Real estate Q&A: How do we fix a defective deed?

Q: My wife recently inherited an apartment. My wife was added to the deed some years ago to get the property as part of her mother’s estate plan. We already have a home and do not want to deal with tenants, so we decided to sell it. The closing agent tells us that the original deed to my mother-in-law from a couple of decades ago is defective and will need to be fixed before we can sell the property. What do we need to do? — Glenn

A: Your path forward will depend on what is wrong with the vesting deed.

When you buy or sell a property, a title closing agent will search the official records to determine who owns the property and if there are any liens or encumbrances, such as mortgages, or other issues that need to be resolved.

The title agent will look at the “chain of title,” which refers to the complete unbroken ownership history and includes all the transfers of ownership, such as deeds, from the original owner to the present owner. Some title issues will eventually resolve themselves with time, while others require a more active approach.

It appears that the deed from the prior owner to your mother-in-law is missing a signature.

The easiest way to resolve a missing signature is to track down that person and ask them to sign a corrective deed. Unfortunately, since this happened a long time ago, the missing signer may have moved out of state or even passed away.

If they cannot be found, you will need to file a lawsuit to fix the problem.

This type of lawsuit is referred to as a “quiet title suit” and is typically filed by a person with an interest in a property who seeks to resolve a dispute over the property’s ownership or to “quiet” any challenges to their ownership rights.

In the context of your issue with the defective deed, you would ask the court to declare that your wife is the rightful owner of the property despite the defect. You will need to include the prior owner who did not sign, or their heirs, along with anyone else who may have an interest in the property, and present evidence of your mother-in-law’s rightful ownership, such as her purchasing it, living there, and paying the bills.

The court will review this evidence and officially determine the rightful owner of the property.

With this determination, the title agent will be able to finish your sale and issue title insurance to the new owner.