You just closed on a home; congratulations! Start right away making it your own, decorate, get comfortable but don’t forget that deed!  When you sign the papers for your new home, you will walk away with a large stack of papers; however, the deed that says you now own that home won’t be one of them.   If you read my blog, “Deed Fraud - Don’t Let It Happen to You,” then you know that the paper that actually shows you own a home is called a deed, not a title as most people believe.  A deed is the actual piece of paper that you should receive in the mail about 6-8 weeks after closing and after it has been filed with the County Register of Deeds.  If you do not receive your deed, make sure to contact your closing attorney.  More and more counties today are providing deeds online.  Therefore, if your county has this ability, you can go to their website to see for yourself if your deed has been recorded.  When you do receive the deed to your property, you should read it over carefully.  Many people never do look over their deed, and this can exacerbate any possible problems.  The following are the things that your deed should contain taken directly from the SC Clerk of Court manual, although it may differ slightly from county to county: An original, “wet” signed document. Signature of the Party of the First Part. i.e. Grantor/Seller, Mortgagor/Borrower, etc. Two Witnesses to the signature A South Carolina Probate of Acknowledgment A property description to include a recorded plat reference or metes and bounds description A derivation clause to include name(s), date, book, and page of conveyance to the Grantor ( this basically shows when and from whom the seller acquired the property) Subsequent documents such as releases, satisfactions, etc. require a “parent” or original book and page number.    I am not discussing deed fraud in this blog; I am talking about things that may have been either miscommunicated between the buyer and the seller or strictly human error types of mistakes.  You aren’t trying to be Sherlock Holmes. You likely wouldn’t know a forged signature in this case,  you are actually checking the correctness of the paperwork for your purchase.  With this being said, and referring to the sample deed above, the following are things you should look for: On page 1, you want to make sure the county, purchase price, the names of the buyer and seller, and their addresses are all correct. Also, on page 1, make sure that the legal description of the property, metes, and bounds, tax map number, lot and block, whichever way used is correct. Also, make sure that any attachment, such as a survey, is actually included and correct. On page 2, make sure that all signatures match the printed names. On page 3, make sure that the county is correct Make sure that page 3 has the notaries seal and that their commission was not expired. The type of mistake that could seriously affect you is a mistake or miscommunication in the actual location or size of the property.  At AgentOwned we recently found that a sale was supposed to include more than one parcel, but only one parcel was stated on the deed.  That could have been a huge problem down the road for the buyer if it hadn’t been detected right away.  It was a legal problem that still took some work to resolve, but one that won’t become an unexpected issue years from now when the buyer decides to resell. This is a perfect example of why it’s best to use an attorney who specializes in real estate for your closing, not to mention an experienced real estate agent. If you have any questions about the deed for your home, comment below, and I’ll do my best to help!