Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: acknowledgement of title

The term "acknowledgment of title" does not appear even once in the Miller & Starr 30+ volume encyclopedia of California real estate law. The term appears in a total of two (2) California appellate cases, most recently in 1864 in the case of Richardson v. Williamson, where it did not seem to have any special meaning, other than that Party X acknowledged that Party Y had good title.

Based on this, I would say the term has no current usage or meaning other than what the words mean separately, such as my statement "You have good title to the property in question." could later be referred to as my acknowledgment of title.

Having said this, I think it's very likely you really have in mind, or are trying to refer to, the process of "acknowledging" signatures on instruments, such as deeds. The more common term is to "notarize" the deed, but what the notary really does is to "acknowledge" that John Doe appeared, proved his identity, and signed.

Now, since a "title" is an abstraction, and not a physical piece of paper, it's likely that wherever you heard or read this term, the speaker or writer had in mind ackowledgment of a deed, mortgage, power of attorney, etc., and not a title.

True, we sometime speak of the "title" or "pink slip" to a motor vehicle, but the pink slip is really a "Certificate of Title" and not the title itself......"title" being shorthand for "Certificate of Title."

If this explanation isn't completely helpful, please contact me directly with more information about where you heard or say reference to acknowledgement of a title and I'll try to give you some further explanation.

Re: acknowledgement of title

The term "acknowledgment of title" does not appear even once in the Miller & Starr 30+ volume encyclopedia of California real estate law. The term appears in a total of two (2) California appellate cases, most recently in 1864 in the case of Richardson v. Williamson, where it did not seem to have any special meaning, other than that Party X acknowledged that Party Y had good title.

Based on this, I would say the term has no current usage or meaning other than what the words mean separately, such as my statement "You have good title to the property in question." could later be referred to as my acknowledgment of title.

Having said this, I think it's very likely you really have in mind, or are trying to refer to, the process of "acknowledging" signatures on instruments, such as deeds. The more common term is to "notarize" the deed, but what the notary really does is to "acknowledge" that John Doe appeared, proved his identity, and signed.

Now, since a "title" is an abstraction, and not a physical piece of paper, it's likely that wherever you heard or read this term, the speaker or writer had in mind ackowledgment of a deed, mortgage, power of attorney, etc., and not a title.

True, we sometime speak of the "title" or "pink slip" to a motor vehicle, but the pink slip is really a "Certificate of Title" and not the title itself......"title" being shorthand for "Certificate of Title."

If this explanation isn't completely helpful, please contact me directly with more information about where you heard or say reference to acknowledgement of a title and I'll try to give you some further explanation.

Re: acknowledgement of title

I'm not sure what you are talking about. The signature on a deed must be acknowledged with a Notary Public in order to be recorded.