Deeds and Title Transfer
What the exam tests
Deeds and Title Transfer tests deed validity, deed types, recording, title insurance, and adverse possession. Questions ask whether a deed conveys marketable title and who prevails between competing claimants.
Core rules
- A valid deed requires a competent grantor, identifiable grantee, words of conveyance, legal description, consideration, signature, and delivery with intent to convey; acceptance is presumed for a benefit.
- General warranty deeds contain present and future covenants; special warranty deeds limit covenants to the grantor’s own acts; quitclaim deeds convey only the grantor’s interest without warranty.
- Pennsylvania’s recording statute protects a subsequent bona fide purchaser who records without notice; unrecorded interests may be cut off.
- Title insurance covers specified title risks; a title commitment lists exceptions and requirements before closing.
- Adverse possession in Pennsylvania generally requires 21 years of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession.
Worked example
Owner A signs and delivers a deed to B but B does not record. A then sells the same parcel to C, who pays value, has no notice of B, and records immediately. Under Pennsylvania’s race-notice recording statute, C prevails if C is a bona fide purchaser without notice and records first. B’s unrecorded deed is subordinate.
Traps that cost marks
Do not confuse delivery with signing; a deed signed but never delivered is ineffective. Do not treat a quitclaim as a warranty. Do not assume recording cures forgery or incompetence. Do not overlook exceptions in a title commitment.