A deed is the standard document for transferring property title from the owner, or "grantor" to a new owner or "grantee." A deed can be used whether the transfer is by sale, gift or to place property in a living trust. In Tennessee, warranty deeds are used to give the grantee a guarantee that his title to the property is good.
Types
Most grantors in Tennessee use a general warranty deed, according to the Real Estate Lawyers website. A special warranty deed offers a guarantee that the grantor has done nothing to impair the grantee's title, such as selling part of the property to someone else or not divulging a tax lien on the property. A general warranty offers more: The grantor not only accepts liability for his own actions, but guarantees that none of the previous owners have done anything to impair the title, either.
Function
Under Tennessee law, a warranty deed offers the grantee four kinds of protection. The grantor guarantees that the grantee can enjoy the property free from title challenges; that there are no encumbrances such as a mortgage or other claim on the property that the grantee doesn't know about; that the grantor has the legal right to transfer title; and that the grantor will defend the title if it's challenged. In legal terms, those are warranties of seisin; freedom from encumbrances; right to convey and defense of title.
Features
To meet Tennnesse law, deeds must include certain information in the document, Real Estate Lawyers states. That includes the amount the grantor receives for the property — which could, of course, equal zero if it's a gift; the names and addresses of the grantor and grantee; the legal description of the property, and the city and county it's located in and the signature of both grantee and grantor.
Procedure
To make the Tennessee deed official, it must be signed in the presence of a notary, who will put her seal on the document. The deed must then be registered with the recorder's officer in whatever Tennesse county the property is located in.
Warning
The grantor must get the legal description of property right when drawing up a deed, according to Bankrate. If the deed misrepresents the property boundaries, the grantee may assume he has rights to what is actually the neighbor's property. Also, if the grantee decides to sell, the wrong description may make it legally tricky to determine what title he's actually offering.
References
- Real Estate Lawyers: Tennessee Deeds
- Bankrate: Understanding Quitclaim and Warranty Deeds
- Florida Housing Coalition. "Sample Warranty Deed." Accessed March 30, 2020.
- Sacramento County Public Law Library. "Sample Grant Deed." Accessed March 30, 2020.
- Sacramento County Public Law Library. "Sample Quitclaim Deed." Accessed March 30, 2020.
- Sacramento County Public Law Library. "Sample Interspousal Transfer Deed." Accessed March 30, 2020.
Writer Bio
A graduate of Oberlin College, Fraser Sherman began writing in 1981. Since then he's researched and written newspaper and magazine stories on city government, court cases, business, real estate and finance, the uses of new technologies and film history. Sherman has worked for more than a decade as a newspaper reporter, and his magazine articles have been published in "Newsweek," "Air & Space," "Backpacker" and "Boys' Life." Sherman is also the author of three film reference books, with a fourth currently under way.