Resources — Title, Closing & Wire-Fraud Guides

FAQ

Straight answers about title insurance, closing, and what to expect while your file is open.

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Four rules that protect your money from wire fraud when buying or selling a home.

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The industry procedures and safeguards we follow to protect your privacy and your information.

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Title and closing terms

Plain-English definitions of the words you’ll see in your closing documents.

Chain of title: The recorded history of a property’s ownership, from one owner to the next.
Closing Disclosure: The form your lender gives you at least three business days before closing, showing your final loan terms and closing costs.
Curative work: Steps taken before closing to clear title problems, such as paying off a mortgage, releasing a lien, or correcting an error in an earlier deed.
Deed: The document that transfers ownership from the seller to the buyer. It is recorded with the county Register of Deeds.
Deed of trust: The document that secures most home loans in Tennessee. It names a trustee who can sell the property if the loan isn’t repaid.
Earnest money: A good-faith deposit the buyer makes after signing the purchase contract. It is usually applied to the down payment or closing costs at closing.
Easement: A right someone else has to use part of a property for a specific purpose, such as a utility line or a shared driveway.
Encroachment: A structure, such as a fence or driveway, that crosses onto a neighboring property.
Endorsement: An add-on to a title insurance policy that changes its coverage, usually to expand it.
Lender’s title insurance: A policy that protects the lender, up to the loan amount, against covered title problems. Most lenders require one.
Lien: A legal claim against a property for an unpaid debt, such as a mortgage, unpaid taxes, or a contractor’s bill.
Owner’s title insurance: A policy that protects the buyer’s own stake in the home against covered title problems that began before the purchase. It is optional, paid once at closing, and lasts as long as you or your heirs own the property.
Recording: Filing a document in the county’s public records, which puts everyone on notice of it.
Register of Deeds: The county office in Tennessee that records deeds, deeds of trust, and other property documents.
Settlement agent: The person or company that runs the closing and collects and pays out funds as the contract and lender direct. In Tennessee, this is often a title company.
Survey: A drawing of a property’s boundaries, buildings, and easements, prepared by a licensed surveyor.
Title: Legal ownership of a property.
Title commitment: The title insurer’s offer to insure a property. It lists requirements that must be met before closing and exceptions the policy won’t cover.
Title search: A review of public records — deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments, taxes, and probate filings — to confirm who owns a property and what claims are attached to it.
Transfer tax: Tennessee’s tax on recording a deed: 37 cents per $100 of the sale price or the property’s value, whichever is greater.

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to your attorney.

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