Title Review and Title Search Attorney on Long Island
Everything wrong with a property is written down somewhere. A title search finds it. A title review attorney decides what it means, and fixes it before it becomes yours.
The House Has a Paper Trail Going Back Decades. We Read All of It.
A title review attorney examines the complete recorded history of a property, and in our real estate law practice, it is where most closings are saved or lost. Every mortgage ever taken on the property, every lien ever filed, every easement ever granted, every transfer between owners since the parcel existed. It all lives in the county records, and none of it goes away just because the current owner forgot about it.
On Long Island, where the typical house has changed hands five or six times since it was built in the 1950s or 60s, the odds of a perfectly clean history are lower than most buyers think. The search pulls the record. The review is the legal judgment call: which items are routine, which need to be cured before closing, and which are reasons to renegotiate the deal, or walk away from it. That judgment is the part that requires an attorney, and it protects buyers in a home purchase, sellers who need to deliver clean title, and investors in commercial deals alike.
Read a Title Report Like We Do
This is what the exceptions page of a Long Island title report tends to look like. Tap each item to see what it actually means, and how serious it is.
The Undischarged Mortgage
A loan from a previous owner that was almost certainly paid off decades ago, but the bank never recorded the discharge. Until proof of satisfaction is filed, the property cannot transfer clean. We track down the payoff evidence or push the title company to omit it. Common on older Long Island homes, and fixable, but only if someone does the legwork before closing day.
Not Every Exception Is a Crisis. Knowing the Difference Is the Job.
Every finding in a title report lands in one of three buckets. The review tells you which, and what happens next.
Routine
Clears at closingCurrent taxes to be adjusted, the seller's own mortgage to be paid from proceeds, standard utility easements along the property line. These appear on nearly every report and resolve themselves in the normal mechanics of closing. No drama, but they still get verified to the penny on the settlement statement.
Curable
Fix before closingUndischarged old mortgages, judgments against the seller, open permits, missing certificates of occupancy, an estate that was never probated. These are the closings-delayers. We push each one back to the seller's side with a deadline, and we do it the week the report arrives, not the week of closing. Caught early, almost all of them cure.
Deal-Changers
Renegotiate or walkA break in the chain of ownership, a boundary dispute with a neighbor's structure over the line, restrictions that block your intended use of the property. Rare, but this is exactly why the review happens while your contingencies are alive and your deposit can still come home with you.
Cynthia Park, Esq.
- Over a decade in the real estate industry before and during practice
- Background in foreclosure, REO transactions, title matters, and reverse mortgages
- Admitted in New York and Connecticut
- National Signing Agent with E&O coverage
Title Work Is a Specialty Here, Not a Side Task
Most firms treat the title report as a checklist item. At Sugarman Law, the attorney heading our real estate division built her career on title: foreclosures, bank-owned properties, and the tangled records that come with them. That is the experience reading your report, backed by Shari Sugarman's twenty-plus years of Long Island closings.
It matters most when something surfaces. Anyone can read a clean report. Knowing how to cure a defect quickly, who to call at the title company, and what a county clerk's office will actually accept comes from having done it hundreds of times.
Where We Review Title
We examine title for properties across both counties from our Deer Park office: as your real estate attorney in Deer Park, throughout Babylon, Islip, Smithtown and the rest of Suffolk County, and for purchases and sales across Nassau County. Older housing stock, older records, and the local town permit offices are home turf.
Title Review FAQ
What is the difference between a title search and title insurance?
The search is the investigation: pulling the recorded history and listing everything attached to the property. Title insurance is the backstop: a policy protecting you against covered problems that surface after closing. You want both, and you want an attorney reviewing the search, because insurance pays claims after the fact while the review prevents the problem entirely.
Do I need a title review for a cash purchase?
Yes, arguably more than a financed buyer does. A lender forces a title search to protect its own collateral. Pay cash and nobody is checking unless you make it happen. Whatever liens, judgments, or defects exist attach to the property you now own outright.
How long does a title review take?
Most reviews complete within one to two weeks of the report arriving, depending on county records and what the search turns up. Curing a problem takes longer, which is exactly why we order the search immediately after contract instead of waiting.
What happens if you find a title problem?
It goes back to the seller's side to fix while your contingencies are alive: obtaining lien releases, closing out permits, filing missing discharges, or opening an estate proceeding where one was skipped. If it cannot be cured, you renegotiate with full knowledge, or walk with your deposit.
The seller inherited the house. Does that affect title?
Often, yes. If the record owner died and the estate was never taken through Surrogate's Court, the sellers may not yet have legal authority to convey the property. It is one of the most common defects we see on Long Island, and our probate practice handles the court side under the same roof, which keeps the closing alive.
Can a title search uncover unpaid property taxes?
Yes. Unpaid taxes, water, and sewer charges appear in the search and must be paid or adjusted at closing. Tax liens take priority over almost everything else, so they never get waved through.
Got a Title Report You Don't Understand? Send It Over.
We will tell you what is routine, what needs curing, and what changes the deal. The consultation is free.
Tell Us About Your Property
Buying, selling, or staring at an exceptions page. Fill out the form and we will reach out to schedule your free consultation, or call 631-964-4418.