By: Scott Pearson
When conveying real property in Arizona it is very important to understand what warranties are associated with Arizona deed forms. In Arizona the most commonly used deed forms are:
1. Quit Claim Deed
2. Disclaimer Deed
3. Special Warranty Deed
4. Warranty Deed
The Quit Claim Deed provides no warranties at all; it only conveys whatever interest the Grantor has, if any to the Grantee.
Disclaimer Deeds also provide no warranties; it is executed solely to disclose that the property is the sole and separate property of the spouse, the spouse executing the deed claims no interest in and to the property.
A Special Warranty Deed binds the Grantor the he/she has the rights and power to convey the property, warrants on behalf of himself/herself solely to the Grantee. The Grantor warrants that there are no encumbrances against the real property and that during the time they owned the property that they did nothing that would affect the Grantee’s interest in the future. The key element here is the warranty only applies from the time the Grantor took title to the property to the time it is sold. The language to look for on this deed is “And the GRANTOR binds itself and its successors to warrant the title as against its acts and none other, subject to the matters set forth”
The Warranty Deed provides much more as it warranties to the Grantor against all prior owners. If you are buying property this is the deed you want because it provides the most protection. The warranty allows the Grantee to hold the Grantor liable if title defects are found. The key language to look for is “And the GRANTOR does warrant the title against all persons whomsoever, subject to the matters set forth above”.
It is important to also recognize that along with warranties there are items that might be disclosed on the deed as “Subject To”, which are items that affect the property such as taxes, assessments, restriction, easements to mention just a few. Now in today’s world it is great that certain types of deeds provide some warranty, however the best warranty is to make sure that when buying property title insurance is purchased.
cleartitleaz.wordpress.com 