Free North Carolina Quitclaim Deed Form


Everything You Need to Know About the Quitclaim Deed in North Carolina

Real Estate Deeds

Are you interested in the real estate industry in North Carolina? Whether you are selling, buying or gifting someone real property, you will come across three types of deeds: the general warranty deeds, the special warranty deeds, and the quitclaim deeds (non-warranty deeds). While these deeds guide the conveyance of property from one person to another, they also have a crucial role of defining the scope/ level of legal recourse or recovery a purchaser gets if it turns out that the seller issued a defective title.

1. General Warranty Deed

The most common of these three deeds is the general warranty deed. This deed in common during closings for residential real properties. It guarantees that the seller of the property has full legal rights to sell the property in question while guaranteeing the buyer or the recipient of the property’s rights that the property on sale is without any defects. It, therefore, means that the buyer receives protection and they can seek legal recourse if title issues arise. The general warranty deed is common with standard purchase offers and contracts.

2. Special Warranty Deed

The special warranty deed, on the other hand, is the legally binding document that is used when the seller wishes to limit the amount of liability against the title defects that may exist without the knowledge of the seller. With this deed, the seller is not responsible for title issues before their ownership of the property.

3. Quitclaim deed or Non – Warranty Deed

The quitclaim deed, on the other hand, is also called a non-warranty deed, a quitclaim or a quitclaim deed form is a real property deed that facilitates the conveyance of property from one individual to another, without any warranties. The person conveying their interests in property is a grantor while the recipient of the property rights is the grantee. While it doesn’t offer any warranties on a title, this deed is fast and popular among families which is why it is mistakenly referred to as a quick claim deed.

  • This quitclaim deed is the subject of this article because of its popularity. Grantors who convey property using the quitclaim will offer zero warranties on property title, even when they are aware or are the reason for the title defect, and if the defect impairs the value of the property. But, even with the lack of warranty, the use of the quitclaim is highly recommended in some situations like:

    • The transfer of real property rights to a family member: children, siblings or other close relatives

    • The transfer of rights in real property to a Trust or a Living Trust

    • During a divorce, the deed could be used to remove the name of a spouse from the deed, transferring all rights to the ex or from the ex.

    • You could also use the deed to add the details of your spouse to a title, after getting married.

    • The quitclaim is also used to remove clouds from a title. Clouds are defects that often affect your insurance details or when looking for a loan. These defects turn up when you run a title search. The defects include an error in the public records, undisclosed encumbrances, unknown liens, missing heirs, boundary or survey issues, and undisclosed wills, among others.

    • You could also use the quitclaim to change your name as it appears on the title.

Requirements for the validity of a quitclaim

The state of North Carolina has specific requirements which must be met for the validity of the quitclaim. But before we look at that, it is important to note that filing of quitclaims starts with the filling of the free North Carolina quitclaim deed form available online. It comes in a printable format, and we’ve made our quitclaim state-specific, and this printable PDF version will help you enter all the details required.

  • The basics of your quitclaim deed in North Carolina include:

    • It must have the signatures of both the grantor and the grantee. And if more than one grantor or grantee is involved, all the parties have to sign the deed.

    • The notary public must acknowledge the signature of the grantor as part of the statutory notarial acts.

    • For its validity against any purchasers (who pay a valuable consideration) or for lien creditors, the deed must be recorded with county’s Register of Deeds, where the real property is located. The recordation of the deed is essential for the preservation of the chain of title, as well as for the public to know about the change in the ownership of the property. The priority given to recorded documents in the state is based on the order of the registration; unless it’s stated otherwise in the deed. For deeds recorded simultaneously, the document that is registered the earliest, by looking at the document’s number, page number, or the sequential book will take precedence over the other.

    • The deed should have the mailing address of the person who receives the deed after its recordation.

  • Limitations of quitclaims

    • The deed does not free you from debt if you withdraw your ownership from a mortgaged family house

    • Wills and community property laws take precedence to the quitclaim

Now that you know everything there is to know about quitclaims, would you like to get started with the residential real property conveyance process?

Download our free quitclaim deed form here to get started in Charlotte, Wilmington, Raleigh, Greensboro, Durham, Asheville, Concord, or any other city in North Carolina.

Search Tags- North Carolina quit claim deed form, general warranty deed, what is a quit claim deed, quit claim deed pdf