An individual's interest in a specific property or piece of real estate is indicated by the title of the property. The title, or legal property, is also a legal term that is used to refer to the formal, legal document that provides evidence of ownership in a specific property. Therefore, the property title shows substantiation as to who owns the property. Property titles are transferred whenever the ownership of a property changes. A deed is used to transfer the title.



The property title is necessary to prove or verify the identification of the owner to a particular piece of property. A title search is often conducted to verify that the provided title does indeed legally belong to the individual named on the documentation. Three separate aspects relate to property title including possession, right of possession, and right of property.

Possession refers to a person's holding of a particular thing, in this case, a property or piece of real estate. The simple fact of holding the property indicates ownership with or without the right to legally do so. Having possession alone of a property is not sufficient to prove legal ownership. Possession and the property title are sometimes transferred independently of each other. Possession is the most basic form of property title.

Right of possession refers to the legitimacy of the possession. In this scenario, the individual does not have to actually hold the property. However, the right of possession is superior to possession and will be upheld in a court of law unless a better claim to the property can be proven with further documentation.

Right of property supersedes both possession and the right of possession. If someone holds the right of property, this claim would take precedence over all other claims. The right of property indicates the true legal ownership or interest in the property.

If the owner of the property takes out a loan on the property, the lienholder has legal ownership, or the right of property, until the time that the loan is repaid in full.

The registered owner of the property holds the possession and the right of possession to the property. During the time that the lienholder holds the right of property, his claim to it takes precedence over that of the registered owner. Once the loan has been repaid in full, the registered owner then holds the right of property as well.