Mortgage Lending: 11.4.1 Seller’s Title
A major concern for buyers is marketability of the title to the property—both at the outset of the contract and upon payment in full of the contract price. On the front end, a prospective buyer can order a title search or abstract to determine whether there are any preexisting liens, encumbrances, or other clouds on the title (although, in practice, this rarely happens).94 Alternatively, the buyer may request that the seller prove the status of the title before signing the contract.