Most Long Island closings are delayed not by financing but by the title report. The search reaches back through decades of ownership, and it surfaces problems that nobody in the transaction created and everyone now has to solve.
What you need to know
- A title report lists exceptions and objections the seller must clear before the purchaser’s title insurance will issue clean.
- The most common defects are gaps in the chain of title, a deceased co-owner with no estate proceeding, old mortgages never marked satisfied, judgment and tax liens, unpermitted work with no certificate of occupancy, and survey encroachments.
- A deceased owner on the deed generally requires a Surrogate’s Court proceeding before anyone can convey. That is the single largest cause of long delays.
- Deeds signed under a power of attorney that was revoked, expired at death, or lacked the correct statutory form create serious problems years later.
- In Suffolk County, septic and sanitary approvals from the Department of Health Services are a recurring issue on properties with additions or converted spaces.
- Ordering the title search early — ideally when the contract is out for signature — is what turns a closing delay into a manageable task.
What a title search is looking for
The searcher examines the public record for the chain of ownership, recorded mortgages and their satisfactions, judgments and liens docketed against anyone in the chain, unpaid property taxes and assessments, easements and restrictive covenants, and anything else that could give a third party a claim. The result is a report with exceptions. Clearing them is generally the seller’s obligation under the contract, and the contract’s language on how much the seller must spend to cure is worth reading before it is signed.
None of this is unusual. Nearly every report has objections. The question is which ones can be cleared with a phone call and which ones need a court.
Gaps in the chain of title
A chain gap means the record does not show a complete, unbroken series of conveyances. It can come from a deed that was signed but never recorded, a deed recorded with a defective acknowledgment, a name that changed through marriage or divorce without documentation, a corporate seller that dissolved before conveying, or a foreclosure or tax sale in the history with a procedural irregularity.
Small gaps are often resolved with affidavits and corrective deeds. Larger ones may require an action to quiet title, which is litigation and takes time. Discovering that need two weeks before a scheduled closing is why so many deals fall apart.
A deceased owner still on the deed
This is the most frequent and most disruptive issue on Long Island, and it appears in predictable forms.
Where a husband and wife held title as tenants by the entirety and one has died, the survivor generally takes by operation of law, and title is usually cleared with a certified death certificate and an affidavit. Joint tenants with right of survivorship work similarly.
Where title was held as tenants in common, or in one person’s sole name, there is no automatic transfer. The deceased owner’s share passes through the estate, and someone has to be appointed by the Surrogate’s Court — Riverhead for Suffolk County, Mineola for Nassau County — before a deed can be delivered. If the decedent left a will it must be admitted to probate; if not, an administration proceeding is required, and the court will want to know who the distributees are.
Families frequently do not learn this until the title report arrives, sometimes years after the death. The proceeding takes as long as it takes, and it cannot be compressed to meet a closing date. Starting early is the only real remedy. The process is described on the probate and estate administration page.
Before listing a house that came from a parent. Confirm whose name is actually on the last recorded deed. If a deceased person is on it and no estate proceeding was ever completed, begin that work before accepting an offer. Buyers and lenders will not wait indefinitely, and the seller loses leverage every week the deal sits.
Old mortgages that were never satisfied of record
A mortgage paid off decades ago still appears as an open lien if the satisfaction was never recorded. Lender mergers, closed banks and lost paperwork make this common on older homes.
Clearing it means locating the successor institution and obtaining a satisfaction, which can be slow. Where the lender no longer exists in any recognizable form, alternatives may include a title company affirmative or, in some cases, a court proceeding. It is not usually a deal killer, but it consumes weeks.
Judgments, tax liens and other encumbrances
A docketed money judgment against an owner generally becomes a lien on real property in that county. So do federal and state tax liens, unpaid income taxes in some circumstances, and municipal charges such as village taxes, water and sewer charges and unpaid violations.
Two wrinkles come up often. First, name matching: a judgment against a different person with the same or a similar name will appear on the report and must be cleared with an affidavit establishing that the seller is not that person. Second, Medicaid liens and claims where the owner or a predecessor received long-term care benefits, which raise questions handled on the elder law page.
Judgments discovered at the closing table are usually paid from the seller’s proceeds at whatever the creditor demands. Judgments discovered early can sometimes be negotiated, vacated, or shown to be unenforceable. The difference is timing — the same point made on the debt relief side of the practice.
Unpermitted work and missing certificates of occupancy
Long Island housing stock is full of finished basements, converted garages, dormers, decks, additions, pools and accessory apartments that were built without permits or never closed out with a final inspection. The title report or the municipal search reveals an open permit or a certificate of occupancy that does not describe the structure as it exists.
Lenders frequently will not close without resolution. Options generally include legalizing the work through the town or village building department, obtaining a certificate of existing use where available, removing the improvement, or negotiating a price adjustment with a buyer willing to take the issue on. Each town on Long Island handles this differently, and timelines vary considerably.
Accessory apartments deserve special mention. Many towns have registration or permitting requirements, and an unregistered rental unit can carry ongoing exposure that transfers with the property.
Survey issues and encroachments
An updated survey can reveal a fence, shed, driveway, deck or pool that crosses a boundary line, or a neighbor’s improvement crossing onto the property. It can also show a structure violating a setback or an easement running through the yard.
Solutions include a boundary line agreement, an easement, a variance, moving the improvement, or a title insurance affirmative where the risk is small and long-standing.
Suffolk County health department approvals
Properties on private septic systems rather than public sewer generally need approvals from the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, and the approved plan has to match the house. A three-bedroom approval on a house that now has five bedrooms creates a problem, particularly with additions or converted attic space. Upgrades to modern nitrogen-reducing systems may be required in some situations. This is a Suffolk-specific issue that regularly surprises buyers coming from elsewhere.
Power of attorney and life estate problems
Deeds signed by an agent under a power of attorney are scrutinized. The authority ends at the principal’s death, and a deed signed after that date is a serious defect. New York’s statutory form has changed over the years, and gift-giving authority in particular has specific requirements. A deed transferring a house from a parent to a child, signed by the child as agent without proper authority, can unwind a transaction.
Life estates cause a different problem. Where a parent deeded the house to children while retaining a life estate, the life tenant must join in any conveyance, and if the life tenant has died the death must be established of record. Where the life tenant is alive but incapacitated, a guardianship proceeding may be needed. These structures are common in Long Island elder law planning and are discussed on the estate planning page.
Order the search early. Almost every issue in this article is solvable with enough lead time and painful without it. Counsel ordering the title work when the contract goes out, rather than after the mortgage commitment, is the cheapest scheduling insurance available.
What sellers can do before listing
- Locate the recorded deed and confirm exactly how title is held and in whose names
- Gather death certificates for any deceased owner and confirm whether an estate proceeding was completed
- Find satisfactions for every paid-off mortgage and home equity line
- Check for open permits and confirm the certificate of occupancy matches the house
- Locate the existing survey and note anything built since
- Confirm septic or sewer status and, in Suffolk County, whether the health department approval matches the bedroom count
- Check the county clerk records for judgments against anyone in the chain of title
The firm handles residential purchases and sales across Suffolk and Nassau County and coordinates the estate side when a deceased owner appears on the deed. More is on the real estate law page.
The Law Offices of Christine Thea Rubinstein & Associates P.C. offers a free and confidential initial phone consultation to review a deed, a title report or a stalled closing. Call 1-800-488-6734 or reach the firm through the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
My mother died and the house is still in her name. Can I just sell it?
Not without authority. Someone generally has to be appointed by the Surrogate’s Court before a deed can be delivered, whether through probate of a will or an administration proceeding. A buyer’s title company will require it. Starting that process before listing avoids a collapsed contract.
The title report shows a judgment against someone with my name. What now?
Name-match objections are common and usually cleared with a sworn affidavit and supporting identification establishing that the seller is not the judgment debtor. It is routine when addressed early and stressful when it appears the week of closing.
Who pays to fix a title problem?
Contracts typically obligate the seller to convey marketable title and often cap what the seller must spend to cure. Beyond that cap, the parties negotiate or the deal can be canceled. This is why the cure language in the contract matters and should be reviewed before signing.
Does title insurance cover unpermitted work?
Generally no. Title insurance addresses defects in title and matters of record, not building code compliance or whether a structure was permitted. Municipal searches and the certificate of occupancy are what surface those issues, and they are resolved with the building department.
How long does it take to clear a typical objection?
It varies widely. An affidavit can be done in days. A missing satisfaction from a merged lender can take weeks. A Surrogate’s Court proceeding or an action to quiet title runs considerably longer. Because the range is so wide, no date should be promised before the report is read.