Quitclaim Deed vs Warranty Deed: 5 Big Differences in 2026

A warranty deed guarantees the buyer clear title. A quitclaim deed hands over whatever you happen to own, with no promise at all. That gap drives the whole quitclaim deed vs warranty deed decision. Below are the 5 big differences, then what each deed costs, then the cases where a quitclaim really is the right paper.

What Each Deed Actually Promises

The quitclaim deed vs warranty deed comparison starts with two definitions, and the rest follows from them. Cornell’s legal encyclopedia says a warranty deed is a document where the grantor, meaning you, the seller, “guarantees clear title to the property being sold.”¹ It tells the buyer the house is free of liens and claims, except the ones written into the deed itself.¹ A lien is just a recorded debt attached to the property, like unpaid taxes or a contractor’s bill nobody settled.

A quitclaim deed does close to the opposite. Cornell defines it as a document that moves a grantor’s “present interest, if any,” to the buyer. It does that “without representing, covenanting, or warranting that the title is good.”² Read that middle phrase again. If any. The seller is not even claiming to own the place.

Washington prints both forms in its statute, which makes the contrast easy to see. The warranty form uses the words “conveys and warrants.” Those five words pull three promises out of the statute itself. A seller holds the property outright and can sell it, the property was free of all encumbrances, and the seller “will defend the title thereto against all persons who may lawfully claim the same.”³

An encumbrance is any recorded claim against the house. Texas law puts it plainly: the word covers “a tax, an assessment, and a lien on real property.”⁷ The quitclaim form in the same Washington chapter uses “conveys and quitclaims.” It passes only “all the then existing legal and equitable rights of the grantor.”⁴ No covenants. No defense. Nothing to sue on later.

There is a third form most sellers never hear about, and it sits between the two. Washington calls it a bargain and sale deed. Other states call it a special or limited warranty. It promises the house is free of encumbrances “done or suffered from the grantor,” and nothing more.⁵ Builders and banks use it constantly. State rules diverge more than most sellers expect, and Ohio is the sharpest example: a quitclaim deed in Ohio still needs a spouse signature to release dower.

I tell sellers to picture two different sentences. One says I own this and I will stand behind it. The other says here is my hand, whatever is in it is yours. Sign the second in an arm’s length sale and you have moved every title risk onto a stranger who paid full price. Most buyers find that out before closing and walk. Our guide to grantor vs grantee covers who is on which side of that sentence.

Quitclaim Deed vs Warranty Deed: 5 Big Differences

These are the five that change what happens after the money moves. I have put them in the order a seller runs into them, not the order a law school teaches them.

1. The promise itself. A warranty deed guarantees clear title.¹ A quitclaim deed transfers a present interest “without representing, covenanting, or warranting that the title is good.”² That is the whole quitclaim deed vs warranty deed split in one line.
2. Who is on the hook after closing. A warranty deed’s covenants are “obligatory upon any grantor, his or her heirs and personal representatives.”³ Your promise outlives the closing and it outlives you. A quitclaim leaves the buyer nobody to chase.
3. How far back the promise reaches. Florida’s statutory warranty form defends the title “against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.”⁸ That is the entire chain of past owners. A special or limited warranty covers far less, which is difference four.
4. What a narrower deed leaves out. Washington’s bargain and sale deed only promises the house is free of encumbrances “done or suffered from the grantor.”⁵ California says the word grant implies “the following covenants, and none other,” limited to encumbrances “done, made, or suffered by the grantor.”⁶ Anything a prior owner did becomes the buyer’s problem.
5. What actually moves. A quitclaim passes what you own the day you sign it. It “shall not extend to the after acquired title unless words are added expressing such intention.”⁴ Inherit a missing sliver of the lot next year and it does not follow the deed.

Difference two is the one I would underline. Sellers read the warranty deed as a formality at the signing table. It is a promise with no expiry date, and a title claim that surfaces in 2031 lands on your estate. For the six covenants in full, see our warranty deed guide, and our special warranty deed guide for the narrower version.

One practical step before anyone argues about wording. Pull your own deed from the county recorder and read it. Whatever the last seller handed you is usually what your buyer will expect from you, and it shows which covenants already sit in your chain of ownership. People who inherited a house or bought at a foreclosure auction often find a quitclaim there, and that reframes the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed conversation before it even starts.

What the Deed Costs and What the Sale Costs

Here is the part that surprises people. The deed is almost free. The sale around it is not.

Recording is a clerk’s fee, and Florida publishes it in statute. Recording an instrument costs $5.00 for the first page and $4.00 for each page after that. Add a records modernization charge of $1.00 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional one.⁹ A two page deed therefore runs $10.50.

That figure is the same whether the paper says warrants or quitclaims. The clerk does not read the covenants. So the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed choice costs a seller nothing at the recording window, which is why the decision should turn on risk instead of price.

Now the sale. The National Association of Realtors put the July 2026 median existing home price at $434,100, up 2.0% from $425,700 a year earlier.¹² A 3% listing commission on that house is $13,023. HomeRise lists the same house on the MLS for a $95 listing fee plus $495 at closing, and the $495 is only owed if you sell.¹³ That is $590 in total, which leaves $12,433 in the seller’s pocket instead of a listing agent’s.

The deed decides who pays when an old claim surfaces. The commission decides how much of the sale you keep.

I would not trade one for the other, and I watch people try. A seller talks the buyer into a quitclaim to save a lawyer’s drafting fee. That same seller then hands a listing agent $13,023 without blinking. The savings are on the commission line, every time.

A flat fee MLS listing puts the house in front of the same buyers. Sellers who want to run the whole thing can sell without a realtor. Florida sellers can start at our Florida flat fee MLS page.

When a Quitclaim Deed Is the Right Tool

The quitclaim gets treated as the cheap, sketchy option. That is unfair. It is the correct instrument in several ordinary situations, and in none of them does HomeRise have anything to sell you.

Adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or a divorce is the common one. Nobody is buying anything, so nobody needs a title guarantee. Clearing a cloud on title is the other big use. If an old easement holder or a distant cousin might have a sliver of a claim, you ask them to quitclaim it away. They promise nothing, which is exactly right, because they may own nothing.

Moving a house into your own trust or LLC works the same way. You are both sides of the deed. Warranting title to yourself is theater. A parent naming an heir usually wants a different instrument entirely, which is why a transfer on death deed exists and is neither a quitclaim nor a warranty deed.

One trap sits inside all of these. A quitclaim moves only what the signer holds that day, because it “shall not extend to the after acquired title unless words are added expressing such intention.”⁴ Say two siblings quitclaim their shares of a family house to a third. If a fourth share turns up later in a probate file, those earlier deeds do not sweep it in. Somebody signs again.

My rule is simple. If money is changing hands between strangers, the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed question already has an answer, and it is not the quitclaim. If nobody is buying, the quitclaim is fine and costs the same $10.50 to record.⁹ Our piece on quit claim deed loopholes walks through where that logic gets abused.

When to Pay a Lawyer Instead of Winging It

This is the section that costs us money to write, so read it twice.

A warranty deed is not a form to download and fill in. You are making a legal promise about every owner going back to the original grant. Florida’s statutory form says so in words: you “will defend the same against the lawful claims of all persons whomsoever.”⁸ A defective legal description, a missing spouse’s signature, an old lien nobody searched. Any of those turns the promise you signed into the buyer’s cause of action against you.

Two situations where I would spend money on an attorney rather than lean on a $95 listing. First, any sale where the title history is messy: inherited property, a prior foreclosure, boundary disputes, a lot split. Second, any state where an attorney has to attend the closing anyway. Paying for the deed to be drafted properly at that point is a marginal cost, not a new one.

Understand what the deed is not doing for the buyer. Their real protection is insurance, not your signature. The CFPB says title insurance covers claims from before the purchase, including “a previous owner’s failure to pay taxes” and unpaid contractors. It also notes that “most lenders require you to purchase a lender’s title insurance policy.”¹⁰

Fannie Mae is blunter still. Every loan it buys “must have a title insurance policy in place or an attorney title opinion letter.”¹¹ So a financed buyer already has a title insurer reading the chain of ownership. The deed’s covenants sit behind that policy as a second line of defense.

That is why the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed argument gets more heat than it deserves in a normal financed sale. What the argument does survive is a cash buyer who skips the owner’s policy. Then your covenants are the only protection in the room, and I would not sign a bare quitclaim into that room for any price. Our breakdown of title insurance cost has the numbers, and whether you need a lawyer to sell a house covers the state rules.

One more thing about timing. The deed your buyer receives is the deed your purchase contract calls for, so the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed decision usually gets made weeks before closing, buried in a clause nobody reads out loud. I would rather argue about that clause while the contract is still a draft. Once it is signed, you are asking the other side for a favor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Quitclaim deed vs warranty deed: which is better for a sale?

For a normal sale to a buyer you do not know, the warranty deed is the right instrument, because it guarantees clear title. A quitclaim transfers a present interest with no promise that the title is good. Buyers and their lenders expect the warranty version.

Does a quitclaim deed transfer ownership?

Yes, it transfers whatever interest the signer holds at that moment, and nothing more. Washington law describes it as conveying “all the then existing legal and equitable rights of the grantor.” It does not reach title the signer picks up later unless the deed says so.

Is a quitclaim deed risky for the buyer?

It is, because the buyer gets no covenant to sue on if an old claim appears. In a quitclaim deed vs warranty deed comparison, that is the single biggest gap. Owner’s title insurance is how a buyer covers the risk instead.

Can I be sued years after signing a warranty deed?

Yes. Washington’s statute makes the covenants “obligatory upon any grantor, his or her heirs and personal representatives,” so the promise outlives the closing and can reach your estate. That is the real cost side of the quitclaim deed vs warranty deed choice, and it is the trade you make for a clean sale.

How much does it cost to record either deed?

Recording is a clerk’s charge, not a legal bill, and it does not change with the deed type. Florida charges $5.00 for the first page and $4.00 per additional page, plus $1.00 and $0.50 for records modernization, so a two page deed is $10.50. Other states publish their own schedules.

Do lenders accept a quitclaim deed?

The lender’s real requirement is insurance: Fannie Mae says every loan it buys must have a title insurance policy or an attorney title opinion letter. The title company decides what it will insure after reading the chain of ownership. Ask your closer before you choose between a quitclaim deed vs warranty deed.

Sources

1. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, Wex: warranty deed (reviewed July 2024)
2. Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute, Wex: quitclaim deed
3. RCW 64.04.030, Warranty deed, form and effect (Washington State Legislature)
4. RCW 64.04.050, Quitclaim deed, form and effect (Washington State Legislature)
5. RCW 64.04.040, Bargain and sale deed, form and effect (Washington State Legislature)
6. California Civil Code section 1113, covenants implied from the word grant
7. Texas Property Code sections 5.023 and 5.024, implied covenants and encumbrances
8. Florida Statutes section 689.02, form of warranty deed prescribed (2026)
9. Florida Statutes section 28.24(13), clerk service charges for recording
10. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, What is owner’s title insurance? (reviewed October 19, 2023)
11. Fannie Mae Selling Guide B7-2-01, Provision of Title Insurance (April 6, 2022)
12. National Association of Realtors, Existing-Home Sales Report, July 2026
13. HomeRise, flat fee MLS listing plans and pricing