Clear Title

A title is a document that says "This person is the true owner of this property/house."

Titles are an essential part of buying a house or property, since you need it in case anyone comes in and tries to claim that the house/property is actually theirs, not yours. It’s the legal seal of approval that, for sure, this is your digs.

There are a lot of names for a clear title: a clean title, a good title, a just title. They all mean the same thing, which is that the title doesn’t have any financial obligations (like a lien or a levy from creditors that says, "Hey! This person owes me money and isn’t paying, so I’m laying claim to some of the value of their house.")

A “dirty” title can also be because there are building code violations or something else wrong with the house. The seller needs to take care of all this dirtiness before transferring the property to the buyer.

You need a clear title when buying a house. If the title isn’t clear, that means the last owner might owe some debt, which could get passed onto you with the house. Yikes, nobody wants that. Having a clear title ensures not only that the house is yours, but that there are no old strings (financial obligations or unlawful code violations) attached to the house from previous owners.