Glossary of "Real Estate Contract" Terms

CHAIN OF TITLE

          The recorded history of matters that affect the title to a specific parcel of real property, such as ownership, encumbrances and liens, usually beginning with the original record source of the title.  The chain of title shows the successive changes of ownership, each one linked to the next so that a “chain” is formed.

          Ownership of a particular property frequently passes through many hands subsequent to the original grant.  If any link is broken in a property’s chain of title, then the current “owner” does not have valid title to the property.  For example, if a forged deed was somewhere in the chain, then no subsequent grantee would have acquired legal title to the property.