Selling a House With Title Problems in Tulsa

How title actually works in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is an abstract state, which surprises people who have bought elsewhere. An abstract of title is a compiled, chronological record of everything filed against the parcel: deeds, mortgages, releases, judgments, liens and easements. The statutory definition sits at 1 O.S. 21(1).

The abstract is examined, an attorney issues a written title opinion on whether title is marketable, and anything the opinion flags then gets what the trade calls curative work: unpaid taxes, judgments, missing releases, probate gaps, breaks in the chain. Immediately before closing the abstract is updated again so nothing new has appeared.

No state law requires an abstract. Custom and your contract govern who furnishes it and who pays to update it, so read that clause rather than assuming.

Our articles on the Oklahoma abstract of title and title insurance in Oklahoma go through the difference between the two, and our page on Tulsa County title companies covers who handles which part.

The problems that actually turn up

An unreleased mortgage. A loan you paid off years ago where the lender never recorded the release. Common, irritating, and a paperwork problem rather than a debt.

Judgment liens. A creditor sued, won and recorded it. Credit cards, medical debt, old business debts. Oklahoma judgments have a statutory life and can expire or need renewal, so an old one is not automatically still enforceable.

Mechanic's and contractor's liens. Filed by somebody who says they were not paid. Our article on mechanic's liens in Oklahoma covers how they work and how long they last.

Probate that was never done. A parent died, everybody carried on, and the deed is still in their name. Nobody living can convey it until authority exists. Our page on the Oklahoma probate timeline and our article on summary administration cover the routes.

A missing or unknown heir. Harder, slower, and genuinely a court matter. Our article on a missing heir deals with it.

Municipal and code liens. The city mowed the lot, boarded the house or demolished a structure and charged it to the property. A demolition lien in particular ranks alongside ad valorem taxes and above most other claims.

Tax liens. Delinquent property tax attaches to the parcel and is settled at closing. Our page on selling with back taxes covers it.

Boundary, easement and survey issues. A fence in the wrong place, an access easement nobody documented, a shed over a line.

What happens to each of these at closing

The title company identifies everything recorded, obtains payoff figures and pays them from your side of the settlement statement, exactly as they pay off your mortgage. You receive what is left.

That single mechanism resolves most of the panic. You are not being asked to clear a judgment out of savings before anybody will buy the house.

What it does cost is time. Payoff figures take days from some creditors and weeks from others, and federal tax liens have their own defined release process. This is why title problems delay closings rather than prevent them.

Some are simply wrong: paid but never released, filed against the wrong parcel, or disputed. A release the creditor never recorded is paperwork, not debt, and establishing that is worth an attorney's time before you assume you owe anything.

The three situations where it is a real problem

The claims exceed the equity. If what is recorded against the house is more than the house will fetch, there is nothing to pay it with. That is a solvency problem, not a title problem, and it needs an attorney rather than a buyer. Selling does not fix it and anybody telling you it does is not being straight with you.

The lien is disputed. A contractor's lien you believe is invalid cannot be ignored at closing. It has to be resolved, bonded around or litigated, and each of those has a timetable.

Nobody has authority to sign. Probate never done, an heir who cannot be found, a power of attorney that does not actually cover a conveyance. This is the one that takes months rather than weeks, and no cash buyer can shorten it. What we can do is wait, with the price agreed, rather than you losing a buyer while the court runs.

What to do before you list

Find out what is actually recorded. Our page on Tulsa County property records covers searching your own parcel. It is free and it takes an afternoon.

Get a copy of your deed. Our page on a Tulsa County deed copy sets out how, and what it costs.

Ask a title company for a preliminary search. They do this for a living and will find things you would miss. Knowing in week one rather than week six is worth considerably more than it costs.

Speak to a real estate attorney about anything disputed or expired. An old judgment that is no longer enforceable is a very different conversation from one that is.