# What does a house deed look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263 "2008-12-22T02:43:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/1 "2008-12-22T02:43:32Z")
In order to get my mom’s home under my name, our mortgage company needs a copy of the deed. It would be great if I could find a piece of paper that said “DEED” across the top, but with these kinds of transactions it doesn’t always seem that simple. So what exactly am I looking for? I’m digging through piles of paperwork. I did come across an Indenture between the prior owner (grantor) and my mother (grantee). Is this what I’m looking for? Its a few pages long but I don’t see the word deed anywhere within the document. I’m in Pennsylvania, if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/2 "2008-12-22T02:54:59Z")
It should say deed. If you can’t find it, the county circuit court has a copy of it in their Land Records. Your mom was the grantee on the deed; whoever she bought it from is the grantor. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/3 "2008-12-22T03:01:45Z")
> [@bup](#): > > It should say deed. > > If you can’t find it, the county circuit court has a copy of it in their Land Records. Your mom was the grantee on the deed; whoever she bought it from is the grantor. Yup and you should have your address and APN (or whatever they refer to as the county coding number for your property taxes) handy to facilitate locating it. Really it’s kind of silly for them to request it from you, the title company that’s handling the title insurance should be able to produce one for them rather quickly and free of charge. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/4 "2008-12-22T03:10:17Z")
Thanks for the quick response! I was worried I might have to jump through hoops to obtain another copy. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/5 "2008-12-22T06:57:28Z")
> [@Soapbox\_Monkey](#): > > So what exactly am I looking for? I’m digging through piles of paperwork. I did come across an Indenture between the prior owner (grantor) and my mother (grantee). Is this what I’m looking for? Its a few pages long but I don’t see the word deed anywhere within the document. > > I’m in Pennsylvania, if that helps. I don’t know what Pennsylvania practice is, but in New York virtually every deed I’ve seen or prepared is identified as an “Indenture,” and doesn’t use the word deed (except sometimes as an identifier of the type of pre-printed form in small print in an upper corner). A common form of New York deed can be seen [here (pdf file)](http://www.omnititle.com/Forms/PDF_Forms/Deeds/Bargain_andsaledeedwithco2.pdf). If the document you have is something like that, you probably have found the deed. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/6 "2008-12-22T06:58:57Z")
Am I the only one who read this as “Horse Deed” on first sight? (Yeah, it’s late and I had a really shitty day at work-why do you ask?) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-house-deed-look-like/478263/7 "2008-12-22T07:59:33Z")
Some states have land records databases that have images of deeds available online. Might be worth checking.