Video Transcript:
So what's the difference between a grantor and a grantee on real estate documents? This is Dave at TitleSearch.com. On almost every single real estate recorded document that you'll find in the land records, whether it's a deed, a lien, a mortgage, a release, an assignment, you'll find two parties, one referenced as the grantor, one reference as the grantee. It's very easy to put together who's who on each one of these pieces of paper. The grantor is the party that's giving away property rights, whatever those are. The grantee is receiving those property rights, whatever those are. It may change in an instant, depending upon who's on what side of the transaction. For example, if a buyer and seller get together and transfer a piece of property, the The grantor is the seller who grants the property to the grantee who's the buyer. If as part of that transaction, the buyer borrows money from a bank, they are now the grantor giving away collateral to that property, to the bank who receives it, who's the grantee. So just because as part of a transaction, the buyer is the grantee, that doesn't mean on the mortgage that happens 20 seconds later, they're the same party because it doesn't go by time. It goes by who's giving and receiving property rights. So when you're looking at a document, look to see who is the grantor and grantee, and you can understand who's giving or receiving property rights. It could be an easement. If you own the property, you're grantor-ing away your property rights. Maybe it's for a driveway and vice versa. Now, understanding it's just a matter of who's transferring and receiving property rights is an excellent way to understand the chain of title and the flow of that bundle of rights for that particular piece of real estate. If you have questions about running a title search on property, you can reach us at our website at title search dot com.