Last reviewed: July 2026
The everyday five
- 1. Unreleased mortgage — paid loan, no recorded satisfaction. Cure: servicer demand with payoff proof; statutory/legal tools when the lender vanished. Days to weeks.
- 2. Deceased owner, no probate — title can't move without authority. Cure: summary or formal administration (law-firm work), sometimes avoided if a trust/Lady Bird deed/survivorship applies. Weeks to months.
- 3. Judgment liens — recorded judgments against sellers (or common-name confusion). Cure: payoff, negotiated release, identity affidavits for the wrong-person hits. Days to weeks.
- 4. Municipal claims — code fines, open permits, utility balances. Cure: fix/close/pay, or negotiate reductions (legal work). Days to months, negotiability is the wildcard.
- 5. Association balances & violations — estoppel surprises. Cure: pay/escrow at closing; disputes handled so the buyer takes free of the fight.
The structural five
- 6. Homestead conveyance defects — Florida requires spousal joinder on homestead; a missing signature can void old deeds. Cure: corrective instruments or litigation. Legal work, always.
- 7. Legal-description errors — transposed lot numbers, defective metes and bounds. Cure: scrivener's affidavits, corrective deeds, occasionally reformation actions.
- 8. Entity/trust authority gaps — dissolved LLCs, undocumented successor trustees. Cure: reinstatements, certifications, resolutions — drafted, not downloaded.
- 9. Chain gaps & wild deeds — recorded instruments that don't connect. Cure: curative research, affidavits, quiet title when the record can't self-heal.
- 10. Fraud & forgery — forged deeds, especially on vacant land; identity theft closings. Cure: litigation and insurance claims; PREVENTION is identity-proofing discipline at signing.
The meta-lesson
Every defect above is cheaper to cure the earlier it's found — and most are seller-side obligations under standard contracts, which makes early discovery a negotiation gift for buyers and an equity-preserver for sellers who search their own title before listing. The escalation lane exists because defect economics reward speed.