A Virginia buyer purchases a property and receives a special warranty deed at closing. Two years later, she discovers that a mechanic's lien was recorded against the property by a contractor who worked on the home five years before her purchase — during the previous owner's tenure. Under the covenants of her special warranty deed, which of the following best describes her legal position?
Correct Answer
B) She has no warranty claim against her grantor because the lien arose before her grantor's period of ownership
A special warranty deed limits the grantor's warranty to defects and encumbrances that arose during the grantor's period of ownership only. Because the mechanic's lien was recorded five years before the buyer's purchase — during a previous owner's tenure, not during her grantor's ownership — the lien falls outside the scope of the special warranty deed's covenants. The buyer has no warranty claim against her grantor for this pre-existing lien. This is the critical distinction between a special warranty deed and a general warranty deed, and a common exam trap.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
Community property is a form of ownership recognized in certain states where property acquired during marriage is considered equally owned by both spouses, regardless of who earned the money or whose name is on the title.
Condominium ownership involves owning a unit of airspace within a multi-unit building plus an undivided interest in the common elements shared with other unit owners. Each unit is separately taxed and financed.
In a cooperative (co-op), the building is owned by a corporation, and residents purchase shares of stock in the corporation that entitle them to a proprietary lease on a specific unit. Residents are shareholders, not property owners.
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