What Is A Quickclaim Deed When Selling A House?

A quickclaim deed is a type of real estate transaction document that can be employed when selling a property or amending the ownership information regarding a home. Investopedia notes that quickclaim deeds involve additional risk over the traditional warranty deed that is used during most home-buying efforts. The warranty deed is the standard practice when it comes to a typical real estate purchase. Warranty deeds involve protections for both the buyer and the seller, and they ensure that liens or other obligations associated with the property aren't transferred unwittingly to a new owner.

A quickclaim deed, also known as a quitclaim deed or simply a quitclaim, doesn't involve this same level of protection. Therefore, a buyer who transfers ownership to themselves through the use of a quickclaim deed might be on the hook for additional fees, tax liens, or other financial obligations tied to the property.

However, there are some aspects of a quickclaim deed that are immensely beneficial, and they often find use in certain regions of the real estate marketplace. Continue reading to learn if the quickclaim deed is the right way to approach the maintenance of your real estate interests.

The primary benefit of the quickclaim deed is the fact that it is indeed quick. The formal processes involved in a traditional warranty deed can drag the transfer of ownership out by a significant margin. These types of deeds involve numerous checks, additional documentation, and more. Conversely, a quickclaim deed is a simple process of transferring ownership entirely, warts and all, so to speak (via Thomson Reuters Practical Law).

But, LegalZoom suggests that quickclaim deeds are the preferred method in certain regions of the real estate market (particularly when a sale isn't happening). This may occur when selling a property that has been repossessed, or when two people get divorced and need to settle ownership issues involved in their jointly held home. The quickclaim deed is the fastest means of amending discrepancies or issues in the existing documentation or transferring the ownership of a property from the bank or other lender to a new buyer in an effort to recover a debt. Speed is highly prized in these types of scenarios and so quickclaim deeds are typically employed instead of the more substantial warranty deed that is found in a more traditional real estate transaction.

Quickclaim deeds may be used as a favored means of amending a home's title as well. If you own a property and then get married, using a quickclaim deed is the best way to add your spouse as a co-owner of the home. Similarly, if you are gifting or willing your home to a family member, quickclaim deeds make this transference faster and easier than the typical process involved in selling the property to a third-party buyer.

When dealing with family members, the people involved in the transaction know each other intimately and are far less likely to fall victim to scams or other malfeasance. As a result, the relative degree of risk involved in the new owner taking possession is minimized substantially or entirely. Therefore, the risk involved in the use of a quickclaim deed falls by the wayside, as it really only applies when dealing with people you don't know or don't trust for some reason or another. Quickclaim deeds are an excellent way to amend a title record or to transfer ownership to a family member in a simple and rapid process, but Investopedia notes that this should only really be used when you trust the other person involved.