Jump to Section
When you’re thinking of buying a home, you probably know that ownership of the home will be transferred to you through a deed. But did you know there are several types of deeds that all offer differing levels of protection against claims from third parties?
So, in order to know what level of protection you’ll enjoy, it’s essential that you understand the different types of deeds and the differences between them. In this post, we’ll delve deeper into what special warranty deeds are and when they’re used.
What is a Special Warranty Deed?
In real estate, a special warranty deed is a legal document where the seller of a property, also known as the grantor, warrants only against anything that happened during their physical ownership of a property. In simple terms, the grantor does not guarantee against any issues that existed before the grantor took ownership of the property.
As a result, in terms of a special warranty deed, the grantor is only liable for debts or other issues that happened when they owned the property. This may come into play if the buyer of the property discovers an issue, but the seller is able to prove the issue existed before they took ownership.
Purpose of Special Warranty Deed
A warranty deed provides the transfer of ownership or title to a commercial or residential real estate property from the current owner to the new owner. It comes with certain specific guarantees that are made by the seller.
These guarantees include that the property the seller transfers to the new owner is free-and-clear of ownership claims, outstanding liens or mortgages, or any other issues by individuals or entities against the property.
The main purpose of a special warranty deed is to limit the warranties given by the seller to issues that occurred only when the seller had ownership of the property. For this reason, it's also often referred to as a limited warranty deed. In simple terms, the special warranty deed is less comprehensive and offers less protection to buyers due to the time frame where it provides guarantees being limited.
Since this is a special warranty deed, it must contain additional information to the standard information that a general deed contains, which is what makes it special.
Both general and special warranty deeds need to contain the following information:
- The name of the seller, also called the grantor.
- The name of the buyer, also called the grantee.
- The physical location or address of the property.
- A statement that the grantor intends to transfer the property to the grantee.
- A warranty that the grantor is the rightful owner of the property and has the legal right to transfer the property into the name of the grantee.
- A warranty by the grantor that the property is free-and-clear of all liens and that there are no outstanding claims on the property from any creditors or other individuals.
- A guarantee that the title of the property will withstand any claims to ownership by third parties.
- That the grantor will do whatever is necessary to make good the grantee's title to the property.
In addition to the above, to qualify as a special warranty deed, the deed must also state that:
- There are no outstanding claims against the property that were instituted by any creditor or other individual during the grantor's ownership period.
- A guarantee that the grantor had a clear title of the property only during their time of ownership.
- That, if there is an issue with the title during that period the grantee is not entitled to compensation from the grantor. As a result, the guarantee does not cover the time before the grantor became the owner of the property.
Here is an article about further discusses the purpose of special warranty deeds.
When To Use a Special Warranty Deed
Because of the limited protection special warranty deeds offer buyers, they are rarely used in residential property transactions. In fact, many mortgage lenders require a general warranty deed when a property is transferred from the seller to the buyer for risk purposes.
Special warranty deeds, however, often used in estate matters . This is because the properties are transferred by the executor of an estate or trustee of a living trust to a buyer. Logically, the executor can't be held liable for defects or faults in the title because they never owned the property. Thus, it makes sense to limit their warranties through a special warranty deed.
Likewise, special warranty deeds are often used when the grantor isn't able to make extensive warranties as to the title of the property. An example of this is when a mortgage lender forecloses on a property. In this situation, the mortgage lender may not know the prior history of a property and therefore cannot offer the level of protection when it sells the property.
Although the previous owners who went into foreclosure may have encumbered the title, mortgage companies are not the individuals giving the guarantee that they did not. A special warranty gives the mortgage lender some protection against claims from buyers as a result of encumbrances of the title before foreclosure.
Special warranty deeds are most commonly used in commercial real estate transactions. This is simply because ownership of commercial real estate can have an extensive history of multiple owners, foreclosures, and other issues. As a result, special warranty deeds are needed to protect the current owner of the commercial property.
Explore some of ContractsCounsel’s real estate lawyers .
Image via Pexels by Emre Can
Special Warranty Deed vs. Quitclaim
A quitclaim deed is typically used when the ownership of a property is not transferred because of a traditional sale. For example , they are commonly used when real estate is transferred in terms of a living will as a gift, or when a property is placed in a trust.
They are also quite common when a seller wants to sell a property but isn’t sure what the property boundaries are or whether there are any claims that can be made against the property.
And this is where the main difference with special warranty deeds comes in. With a warranty deed, the buyer has a claim against the seller to recover damages in the event that there’s an uncleared lien or any other issues on the title of the property. A quitclaim deed offers none of this protection and the buyer will have no recourse against the seller.
Here is an article about the differences between warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds.
Get Help With A Special Warranty Deed
When buying a house, ownership is transferred through a deed. Here, there are several types of deeds, each of which offers the grantee different levels of protection in respect of claims and other encumbrances in the title of the property.
As a result, buyers or grantees need to understand the differences between the different types of deeds and what protection they offer. Hopefully, this post helped illustrate these differences.
To find out more about special warranty deeds or other types of deeds, real estate lawyers can advise and guide buyers or grantees on the differences between them. Post a project on ContractsCounsel to get help with a special warranty deed.
Meet some of our Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
Samuel R.
My career interests are to practice Transactional Corporate Law, including Business Start Up, and Mergers and Acquisitions, as well as Real Estate Law, Estate Planning Law, Tax, and Intellectual Property Law. I am currently licensed in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Utah, after having moved to Phoenix from Philadelphia in September 2019. I currently serve as General Counsel for a bioengineering company. I handle everything from their Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Placement Memorandums, and Corporate Structures to Intellectual Property Assignments, to Employment Law and Beach of Contract settlements. Responsibilities include writing and executing agreements, drafting court pleadings, court appearances, mergers and acquisitions, transactional documents, managing expert specialized legal counsel, legal research and anticipating unique legal issues that could impact the Company. Conducted an acquisition of an entire line of intellectual property from a competitor. In regards to other clients, I am primarily focused on transactional law for clients in a variety of industries including, but not limited to, real estate investment, property management, and e-commerce. Work is primarily centered around entity formation and corporate structure, corporate governance agreements, PPMs, opportunity zone tax incentives, and all kinds of business to business agreements. I have also recently gained experience with Estate Planning law, drafting numerous Estate Planning documents for people such as Wills, Powers of Attorney, Healthcare Directives, and Trusts. I was selected to the 2024 Super Lawyers Southwest Rising Stars list. Each year no more than 2.5% of the attorneys in Arizona and New Mexico are selected to the Rising Stars. I am looking to further gain legal experience in these fields of law as well as expand my legal experience assisting business start ups, mergers and acquisitions and also trademark registration and licensing.
Rebecca S.
I absolutely love helping my clients buy their first home, sell their starters, upgrade to their next big adventure, or transition to their next phase of life. The confidence my clients have going into a transaction and through the whole process is one of the most rewarding aspects of practicing this type of law. My very first class in law school was property law, and let me tell you, this was like nothing I’d ever experienced. I remember vividly cracking open that big red book and staring at the pages not having the faintest idea what I was actually reading. Despite those initial scary moments, I grew to love property law. My obsession with real estate law was solidified when I was working in Virginia at a law firm outside DC. I ran the settlement (escrow) department and learned the ins and outs of transactions and the unique needs of the parties. My husband and I bought our first home in Virginia in 2012 and despite being an attorney, there was so much we didn’t know, especially when it came to our HOA and our mortgage. Our real estate agent was a wonderful resource for finding our home and negotiating some of the key terms, but there was something missing in the process. I’ve spent the last 10 years helping those who were in the same situation we were in better understand the process.
Vicki P.
Vicki graduated from Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1996. She is a licensed attorney. She has been admitted to Wisconsin since 1998 and Pennsylvania since 1999.
Paul M.
Transactional attorney and corporate in house counsel for 15 years. Draft all types of contracts and employment agreements.
October 20, 2023
Corey H.
Veritas Global Law, PLLC ("Veritas") is a law firm specializing in Life Sciences, Private Equity, M&A, technology transactions and general corporate law. Veritas frequently represents clients seeking cost a cost efficient, on-demand, general counsel in a variety of general corporate law matters, and a range of contracts including NDAs, MSAs, Software as a Service (Saas) agreements. Veritas also represents U.S. and non-U.S. private investment fund GPs and LPs across a broad range of activities with a particular emphasis on private equity, venture capital, secondary funds, distressed funds and funds of funds. Mr. Harris received his LL.M. from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law and served as an articles editor of the Berkeley Business Law Journal and was an active member of the Berkeley Center for Law Business and the Economy. Additionally, Mr. Harris also holds a J.D. from Boston College Law School, a M.B.A. from the Boston College Carroll School of Management, a B.A. from Hampton University in Political Science with a minor in Economics and Spanish and a certificate in financial valuation from the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School.
October 24, 2023
Samantha P.
Samantha earned her J.D. at the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law and has been a member of the Hawaii State Bar Association since 2020. Samantha has worked as a Family Law attorney in Hawaii since 2020, and has represented clients on a variety of family law matters including: premarital agreements, pre- and post-judgement custody, parenting time and child support issues, pre- and post-divorce issues, interstate custody, and paternity issues. Samantha is a certified E-RYT 200 yoga instructor, taught yoga classes at the Modern Hotel in Waikiki throughout law school, and continues to teach yoga classes at various yoga studios in Honolulu to this day.
October 30, 2023
James S.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-swindle/
Find the best lawyer for your project
Browse Lawyers NowHow It Works
Real Estate lawyers by top cities
- Austin Real Estate Lawyers
- Boston Real Estate Lawyers
- Chicago Real Estate Lawyers
- Dallas Real Estate Lawyers
- Denver Real Estate Lawyers
- Houston Real Estate Lawyers
- Los Angeles Real Estate Lawyers
- New York Real Estate Lawyers
- Phoenix Real Estate Lawyers
- San Diego Real Estate Lawyers
- Tampa Real Estate Lawyers
Special Warranty Deed lawyers by city
- Austin Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Boston Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Chicago Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Dallas Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Denver Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Houston Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Los Angeles Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- New York Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Phoenix Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- San Diego Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
- Tampa Special Warranty Deed Lawyers
ContractsCounsel User
Deed transfer document review
Location: Texas
Turnaround: Less than a week
Service: Contract Review
Doc Type: Special Warranty Deed
Page Count: 1
Number of Bids: 2
Bid Range: $249 - $300
ContractsCounsel User
Special Warranty Deed land sale Pennsylvania
Location: Pennsylvania
Turnaround: A week
Service: Drafting
Doc Type: Special Warranty Deed
Number of Bids: 2
Bid Range: $495 - $700
related contracts
- Addendum to Lease
- ALTA Statement
- Apartment Lease
- Apartment Rental Agreement
- Assignment of Lease
- Boundary Line Agreement
- Brokerage Agreement
- Building Contract
- Building Lease
- Business Office Lease Agreement
other helpful articles
- How much does it cost to draft a contract?
- Do Contract Lawyers Use Templates?
- How do Contract Lawyers charge?
- Business Contract Lawyers: How Can They Help?
- What to look for when hiring a lawyer