Michigan Deed Types Explained: Warranty, Covenant, and Quitclaim

Last fall I sat at a closing table in Hudsonville while a buyer slid a single sheet of paper across to me and asked, "So this is the part that proves I own it, right?" The deed she was pointing at was a quitclaim.Her uncle had sold her the house, the price on the line read $407,000, and she had walked in assuming a deed is a deed.It is not.The word printed at the top of that page decides whether the seller stands behind the title for the entire history of the property, only for the years he owned it, or not at all.

I am Holden Richardson, and I sell houses across Kent and Ottawa counties.Deed type is one of the few things in a transaction that is pure law, not negotiation, and it is the one most buyers never think about until something goes sideways.Let me walk you through the three Michigan deeds you will actually encounter, what each one does for you, and where they show up in our market.

Why this matters more in 2026 than it used to

Inventory is still tight here.The City of Grand Rapids is sitting at 1.2 months of supply with a median sale price of $304,000, up 10% year over year, and homes are going pending in about 9 days. When stock is that thin, buyers chase deals that come from outside the normal MLS path: a family member selling to a relative, an estate liquidating a property, an investor flipping a parcel he bought at auction.Those off-MLS transfers are exactly where you see covenant deeds and quitclaim deeds instead of the full warranty deed you would get on a typical listed sale.The faster the market, the more corners people are tempted to cut, and the deed is where the cut shows up.These market figures are estimates pulled from public aggregators, not certified MLS data, so treat them as directional.

The warranty deed: the full guarantee

A statutory warranty deed is the gold standard, and in Michigan its exact form is written into law at MCL 565.151.The statute boils the whole thing down to one line of operating language: "A.B. conveys and warrants to C.D." Those five words "conveys and warrants" carry a stack of promises with them.

When a seller signs a warranty deed, Michigan law makes him guarantee, in writing, that he is lawfully seized of the property, that he has the right to convey it, that you will have quiet possession, that the property is free from all encumbrances, and that he will warrant and defend the title against all lawful claims. That defense covers the entire chain of title, not just his ownership.If a lien from three owners ago surfaces in 2031, the seller who gave you a warranty deed is on the hook for it.

This is the deed you should expect on almost every standard sale in Caledonia, Rockford, Grandville, or anywhere else a house is listed and sold the normal way.When a Caledonia home trades at its median of $429,900 after 34 days on market, the buyer is almost always getting a warranty deed. If a seller balks at giving one on a conventional sale, that is a flag worth asking about.

The covenant deed: a partial promise

The middle option confuses people because Michigan does not use the labels other states do.There is no "limited warranty deed" or "special warranty deed" recognized here. What we have instead is the covenant deed, sometimes called a "Deed C." It conveys property with a limited warranty: the grantor promises only that he did not cause or allow any title problem during his own ownership.

The difference from a warranty deed is the window of coverage.A warranty deed reaches back through the property's whole history.A covenant deed stops at the day the seller took title. If a defect predates him, you own that problem.This is common on bank-owned sales, relocation-company resales, and some estate transfers, where the seller is comfortable standing behind his own time owning the place but refuses to vouch for owners he never met.

Here is a Michigan quirk worth knowing.Back in 1931 the state made it a misdemeanor to print, sell, or keep for sale any blank deed form that uses the words "warranty deed" unless the deed is in fact an absolute warranty deed. That statute, MCL 750.275, is why you will rarely see a document literally titled "limited warranty deed" in Michigan.The law forced the partial-warranty concept into the covenant-deed form instead.

The quitclaim deed: no promise at all

The quitclaim is the bare-bones transfer.Its statutory form lives at MCL 565.152 and reads simply "A.B. quit claims to C.D." It conveys whatever interest the grantor happens to have, to the grantee, his heirs, and assigns, and that is the end of it.

No warranty of title.None.If the seller actually owns the house free and clear, you get clear title.If the seller owns half of it, or has a 1998 mortgage still clouding the record, or owns nothing at all, you get exactly that, and you bear every dollar of loss when the problem surfaces. A quitclaim is not inherently bad.It is the right tool in the right place: adding a spouse to title, moving a property into a living trust, clearing up a clerical defect, or transferring between family members who already trust each other.The mistake is using one for an arm's-length purchase where you are handing over real money to someone you do not know.

That buyer in Hudsonville I mentioned at the top?Her quitclaim was fine, because her title company had already run a full search and issued an owner's policy.That is the move.When you take title by quitclaim or covenant deed, a title insurance policy fills the gap the deed leaves open by covering the property's entire chain of title, and the insurer is frankly a more reliable payor than a prior owner you would otherwise have to sue.

Recording: the step that makes it real

Signing the deed transfers the property.Recording it protects you against the world.In Kent and Ottawa counties, you record at the Register of Deeds, and the recording fee is a flat $30 per document regardless of page count. The document has to be legible black ink on white paper at least 8.5 by 11 inches and no larger than 8.5 by 14, with type no smaller than 10 point, and the grantee's address must be on it.

Recording the deed is not the only filing the transfer triggers.Two more land on you fast, and missing them costs money, which brings us to the tax section.

The Michigan tax and program rules tied to your deed

Every deed transfer in our footprint kicks off a chain of Treasury obligations.First is the Property Transfer Affidavit, Michigan Treasury Form 2766 (also called the L-4260).The new owner must file it with the city or township assessor within 45 days of the transfer, and skipping it on an owner-occupied home draws a penalty of $5 per day up to $200. File this even if you somehow did not record a deed, because the affidavit is what tells the assessor the property changed hands.

That affidavit is also what triggers SEV uncapping.Under Proposal A, a property's Taxable Value is capped while one owner holds it, but the year after a sale it uncaps to roughly 50% of true cash value. That can jump the tax bill meaningfully, and it has nothing to do with which deed type you used, the transfer itself is the trigger.I wrote a full breakdown of how that plays out in SEV uncapping across West Michigan.

Second is the transfer tax.Under MCL 207.523 the seller, not the buyer, is liable, and it customarily stays with the seller in both Kent and Ottawa counties. The combined rate is $8.60 per $1,000 of value rounded up to the nearest $500: $7.50 state plus $1.10 county. On a Zeeland home at its $370,899 median, that is roughly $3,190 the seller pays at closing. The mechanics are the same whether the instrument is a warranty, covenant, or quitclaim deed for consideration.I cover the county-level details in Michigan transfer tax in Kent and Ottawa counties.

One more program note: if the home becomes your primary residence, claim the Principal Residence Exemption, which removes 18 mills of school operating tax from your bill. The deed makes you the owner; the PRE filing makes you the resident for tax purposes.They are separate steps.Here is my guide to the PRE versus non-homestead tax difference.

What I'd do as a buyer or seller

If I am buying, I want a statutory warranty deed and an owner's title insurance policy, full stop, on any arm's-length purchase.If a seller offers a covenant deed, I want to know why, and I lean harder on the title search.If anyone hands me a quitclaim on a real purchase, I treat it as a stop sign until a title company has searched the chain and is willing to insure it.Deed language costs almost nothing to get right at the table and brutally expensive to fix in court.

If I am selling, I match the deed to the situation honestly.On a normal listed home in Jenison or Grandville, where homes are moving in 14 and 9 days respectively, a warranty deed is standard and expected. If I am an estate or an investor who genuinely cannot vouch for prior owners, a covenant deed is a fair, legal middle ground, and I say so up front rather than springing it at closing.

Either way, this is not a place to wing it off a form you printed at home.Run the deed and the title work through a real closing.If you want to game out the tax side of a specific transfer before you sign anything, send me the details and I'll run the numbers by hand, and you can always send your situation through Ask Holden.

FAQ

Is a quitclaim deed safe to use when buying a house in Grand Rapids?
It can be, but only with a title search and an owner's policy behind it.A quitclaim gives you zero warranty of title, so you absorb any hidden lien or ownership gap yourself. For an arm's-length purchase from someone you do not know, I want a warranty deed instead.Quitclaims are best for family transfers, trusts, and fixing record errors.

What is the difference between a warranty deed and a covenant deed in Michigan?
A warranty deed guarantees clear title across the property's entire history, so the seller defends against defects even from owners before him.A covenant deed limits that promise to only the years the seller owned it; anything older is your problem. Michigan does not recognize "limited" or "special" warranty deed labels, so the covenant deed fills that role.

Does Michigan have a special or limited warranty deed?
No, not by that name.A 1931 statute, MCL 750.275, makes it a misdemeanor to use a "warranty deed" form that is not an absolute warranty deed. Partial-warranty transfers go through the covenant deed instead.

What does it cost to record a deed in Kent or Ottawa County?
A flat $30 per document at the Register of Deeds, regardless of how many pages it runs. That is separate from the state and county transfer tax of $8.60 per $1,000, which the seller customarily pays.

Do I have to file anything after the deed is recorded?
Yes.You file a Property Transfer Affidavit (Treasury Form 2766 / L-4260) with the local assessor within 45 days, or face a penalty of $5 a day up to $200 on an owner-occupied home. If the house is your primary residence, also file for the Principal Residence Exemption to drop 18 mills off the tax bill.

Which deed will I get on a normal listed home sale here?
Almost always a statutory warranty deed, which is the standard on conventional listed sales in towns like Caledonia, Rockford, and Hudsonville. If a seller on a standard listing proposes anything less, ask why before you proceed.