What is a preliminary title report?

A preliminary title report is a document from a title company showing who legally owns a property and what claims, liens, easements, and restrictions are recorded against it. It is issued early in a transaction so the buyer can review what they would be taking on before closing, and it forms the basis for the title insurance policy issued later.

Is it called a title report in Washington?

Not usually. In Washington the same document is normally called a preliminary commitment or title commitment, and that is the term your escrow officer and real estate agent will use.

"Preliminary title report" is standard usage in California and travels with people who move here or read national real estate content. The documents serve the same function. If you ask your escrow officer for the preliminary title report, you will get the preliminary commitment, and nobody will be confused.

One real distinction underneath the naming: a commitment is a formal offer to issue an insurance policy on stated terms, while a report is closer to a statement of findings. In practice for a residential buyer, you read them the same way.

What does a preliminary title report show?

Four things, and the fourth is the one that matters.

Who owns the property. The vested owner of record, which is occasionally not who you think.

The legal description. The formal boundary description, distinct from the street address.

The policy terms. What coverage the title company is prepared to issue and for how much.

The exceptions. Everything the title company will not insure against, because it is already recorded against the property. Liens, easements, covenants, restrictions, boundary agreements, mineral rights, and anything else attached to the land.

Buyers skim to the price and stop. The exceptions are the entire point of the document.

How do you read a preliminary title report?

It arrives in schedules. Read them in this order.

Schedule A is the basics: who owns it, what the legal description is, what policy is proposed. Confirm the seller listed is actually the seller on your contract. Mismatches happen with estates, divorces, and trusts, and they take time to resolve.

Schedule B is the exceptions, and this is where you spend your attention. Every recorded item that affects the property lands here.

What to look for in Schedule B:

• Monetary liens. Mortgages, tax liens, judgments, contractor liens. Most get paid off at closing, but they need to be identified.
• Easements. A utility easement across the back is routine. A shared driveway easement changes how you use the property.
• CC&Rs. Recorded covenants that restrict what you can build or do.
• Encroachments and boundary issues. A neighbor's fence three feet onto your lot is a problem you inherit.
• Access. Confirm the property has legal recorded access to a public road. Rural and shoreline parcels sometimes do not.

Anything you do not understand is a question for your escrow officer, and they answer these all day. The document is written for professionals, and asking is normal.

What are common title problems?

Most transactions have exceptions and no real problems. These are the ones that turn into actual issues.

Unreleased liens. An old mortgage or contractor lien that was paid but never formally released. Fixable, but it takes time.

Boundary and encroachment disputes. A structure over a line, or a fence in the wrong place for thirty years.

Estate and heirship gaps. Property that passed through an estate without clean documentation.

Easements you did not expect. Especially access easements benefiting a neighbor.

Unpermitted work with recorded consequences, or code enforcement liens.

The reason to read early is that most of these are solvable given time, and unsolvable given three days before closing.

What is the title review contingency?

Washington purchase agreements give the buyer a window to review the preliminary commitment and object to items they will not accept. That window is your leverage.

If you object inside the window, the seller can cure the issue, negotiate, or decline, and depending on how your contract is written you may be able to terminate and recover your earnest money. Miss the window and you have accepted the exceptions as written.

This is the same pattern as every other contingency in a Washington transaction. Our guide to earnest money refunds covers how the windows protect your deposit generally. The rule is identical here: the calendar is the protection.

What to know if you are buying

Read it the day it arrives, not the day before closing.

Confirm the seller matches your contract. Estates, trusts, and divorces create mismatches that take weeks to clear.

Read every Schedule B exception, and ask about each one you do not understand.

Check access and easements if you are buying anything rural, on acreage, or on shoreline. Legal access is not the same as a driveway existing.

Ask whether an owner's policy is included. In Washington it is customary, though negotiable, for the seller to pay for the owner's title insurance policy that protects you.

Do not confuse this with an inspection. The title report tells you nothing about the condition of the house. It tells you about the ownership. You need both.

What to know if you are selling

Order title early. Problems on the title side are almost always fixable with lead time and almost never fixable in the final week.

An old lien that was satisfied but never released, a boundary agreement nobody recorded properly, a deceased co-owner still on title. Every one of those delays a closing, and every one is straightforward to resolve if you find it in week one rather than week five.

Your listing agent can request a preliminary commitment before you go on the market. It costs you nothing and it converts a potential closing crisis into an errand.

Key takeaways

• It reports on ownership, not condition. You still need an inspection.
• Washington calls it a preliminary commitment, though the California term is what people search.
• Schedule B exceptions are the substance. Read every line.
• Your title review window is your leverage, and it expires.
• Sellers should order title before listing, because title problems need time, not urgency.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays for the preliminary title report?

In Washington it is customary for the seller to pay for the owner's title insurance policy, and the preliminary commitment is produced as part of that process. The buyer typically pays for the lender's policy if they are financing. All of it is negotiable.

How long does it take to get a preliminary title report?

Usually a few business days after escrow opens. Complicated properties, estates, or parcels with long recorded histories take longer.

Is a preliminary title report the same as title insurance?

No. The report identifies what is recorded against the property. Title insurance is the policy that protects you financially if something was missed or is later challenged. The report describes what the policy will and will not cover, and our guide to title insurance costs in Washington covers what the policy runs.

Can you buy a house with exceptions on the title report?

Yes, and nearly every property has exceptions. Utility easements and recorded covenants are normal. The question is whether any specific exception affects how you intend to use the property.

Reading the fine print with a local team

The preliminary commitment is the least exciting document in your transaction and one of the few that can cost you the property line you thought you were buying.

At Every Door Real Estate, we read these with buyers inside the review window and help sellers clear title issues before they become closing delays. If something in your Schedule B does not make sense, send it to our team and we will walk you through it.

This article explains how title documents work in general terms. It is not legal advice. If you are facing a boundary dispute or a contested claim, talk with a real estate attorney.