My mom Quit Claim her home to me before she passed away. My local property appraiser web site has me listed as the owner, but I am not sure if I am listed as the only owner on the title. The mortgage company did a name change on the existing loan, now I can discuss personal information about the mortgage. However, I unknowingly discovered that my sister has Quit Claim Deed on the property that was signed days after my deed. The deed is recorded in probate court. However, when I check the property appraiser site the deed do not show up as being recorded in their system. Do I need to perform a 'quiet title' action to confirm ownership by judicial decree?
Quiet Title actions come in a variety of forms and you need to speak to an attorney to determine what type of action is necessary - or even if one if necessary at all.
What you may have is a slander of title or some reformation issues.
What you need to do is get a real title search that finds all the issues with the property going back to when your mother acquire the property - or even earlier. Then bring that to an attorney familiar with quiet title actions to get his or her opinion as to what your rights and options may be.
A quiet title action is not a do-it-yourself project. You may or may not need such an action. You should consult an experience real estate lawyer in your area for more clarity about your rights, the deed to your sister, and whether or not you need to bring an action to quiet title.
Provided that (i) your mother was the sole owner of the property when she quitclaimed to you and (ii) that the quitclaim deed to you is properly drafted, delivered and recorded prior to your sister's deed, then it would appear that the later deed to your sister would have conveyed nothing since the title was already conveyed to you earlier. Of course this conclusion is based on nothing except the facts that you present in your short post. A Quiet Title Action is a lawsuit to clear any improperly recorded encumbrances on the title to a property. If your sister did not record her mortgage then there would appear to be nothing showing up and title would technically be clear. However, your knowledge of the other deed being in existence and having been "recorded" in the probate court, complicates things. No attorney will be able to answer your questions with any degree of certainty without seeing the deeds, the probate filings and speaking to you. I recommend highly that you contact an experienced real estate attorney who also handles probate.
