How to Read a Deed (What Every Section Means)

A deed is short, dense, and written in language that has barely changed in two hundred years. Once you know what each block is doing, it becomes readable in about five minutes. Here is every section, in the order you will meet it.

1. The title of the instrument

Usually the first line, and it tells you how much protection the buyer is getting. Warranty Deed, Bargain and Sale Deed with Covenant against Grantor’s Acts, Quitclaim Deed, Executor’s Deed, Referee’s Deed in Foreclosure. In New York City the bargain and sale deed with covenants is the everyday instrument.

2. The date and the parties

The grantor gives the property. The grantee receives it. Read both names character by character and compare them to identification and to the prior deed. A middle initial that appears on one document and not another is the single most common reason a closing stalls, and it is fixed with a one and the same person affidavit.

Addresses for both parties usually appear here too, and marital status is often stated because it can affect spousal rights.

3. How the grantees will hold title

This short phrase carries enormous weight, because it decides what happens when one owner dies.

Tenants in common each own a share that passes through their estate. Joint tenants with right of survivorship means the survivor takes the whole automatically. Tenants by the entirety is a form reserved for married couples that adds creditor protection.

If your deed says tenants in common and you assumed the property would simply pass to the co-owner, that assumption is wrong, and it is worth catching now rather than in Surrogate’s Court.

4. The consideration clause

The stated price. You will frequently see a nominal figure such as ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration, particularly on family transfers. That does not mean the property sold for ten dollars. See why people put $10 on a deed.

The real number appears on the transfer tax forms filed alongside the deed, not usually in the deed itself.

5. The granting clause

The operative words. Phrases like does hereby grant and release are what actually transfer the interest. Everything before this is setup and everything after is description.

6. The legal description

The part everyone skips and the part most worth reading. Street addresses change and are not legally definitive. The legal description is.

In New York City you will see the borough, block and lot, the BBL, which is the property’s permanent identifier in city systems. See how to find a BBL.

You may also see a metes and bounds description, which walks the boundary in compass bearings and distances from a fixed starting point and returns to where it began. If the description does not close, or does not match the prior deed, that is a problem for a surveyor and an attorney.

7. Subject to clauses

Easily the most overlooked lines on the page. Anything listed here is an exception the buyer is accepting: recorded easements, utility rights of way, covenants and restrictions, zoning conditions, existing tenancies, sometimes a mortgage that is not being paid off.

Whatever appears after the words subject to is not covered by the grantor’s promises. Read this section twice.

8. The habendum clause

The to have and to hold language. It defines the extent of the estate being conveyed, normally a fee simple absolute, meaning full ownership without a time limit.

9. The covenants

The promises, if any. A general warranty deed carries six. A bargain and sale with covenants carries one, that the grantor has not personally encumbered the property. A quitclaim carries none. See what a general warranty deed promises.

Deed ready to sign?

A missing or defective acknowledgment is the most common reason a deed gets rejected at recording. We notarize it correctly and file it through ACRIS.

See deed recording

10. The trust fund clause

A New York feature. Many deeds include language under the Lien Law requiring the grantor to hold consideration received as a trust fund to pay for improvements first. It appears routinely and is rarely negotiated.

11. Signatures

Only the grantor signs a deed. The grantee normally does not. That surprises people, but the grantee is receiving, not promising.

The signature must match the grantor’s name as written in the body of the deed. If a corporation or LLC is conveying, the signer’s title and authority should be stated.

12. The acknowledgment

The notarial certificate, and the reason a notary is involved at all. It records the state and county, the date, that the signer appeared and was identified, and it carries the notary’s signature, stamp, commission county and expiration date.

Note what it certifies: that the person who appeared is who they claim to be. It says nothing about whether the deed is accurate, whether the grantor truly owns the property, or whether the transfer is a good idea. A defective or missing acknowledgment will get the deed rejected at recording, which is the most common avoidable delay we see.

13. Recording data

Stamped on when the county accepts it. In New York City you will see a CRFN, the City Register File Number, plus the recording date and time. That stamp is what makes the transfer public and effective against later claims. An unrecorded deed can be valid between the two parties and still leave the new owner exposed.

You can pull any recorded deed yourself through ACRIS.

Five things to check every time

Names spelled identically to the prior deed and to current identification
The tenancy language, especially for co-owners and married couples
The legal description matching the prior deed exactly
Everything listed after subject to
A complete acknowledgment with the notary’s expiration date filled in

Frequently asked questions

Does the buyer sign the deed?

Generally no. The grantor signs and the grantor’s signature is acknowledged.

Where do I find my deed?

Through ACRIS for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, or the Richmond County Clerk for Staten Island. See how to get a copy of your deed.

What if I find a mistake?

Minor name discrepancies are usually handled with an affidavit. Substantive errors may require a correction deed, which is an attorney question.

Is a deed the same as the title?

No. The deed is the document that transfers ownership. Title is the ownership itself.

Reading the recording stamp

The stamp a county adds is not decoration. In New York City it carries a CRFN, the City Register File Number, plus the date and time of recording. That number is how the document is located afterwards, and it is what you quote when ordering a certified copy.

Check the recording date against the date of signing. A long gap between the two is worth asking about, because a deed that sat unrecorded for months leaves a window in which other claims could have been recorded first. Priority in New York generally runs on recording order.

What is not on the deed

People expect a deed to answer questions it was never designed to answer.

It does not show the mortgage balance, or whether a mortgage exists at all. Mortgages are recorded as separate instruments, and so are their satisfactions. It does not show unpaid taxes, water charges or violations. It does not show whether the boundary matches what is on the ground, which is a survey question. And it does not prove that the person who signed had the right to sign, which is what a title search exists to establish.

A deed is a record of one transfer. The full picture is the whole chain plus everything recorded alongside it.