A quiet title is a lawsuit filed to establish ownership of a property. The end goal is to ensure that the current owner has a clear title granting ownership that is free of liens and disputes.
There are basically two reasons to file a quiet title:
There is a defect with the technical title
There’s not really a question of ownership, but discrepancies muddy up the issue enough to make it unwise to risk your money. until you have everything correctly documented.
There is an ownership dispute
Each time a property changes hands, a new link is added to the chain of ownership. As the chain of owners increases, it is possible that one of the previous owners had a lien against the property or some other type of dispute. A quiet title can help reveal those sorts of issues.
Quiet title actions are also used when more than one person believes they own the property. This is typical where there was an inheritance dispute at some point in the past.
Do it before you proceed with a purchase
As an interested party, you have the right to file to quiet a title, and you may need to do so to obtain a mortgage. The lending company wants to make sure that they do not get tangled up in problems because they approved your mortgage when they shouldn’t have done so. Filing a quiet title lawsuit can literally quiet the problems with the chain of ownership.
Should you need to file one, you would benefit from seeking assistance to avoid further discrepancies or disputes.