Virginia & West Virginia
Residential Title Search
Before you buy a home, someone has to read everything the public record says about it. Old liens, judgments against past owners, easements, and gaps in the chain all travel with the property. We find them while there is still time to fix them.
A title search is the part of a home purchase nobody sees and everybody depends on. It is a careful reading of decades of public records to answer one question: does the seller actually own what they are selling, and what comes along with it? We do that work across Virginia and West Virginia, and our principals are attorneys who read the results themselves.
Written by Anthony I. Shin, Esq., Principal at Prime Title & Escrow, LLC, serving buyers, sellers, lenders, and real estate professionals across Virginia and West Virginia.
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What a title search actually examines
Not the house. The record behind it. Every deed going back through prior owners, every loan recorded against it, every judgment docketed against a name in that chain, and every easement or restriction someone recorded along the way. The one minute video covers it.
A search is a reading of the public record, not an inspection of the property. We trace the deeds backward through prior owners to confirm each transfer was valid and complete, pull every deed of trust and lien recorded against the property, search the judgment docket against each owner's name, and collect the easements, covenants, and restrictions that bind the land. The result is a picture of what you are actually buying, which is not always the same as what you toured.
What a title search looks for, in under a minute
The part people miss
A title search looks at the owner as much as the property. Judgments attach to a person and then reach whatever real estate that person owns in the locality, without anything ever being filed against the house itself. That is why searching the deed records alone is not a title search, and why a name that appears three owners back still matters today.
Why It Matters
Why an attorney-led title firm reads the search differently
Anyone can pull documents. The value is in knowing which ones create a problem, which are routine, and what it takes to clear the difference. That is legal judgment, and our principals are attorneys who apply it to your file directly.
01
We read the chain, not just the summary
A clean-looking abstract can sit on top of a defective transfer three owners back. We follow the chain to a solid root and confirm each link actually conveyed what it claimed to convey.
02
We search names, not only the parcel
Judgments, tax liens, and estate matters attach to people rather than to a lot number. Every owner in the chain gets searched against the docket, and name matches get resolved rather than assumed.
03
We tell you what it means
An easement across your side yard is not the same problem as an unreleased deed of trust. You get a plain explanation of what each item does to your ownership and what we are doing about it.
What We Find
What a residential title search turns up
Most searches come back clean enough to close on schedule. The ones that do not usually trip on one of these:
Loans that were never released
A mortgage paid off years ago should have a release recorded behind it. When that step was skipped, the old lien still sits on the record and behaves like an unpaid one until someone tracks down the lender and clears it.
Judgments against a name in the chain
A docketed judgment attaches to real estate the debtor owns in that locality, with nothing filed against the parcel itself. Sometimes the judgment belongs to a different person with the same name, which still has to be cleared with an affidavit before a policy can issue.
Easements and restrictions you inherit
Utility rights of way, shared driveways, drainage easements, and recorded covenants limiting what can be built all pass with the land. None of them stops a sale. All of them change what you can do with the property, so you should know before closing rather than after.
Gaps, heirs, and missing signatures
A deceased owner never cleared from the record, an estate that was never opened, a spouse whose signature was needed and missing, or a transfer that left a break in the chain. These take the longest to fix, which is why finding them early matters more than finding them at all.
Our Role, Step by Step
What we handle from order to policy
1
Open the file and order the search
As soon as we have the contract or your lender's order, we open the file and begin the search. Ordering early is the single biggest thing that protects a closing date.
2
Examine the chain and the names
We trace the deeds back to a solid root, pull every recorded lien, and search the judgment docket against each owner's name in the locality where the property sits.
3
Issue the title commitment
You and your agent receive a written commitment listing what we found: what has to be cleared before closing, and what will remain as an exception on the policy.
4
Clear the requirements
We obtain payoffs and releases, resolve name and identity questions, coordinate estate or deed work where the record needs correcting, and keep everyone posted on where it stands.
5
Insure, close, and record
We issue the policies, handle settlement and the funds, record the deed, and leave the record in the condition the search said it should be.
Straight Talk
What we do, and what stays outside our lane
A title search answers a specific question. It is worth being clear about which questions it does not answer, so nothing is assumed.
What Prime Title handles
- A full search of the chain of title, recorded liens, and the judgment docket
- A written title commitment showing requirements and exceptions
- Clearing what the search turns up, from payoffs and releases to identity affidavits
- Owner's and lender's title insurance policies
- Acting as your settlement agent and escrow holder through recording
What a title search does not do
- It does not inspect the house or report on its condition
- It does not survey the land or locate the boundary lines on the ground
- It does not value the property or tell you whether the price is right
- It does not reveal matters that were never recorded, which is one reason an owner's policy matters
- It does not resolve a boundary dispute or tell you where to build
A search reads the record. An inspection reads the building and a survey reads the land. All three answer different questions, and a careful purchase uses all three.
Who We Work With
Built for the families we close for
Buyers under contract
You have a ratified contract and a settlement date. Our job is to find anything in the record that could threaten that date while there is still room to fix it.
Owners getting ready to list
Finding an unreleased lien or an unresolved estate before you list is a scheduling matter. Finding it two weeks before settlement is a crisis. A search ahead of listing turns one into the other.
Cash buyers and family transfers
With no lender requiring a search, it is easy to skip. The hidden risks are identical whether or not a bank is involved, and the buyer absorbs all of them.
Questions
Title search questions, answered plainly
What does a title search actually look for?
Whether the seller can convey clean ownership, and what comes with the property. That means tracing the deeds back through prior owners, pulling every recorded loan and lien, searching the judgment docket against each owner's name, and collecting the easements and restrictions recorded against the land.
How long does a residential title search take?
The examination itself is usually quick. What sets the timeline is what turns up. A clean record moves fast, while an unreleased lien, an unresolved estate, or a judgment needing an identity affidavit can take weeks to clear. That is the argument for ordering the search early rather than close to settlement.
Do I still need one if I am paying cash?
Yes, and arguably more. With no lender requiring the search, nobody else is protecting your interest in it. The risks in the record are identical whether or not there is a loan, and a cash buyer absorbs every one of them without a lender's policy standing behind anything.
What is the difference between a title search and title insurance?
The search finds what is in the record. The insurance protects you against what the record did not reveal, such as a forged deed, an unknown heir, or a filing error at the courthouse. One is investigation and the other is protection, and a careful purchase uses both.
How far back does a search go?
Back to a point where the chain rests on a reliable root, which depends on the property and the locality rather than a fixed number of years. The purpose is a chain that holds together, not a set date, so an older property with a complicated history is examined further back than a lot in a recent subdivision.
What happens if the search finds a problem?
Most items are cleared as a matter of routine. We obtain payoff figures and releases, resolve identity questions with affidavits, and coordinate any deed or estate work the record needs. Where something cannot be cleared before closing, you are told what it is and what it means before you decide how to proceed, not after.
Buying, selling, or just want the record checked?
Send us the property address and your timeline and we will open the file and start the search. Clear answers about what is on the record, in time to do something about it.