Real Estate Deeds Made Easy Since 1997 – Deeds.com
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It’s a question on many minds, especially now, with the federal Road to Housing Act opening new opportunities for manufactured homes. Some current deed holders are thinking of switching to a low-maintenance prefab home well before they need to, just…
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What’s Ugly? Forgery and Lies and Ruining Lives
Regular Deeds.com readers will have seen this one coming. Yes, it finally happened. A former “We Buy Ugly Houses” franchise owner has received a 15-plus-year sentence for wire fraud. Although… Not before his home investment scheme reportedly sucked $39 million…
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Couple Terrified as “Zombie HOA” Takes Over Their House (And Other Stories)
A couple got engaged and bought their first home in 2022. It’s a freestanding home. The listing specified: no homeowners association (HOA). Their real estate agent confirmed that. But now, a “zombie HOA” from the 1990s is coming back to…
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Word to the “Older and Wiser”: Keep Your Deed. Pick Your Caregivers Carefully.
Nora R. of Baltimore is struggling in a way no adult child ever should. Nora’s dad died in South Carolina. What happened to his deed? This is the true story, currently unfolding. The father was receiving care at home after…
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Could the Deed to Your House Be Haunted by a Missing Heir?
Most people die intestate—that is, without leaving a willwhen they go. This typically leaves a probate court using public channels to find parties owed money by the deceased, as well as possible heirs. If no heir is found, then the…
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Pop Quiz: Will Your Final Mortgage Payoff Trigger a Defeasance Clause?
In some states, you take title at closing. In other areas, you aren’t the legal title holder before your final mortgage payment. It all depends on the mortgage law in your state. What’s the difference between the states? A defeasance…
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AI Roundup: House-Fishing, Enhanced Documents, and AI-Drafted Deeds
Has artificial intelligence begun to make a mockery of a home seller’s duty to disclose? If so, we’d better be aware. And perhaps it’s time for the law to step in. Here’s the latest.
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Home Equity Sharing Agreements: Should They Be Regulated Like Mortgages?
Now and then at Deeds.com, we alert our readers to the vital importance of guarding a home’s equity. There are risks involved with any agreement that would place a lien on a deed. One way to leverage home equity we’ve…
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Leaving the House to the Kids (Plural)? Take Care to Leave Clear Instructions.
It’s very common for an older deed holder to want to leave what they own to future generations. But can we get specific? Who, exactly, will possess the home? Because leaving a home to more than one person can get…
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Sharing the Deed: What Concurrent Ownership Means
When more than one person holds a deed to the same property at the same time, they hold concurrent ownership. There’s another legal term for what they have. That’s “unity” in the ownership. In law school, students learn how people…
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What Is a Rider to a Home Purchase and Sale Agreement?
What is a rider in real estate? It’s language that expands on or clarifies the contents of a written contract. In this case, a purchase and sale (“P&S”) agreement. Contract riders address specific concerns of a buyer or seller. They…
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Deed Theft Can Happen to Anyone—Even More So to Senior and Black Homeowners
Deed theft can happen to anyone. It affects wealthy or modest households. It can happen to a city penthouse or a farm in the country, a beach house or an unbuilt lot. But today, most of all, the targets are…
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Buying a Pre-Foreclosure Home: What’s It Like?
Foreclosure is a mortgage lender’s legal repossession of a home in order to sell it and get back the balance of the unpaid home loan. Pre-foreclosure, as you might guess, is that window of time when a homeowner has fallen…
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Roadmap: Is It Time to Transfer Your Deed to a Living Trust?
With a revocable trust (a.k.a. living trust), a deed holder may keep full control and use of a home for life. The creator (grantor) makes the trust for a beneficiary. A named trustee — and a named successor trustee to…
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A County Takes On the Con Artists. Will Families Recover Their Houston Deeds?
Houston spans four counties. The most populous among them, Harris County, is dealing with a stunning rash of deed fraud. The county has filed court actions charging a slew of defendants over a wide-ranging scheme. Houston families are now hoping…
