Warranty Deeds
A warranty deed is a deed that gives the grantee assurances about the quality of the title being conveyed.
12. Warranty Deeds
Warranty deeds provide assurances to the grantee of property as to the quality of title conveyed.
- [The warranty deed contains six covenants: (1) that the grantor holds title and possession of the property, (2) that the grantor has the legal right to convey it to the grantee, (3) that the property has no encumbrances, (4) that they grantor will defend the grantee against any lawful claims of superior title, (5) that the grantee’s possession will not be disturbed by one with superior title, and (6) that the grantor will take whatever steps are reasonably necessary to cure title defects existing at closing. The Nevada FLE requires recall of only the third and fifth of these warranties.]
- There are two types of warranty deeds: general warranty deeds and special warranty deeds.
- A general warranty deed offers the assurances listed above for the full chain of title, up until the moment the grantor conveys title to another.
- A special warranty deed guarantees only against problems or defects that arose during the grantor’s period of ownership.
A warranty deed gives the grantee covenants of title. Of the six, the FLE tests only the third (no encumbrances) and the fifth (undisturbed possession against superior title). A general warranty deed backs the full chain of title; a special warranty deed covers only the grantor's own period of ownership.
A warranty deed is a deed that gives the grantee assurances about the quality of the title being conveyed. Those assurances are called covenants of title. The full list contains six covenants, but the Nevada FLE requires recall of only two of them, the third and the fifth, so focus your memory there.
- 3The covenant against encumbrances: the grantor promises that the property has no encumbrances, things like liens, mortgages, or easements burdening the title.
- 5The promise that the grantee's possession will not be disturbed by someone holding superior title, often called the covenant of quiet enjoyment of title.
The other dimension to know is the difference between the two types of warranty deed, which is really a question of how far back in time the covenants reach. A general warranty deed offers the assurances for the full chain of title, all the way back, up until the moment the grantor conveys to the grantee; the grantor is standing behind title problems created by anyone in the property's history, not just himself. A special warranty deed is narrower: it guarantees only against problems or defects that arose during the grantor's own period of ownership. So if a defect was created by some prior owner before this grantor took title, a special warranty deed does not cover it, while a general warranty deed does.
Do not confuse the fifth covenant with the landlord-tenant covenant of quiet enjoyment from leases; here it is a promise about title, that no one with a better claim will oust the grantee. And do not swap which deed covers which span: general is the whole chain, special is only the grantor's tenure.
"General covers everyone's mess; special covers only mine."
A general warranty deed backs title for the full chain of title up to the conveyance; a special warranty deed covers only defects arising during the grantor's own ownership.
The FLE tests only two of the six covenants: number three, no encumbrances, and number five, the grantee's possession won't be disturbed by one with superior title.
Don't confuse that fifth title covenant with the landlord-tenant covenant of quiet enjoyment, here it is about superior title, not a landlord's interference.
A grantor conveys a parcel to a grantee by a warranty deed. Two title problems later surface. The first is an old mortgage lien on the property that a prior owner placed on it years before the grantor ever acquired the land. The second is a claimant who shows up holding genuinely superior title and threatens to oust the grantee from possession.
So the same lien is covered under a general warranty deed but not under a special warranty deed, while the superior-title disturbance implicates the fifth covenant in either deed, subject to the same span limitation for a special warranty deed.
An option swaps the deed types, saying a special warranty deed covers the full chain of title or a general warranty deed covers only the grantor's ownership period.
A general warranty deed reaches the full chain of title up to the conveyance; a special warranty deed covers only defects arising during the grantor's ownership.An option treats the fifth title covenant as the landlord-tenant covenant of quiet enjoyment, framing it as a landlord's interference with use.
In a warranty deed the covenant concerns the grantee's possession against one with superior title, not a landlord's conduct.An option points to a covenant the FLE does not test (right to convey, title and possession, further assurances) as the answer when the issue is an encumbrance or a superior-title disturbance.
The FLE-tested covenants are the third (no encumbrances) and the fifth (undisturbed possession against superior title).An option says a special warranty deed protects against any title defect whatsoever, or that a warranty deed guarantees against all defects.
A special warranty deed guarantees only against defects that arose during the grantor's period of ownership.a grantee takes land by a warranty deed and later a title problem surfaces, a lien, mortgage, or easement (an encumbrance), or a claimant with superior title who threatens the grantee's possession.
match the problem to a tested covenant: an encumbrance implicates the third covenant (no encumbrances); a superior-title ouster implicates the fifth covenant (undisturbed possession).
Then ask which type of deed: a general warranty deed reaches the full chain of title up to the conveyance, so it covers even a prior owner's defect; a special warranty deed covers only defects arising during the grantor's own ownership.
Watch for two traps: confusing the fifth title covenant with the landlord-tenant covenant of quiet enjoyment, and swapping which deed covers the full chain versus only the grantor's tenure.
A grantor conveyed a parcel to a grantee by warranty deed. After the conveyance, the grantee learned that a previously undisclosed lien encumbered the property. The grantee pointed to the deed's assurance that the property had no encumbrances and sought to hold the grantor to that promise.
Which covenant of the warranty deed does the lien implicate?
A grantee took a parcel by warranty deed. Sometime later, a third party appeared holding genuinely superior title to the land and threatened to oust the grantee from possession. The grantee invoked the warranty deed, relying on the deed's assurance that her possession would not be disturbed by someone with a better claim.
Which covenant of the warranty deed protects the grantee here?
A grantor conveyed land by a general warranty deed. After the sale, the grantee discovered a title defect that had been created by an owner who held the land long before the grantor ever acquired it. The grantee sought to hold the grantor responsible under the deed, and the grantor argued that he could not be liable for a problem he had not created.
Does the general warranty deed cover the defect created by the prior owner?
A grantor conveyed a parcel by a special warranty deed. After the conveyance, the grantee found that a title defect burdened the land, and it turned out the defect had been created by an owner who held the parcel before the grantor acquired it. The grantee sought to recover from the grantor under the deed.
Is the defect covered by the special warranty deed?
A grantee took title to a home by a warranty deed. A neighbor later asserted a recorded easement across the property that burdened the title and that neither party had disclosed at closing. The grantee, treating the easement as an encumbrance, looked to the deed's assurance on that point.
Which covenant of the warranty deed does the easement implicate?