Checking a property title before you pay

Start with a certified true copy

Ask the seller for the title number and pull a Certified True Copy (CTC) yourself from the Registry of Deeds that holds it — never rely on a photocopy the seller hands you. A CTC shows the registered owner, the property description and, critically, every annotation on the title.

Match the name on the title to the person you are dealing with. If a representative is selling, ask for a notarised Special Power of Attorney (SPA) and verify it.

Read the encumbrances page

The back of the title — the annotations — is where the risk lives:

• Mortgages — an existing bank or private mortgage that must be settled and cancelled before or at closing.
• Liens and adverse claims — court attachments, lis pendens notices or third-party claims against the property.
• Encumbrances — easements, right-of-way grants or leasehold annotations that limit how the land can be used.
• Multiple sales — the same property annotated twice is a red flag demanding a lawyer, not a negotiation.

Cross-check the tax declaration and payments

The municipal assessor's Tax Declaration should match the title's lot area and classification. Ask for the latest Real Property Tax receipts — arrears follow the property, so an unpaid year becomes your problem at transfer.

For raw land, confirm the actual boundaries against a relocation survey or the title's technical description — a cheap geodetic survey beats an expensive boundary dispute.

When to bring a lawyer

Any annotation you do not understand, any seller who resists a CTC pull, any "mother title" subdivision resale, or any estate sale (where heirs' signatures are needed) is lawyer territory. The fee is small next to the price of a bad title.