Quit claim & special warranty deeds - Posted by David TX

import · November 7, 1998, 9:33am

Posted by Jason-DTX on November 07, 1998 at 10:48:30:

A quit claim deed is a deed that says “if I have any interest in this property then I convey it to you.” Anyone can file a quit claim deed even if they don’t own the property. They are used mostly in divorce and from heirs.
A special warranty deed is a deed you receive from someone in special circumstances. Such as a deed from a tax sale or foreclosure. The deed may not be absolute - i.e. the previous owner from a tax sale will have the right to redeem the property so the sherrif will only give you a special warranty deed. There may be other technical differences but this should give you the main idea of each deed.
Jason

import · November 7, 1998, 9:33am

Posted by David TX on November 07, 1998 at 10:33:05:

Would someone please define and/or explain the difference between these two types of deeds? Thanks!

import · November 7, 1998, 10:50am

Re: Quit claim & special warranty deeds - Posted by Rob FL

Posted by Rob FL on November 07, 1998 at 11:50:08:

The difference in the deeds is in the liability to the seller for the title to the property.

A quit-claim deed says basically, whatever rights or interest we have in the property we give them up. This is usually used in probate, divorce, and clouds on title.

A special warranty deed says that the seller WARRANTS that he is giving good title only as to the time frame that he has owned the property but not as to anyone else’s ownership. Here is an example, Smith owns a property. Nationsbank forecloses on Smith. Smith has a federal tax lien for $5,000 against him which was accidentally not foreclosed and therefore is a cloud on the title. When Nationsbank resells to new Buyer “Jones”, Nationsbank gives a special warranty deed saying that they are giving good title only as to their period of ownership. Jones could not sue Nationsbank for giving Jones bad title because of the federal tax lien against Smith.

Of course a general warranty deed WARRANTS that the title is completely free from title defects and if not the seller may be sued in order to cure the title.

Hope that helps.