DictionaryThe buying process

Title search: what it means

A title search is a review of public records to find defects or encumbrances in a property's chain of title, such as someone else's claim or a lien. It keeps the buyer and the lender from being surprised later by an ownership problem that could have been foreseen.

In Spanish it is

Búsqueda de título (title search)

Also written as: title examination · title check

A man tours his new home with a housing specialist.

Verified on October 17, 2026

3 official sources

See the whole dictionary

The full explanation

According to the CFPB, the title search fee is part of the title service fees, along with the premium for the lender's title insurance, and it appears on page 2 of your Loan Estimate and your Closing Disclosure. You can often shop for who provides these services.

An example

Before closing, Ricardo's title company runs the title search and finds a claim from a contractor the seller never paid for some work. The seller resolves it before signing.

You will see it in…

The Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure, page 2, in the title fees
Section C of the Loan Estimate, with the services you can shop for
The CFPB's pages on shopping for closing services

Words that go with it

You will rarely see this word alone. These are the ones that show up with it on the same papers.

More guides that use “title search”

Still confused by a paper?

A HUD-approved housing counselor can walk you through it. Agencies usually charge little or nothing, many work in Spanish, and they do not sell you anything.

What a housing counselor does See free help

Official sources

We sum up what these official sources say, in plain words. We add no rules they do not state; when a rule changes, the definition and its date change.

1. Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School) · Wex: title search (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
2. CFPB · What are title service fees? (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026
3. CFPB · Shop for title insurance and other closing services (external site) · in English · Verified on October 17, 2026