As a buyer or seller there is a lot of personal and private details you have to share with multiple parties. A few of these being your full legal name, marriage history, and social security number. A title company must have these important pieces of information to ensure the transfer of clear title. During a title search, we are looking through a thorough history of the property, looking for liens & judgments, and looking for individuals with claim to the property. Without the full information of those buying or selling the property, the search may not be comprehensive, leading to potential issues in the future.
Let’s discuss why these three pieces of information are so important to the title company working the transaction and what exactly the information tells us.
- Full Legal Name
- For males, the items we look for are suffixes (i.e. Jr., III, etc.). You probably don’t want any family members buying property under your name or give them any claim to the property you’re buying or selling.
- For females, the items we look for are middle, maiden, and married names. Some women will drop their maiden name, while others will drop their middle name when getting married. These variations in someone’s name can add confusion or errors in a file. It’s best to give any/all names you have been associated with, even previous marriages.
- Marriage History
- Although it’s a sensitive topic, it’s important to ensure that there are no legal complications when selling or purchasing a property. Therefore, we need to check if any previous spouse has a claim to the property. If there is a claim, both parties must sign certain paperwork to resolve the issue. Doing this search up-front can save a lot of heartache later.
- Although it’s a sensitive topic, it’s important to ensure that there are no legal complications when selling or purchasing a property. Therefore, we need to check if any previous spouse has a claim to the property. If there is a claim, both parties must sign certain paperwork to resolve the issue. Doing this search up-front can save a lot of heartache later.
- Social Security Number
- To irrevocably prove that it’s you in this transaction, we need your social security number. This number leaves no room for interpretation and shows you are the rightful purchaser or seller.
Though this information is very private and sometimes difficult to share, it is necessary in a real estate transaction to successfully transfer title. We at Choice Title never share personal information and only communicate these items in secure email and portals.