Title Or Ownership of Subject Property

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

I. TITLE OR OWNERSHIP OF SUBJECT PROPERTY

It must be determined who currently owns the subject property, who are the record owners² of the property, who owned the property at the time it was encumbered by the subject deed of trust or mortgage, and who was in title during the period between the origination of the subject deed of trust or mortgage and the through date of the title report. This information impacts whether there is a title issue pertaining to ownership, what parties need to be named as defendants in the foreclosure action and served with the order to docket package and other filings, and what parties need to be sent certain required notices.

A. Chain of Title

The title report, and title updates if applicable, should provide both the chain of title for the time period covered by the report(s) and copies of the deeds in that chain. These items need to be reviewed to confirm that the chain of title is complete. This involves confirming that each transfer or conveyance is from a party that had an ownership interest in the property and that all parties with ownership interests (either through one deed or a series of deeds) conveyed out their interest to the next owner.

An example of a complete chain would be: A and B own the property and they convey to C, then C later conveys to D, E, and F, then D, E, and F convey to G and H, the current record owners. If it is found that there is a party in the chain who did not convey out his or her interest, such as if E never deeded to G and H, then it needs to be determined whether E's interest is a "missing interest" (i.e., a title issue) or if there is a reason why it might be acceptable that the party did not convey out. Possible situations where it might be acceptable that a party did not convey out include if the property was owned by two or more parties as unsevered tenants by the entireties or joint tenants and one party passed away so that their interest transferred automatically, as a matter of law, to the surviving tenant(s), or if a party in ownership passed away and their share is held by the Personal Representative of that party's estate or has been conveyed by the Personal Representative to an heir or third party. There also might be a court order that somehow addresses the ownership of the property.

When evaluating a missing interest, also be aware of name changes that might account for the possible missing interest. Information about a name change may be in the deed either as an alias or in the being clause recitations, in other recorded documents, in court records for a name change or divorce case, or in estate documents.

In any event, if there is a missing interest and no acceptable reason for that is found and documented for your file, then this is a title issue for which a title claim or some other title resolution will be needed.

B. Valid Conveyances

In addition to confirming that the chain of title is complete, the deeds need to be reviewed to verify that the conveyances are valid. The requirements for a valid conveyance in Maryland can be found in the Real Property Article of...