I write title insurance in Miami with The Fund and can tell you that their heads of education have advised me against using a Quit Claim Deed for any purpose. Now they can explain the technical reasons behind why as lawyers and as a Title Company we should discourage the practice of using a Quit Claim Deed but the practical reason for it is to avoid the scrutiny. I have been told by more than one underwriter that a Quit Claim Deed that is recently in the chain will raise suspicions about the transfer. For one, it raises the question of whether there may have been a fraudulent transfer. Secondly, documentary stamp taxes may not have been properly paid.

If you ate divorcing and are told to do a QCD then ask your lawyer about incorporating the transfer of property within the Final Judgment.

If you need to transfer property to a related party then I suggest using a Special Warranty Deed and having your lawyer even put language in the Deed that no doc stamp tax is required.

Quit Claim Deeds may be easy to write but can cause more headaches when you sell the property in the future. Make sure that you consult with a real estate professional about whether a Quit Claim Deed, Special Warranty Deed or Warranty Deed is best for your circumstances.

Bankruptcy is now a common place problem in title commitments.  The reality is that your title company needs to have experience in cleaning up these problems.  Most often you will see a bankruptcy issue in the chain of title when purchasing an REO (a bank owned property).  The right measures to take when seeing a suggestion of bankruptcy in the chain of title is to first go to the bankruptcy website known as Pacer to look up the docket and view the documents that were part of the bankruptcy.  Reviewing the file to make sure that the foreclosing comapny did there job properly is so important to avoid title issues in the future.  If you find yourself buying an a bank owned property where you can select your title agent then please call us so that we can help guide you through these often tricky transactions.  The bank certainly has a lawyer looking out for their interest so you should have one too.