.
• Lack of right to access, deed not properly recorded
• Encroachment, Incorrect Survey, Silent Lien.
• Pre-existing violation of law, Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions(CC&Rs)
• Existing Liens against property (Previous owner unpaid debts in Utilities,
Mortgages, Property taxes, Condominium charges)
• Title Fraud
Not Covered in Title insurance:
• Known Title defects.
• Environmental hazards (Soil Contamination).
• Not listed in public records(Unrecorded Liens, Encroachments, law violators,
renovations etc).
• Losses due to non-title relaxed issues

Residential Commercial

Houses Office Building

Condominium Industrial Building

Rental Unit Shopping Center

Vacant Land Apartment Building

Co-Operatives Vacant commercial land

Rural properties Leased Commercial property

Types of Title Insurance Policy:

• Owner Policy:
A policy that protects owner in case someone tries to make a claim on the property
you purchased.
• Lender Policy
A policy issued to protect the Lender against financial loss.
Insurance Premium:
An insurance premium is the amount of money an individual or business pays for an
insurance policy.

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 Title Search Services
Before purchasing a property, it needs to confirm that the seller holds valid title to the property. A
title insurance company will search the property's title index for you for a fee, or you can visit a
county recorder's office and search the title index.
Types of Title Search Services
1. Current Owner Search.
2. Two Owner Search.
3. Full Search.
4. Update Search.
5. Deed Search.
6. ]Open Mortgage Search.
7. Liens & Judgments search.
8. Bankruptcy Search.
9. Latest Tax Status for the property.

Current Owner Search

• Current owner search involves searching for the details of the present title holder of the
subject property and the latest deed with consideration.
• Search done by searching from the current date backward.
• Details like Vesting Deed, Current Tax status, county assessment information, open
mortgages, judgments, liens, and legal description will be captured.
• This search is usually done for origination of Home Equity transactions, short sale,
foreclosure auctions, and pre-tax auctions.

Two Owner Search

• Two-Owner Title search is for the last two owners in the chain of title of the subject
property.
• Search done by searching from the current date backward.
• Details like Vesting Deed, Current Tax status, county assessment information, open
mortgages, judgments, liens, and legal description will be captured.
• This search is usually done for origination of Home Equity transactions, short sale,
foreclosure auctions, and pre-tax auctions.

Full Search
• Detailed full Title search on Current and Previous owners.
• The search should include all names in the chain of title and should report liens and
judgments for all owners, current and past. The names must be run for general liens, such as
judgments and federal tax liens, for the full statutory period applicable for the state.
•In addition, all defects, liens, and encumbrances specifically referred to in the documents
revealed in the search must be reported as exceptions, unless properly disposed of.
•Includes searches related to property lien, easements, CC & Rs-covenants, conditions and
restrictions, agreements, and resolutions and ordinances that affect real property.
•We also do historical searches up to 50 years for additional pricing.
Update Search.
•We also perform an update search on the subject property from the date of the last search
to the current date.
•A report is provided on all the documents posted and recorded during the period.
•This is performed just before the closing takes place.

Deed Search
•To Check the Full Value Deed to Start the Search, and to provide Chain of Title.

Mortgage & Deed of Trust:

 •To Check Open Mortgages / Deed of Trust which is related to given property, and
Additional Document which include Assignment, Modification, Subordination, Substitution of
Trustee, and upload the search docs in the file.

Judgments search
•To check if there is any Judgments against the borrower by using the www.lexisnexis.com
and upload the search docs in the file.

Liens search
•Verify if there are any closed lien showing on title and request for release/ Paid in full letter.
Request judgment payoffs.

Bankruptcy Search
•To check if there is any Bankruptcy filed against the borrower by using the PACER site and
upload the search docs in the file.

Latest Tax Status for the property

•We provide comprehensive solutions on real estate Tax information for insured and
uninsured products with a widespread coverage in the United States and quick turn times.
We are working on Netronline Application for 36 Sates: KSS offers the lowest cost service in
comparison to local title agencies (50% Savings) in the most efficient way. Our terms are the
shortest most searches can be completed within 24 hours.
KSS Property Title Search service is a convenient and fast way of securing yourself from buying a
shady property. Just enter the property address to the form above and follow the registration
instructions.

Title Commitment Typing

Commitment Typing Includes:

1 Document review and typing.
2 Tax status search and typing.
3 Commitment preparation.
4 Document search and retrieval.
5 Title Plant development and maintenance.
6 Mortgage file post-closing audits.
7 Hazard policy tracking.
8 On-line real estate market research/mail list preparation.
9 UCC database maintenance.

Document review and typing

Report preparation, including Owners and Encumbrance, Foreclosure, Legal/Vesting, tax,
lien, judgments, etc., Experienced staff reviews abstractor notes and attached documents to verify
the chain of title, name and legal description consistency, and document legibility. Problems are
escalated to the abstractor for correction. Data is accurately typed via online systems, XML, or
proprietary formats. TAT in 2 hours or less.

Tax search and typing

Online search, phone calls, and fax/mail to tax jurisdictions for assessment data and current/
delinquent tax status, tax sales, parcel changes, verify addresses, or send your search documents
for fast and accurate typing.

Commitment preparation
Complete review and capture of essential data for commitments – easements, restrictions,
encumbrances, tax status, and other conditions are completed for the commitment report.

Document retrieval
Online search for new recorded documents, releases, assignments, tax payments, etc., to support
your abstract and review. Confirm document recording or monitor updates, including tax payments,
delinquent sales.

Plant development and maintenance

Developing the title plant database to your specifications and maintaining with day-forward posting
for all document types (real and personal property, courts/liens, commercial UCC). Data is verified
against local databases of subdivisions/surveys, lot/block/unit ranges, document types, and
names. All name and geographical indexes are provided.
Document preparation, scanning, and quality review
Correct out of sequence file numbers, missing pages, illegible or damaged images. Stapling all
pages for the document or linking for full document and related document retrieval.

On-line real estate market research/mail list preparation

Daily review of public document web sites to capture new data about property sales and
transactions (newly recorded mortgages, deeds, liens, etc.) for direct mail and sales call lists.

Hazard policy tracking

Receive and capture data from renewals, cancellations, past-due notices, reinstatements, deletion
of interest, etc.

Mortgage file post-closing audits

Detailed review of loan documents to assess that the file is complete, dated, and signed as per
requirements.. Index the file by document type, delete duplicate copies, staple multi-page
documents, report missing required files.

UCC database maintenance/retrieval

Indexing or searching commercial lien registrations for credit checks and lien/release status.

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