BAD WORD: “QUIT CLAIM DEED”

I said a bad word on the radio—“Quit Claim Deed.”  Don’t say that in front of your mother or write it on the bathroom wall!  

When you convey property using a Quit Claim Deed, you give all interest you have in that property IF ANY—but you might not have any interest.  There are no warranties.  

Let’s say Henry bought a nice home from a family member and paid cash.  Because the transaction was among family, everybody decided to save cost and do the transfer without an attorney or title company.  They’d heard from their friend that because there was no closing involved, it was a fast transfer of interest, it was a QUICK claim deed.  (Please pay attention to the spelling—it’s a quit claim deed, not a quick or fast deed.)  

DON’T DO IT.  By using a Quit Claim Deed, the title insurance policy on the property was voided.  Quit claim deeds are great for cleaning up title related issues, but not much more.  

(Quit claim deeds can also be an easy way for someone to commit fraud.)

With few exceptions, always get a WARRANTY DEED instead of a quit claim deed.