Dearborn has one of the oldest housing inventories in Metro Detroit. Bungalows in East Dearborn, brick colonials off Outer Drive, ranches built when Ford was still expanding the Rouge. Many of these homes have changed hands six or seven times since the deed was first recorded. That history is what makes Dearborn a strong place to buy, and it is also why title issues here look different than they do in newer Wayne County subdivisions. Before you sign anything, there are a handful of items worth checking.

The purchase agreement is where you have leverage

Once the offer is accepted, the purchase agreement controls everything that happens next. This is the document that says who pays for the title policy, who handles the city’s pre-sale inspection, what happens if the appraisal comes in low, and how long you have to back out after the inspection. Most buyers sign the standard Greater Metropolitan Association of REALTORS form without changing a word, which is fine when the deal is simple. When it isn’t, the contract is where you fix it, not at closing.

A few things we routinely add or negotiate:

  • A clear inspection period with a written right to terminate
  • A financing contingency that matches your actual loan timeline
  • Who pays for the City of Dearborn certificate of compliance (and what happens if the inspection finds code issues)
  • Personal property language so the fridge, the shed, and the chandelier you were promised actually stay

The title commitment is the document that matters

A week or two after the offer is signed, the title company issues a title commitment. This is the document that tells you what is actually attached to the property. Read it. Most title commitments have a Schedule B that lists exceptions, such as old easements, utility rights-of-way, unreleased mortgages from prior owners, or a mechanic’s lien from a contractor in 2003. Some of those are routine. Some kill the deal.

What we look for in Dearborn specifically:

  • Unreleased mortgages. Older Dearborn homes often have a mortgage from a previous owner that was paid off but never formally discharged. The title company will require a payoff letter or a quiet title action before it insures over it.
  • Land contracts. Common in East Dearborn during the 70s and 80s. If the chain of title runs through a land contract that was never properly assigned, the seller may not actually have clean title to convey.
  • Estate issues. Homes that passed through an estate without probate, or where one heir signed but the others didn’t, are a recurring problem in older neighborhoods.
  • Tax delinquencies. Wayne County tax foreclosures are aggressive. Any unpaid summer or winter tax shows up on the title commitment and has to be cleared at closing.

The Wayne County Register of Deeds

Every deed, mortgage, and lien for property in Dearborn gets recorded at the Wayne County Register of Deeds, located in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at 2 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. The office handles e-recording through approved submitters, which is how most title companies file these days. Recording fees in Wayne County are $30 per document. The state real estate transfer tax is $3.75 per $500 of sale price, and the county adds another $0.55 per $500. The seller pays both, but they show up on the buyer’s settlement statement and it’s worth knowing what the numbers mean.

Wayne County tip. Pull a copy of the deed before closing. The Register of Deeds has a free online search at the county’s official site, and the legal description on the existing deed should match what’s on the new deed exactly. We’ve caught typos and metes-and-bounds errors this way more than once.

Dearborn’s certificate of compliance

The City of Dearborn requires a Certificate of Compliance for any residential sale within city limits. The seller schedules an inspection with the Department of Public Works, the inspector walks the property, and any code violations have to be repaired before the certificate is issued. Common items in older Dearborn homes:

  • Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the right locations
  • GFCI outlets in kitchens, bathrooms, and exterior locations
  • Handrails on stairs and proper bedroom egress
  • Furnace, water heater, and electrical panel compliance

If the inspection turns up something expensive, like a knob-and-tube circuit, a non-vented water heater, or a furnace that is overdue for replacement, the contract should say who pays for what. Most often the seller fixes it. Sometimes the buyer takes the price reduction and the responsibility. Either way, get it in writing.

Property taxes and the PRE

Dearborn property taxes have two cycles. Summer taxes are mailed in July and due September 14. Winter taxes are mailed in December and due February 14. Both are billed by the City of Dearborn Treasurer.

If you’re buying the home as your primary residence, file the Principal Residence Exemption (Form 2368) with the Dearborn Assessor as soon as you close. The PRE removes 18 mills of school operating tax, which on a $300,000 home is roughly $5,400 a year. The deadline is June 1 for that year’s summer tax and November 1 for the winter tax. Sellers sometimes forget to rescind their PRE when they move out, which can cause back-billing for the new owner. The title company normally catches this. Sometimes it doesn’t.

At the closing table

Closings in Wayne County usually happen at the title company’s office. You’ll sign a closing disclosure, a deed, the mortgage and note (if you’re financing), a transfer affidavit (Form 2766), and a stack of routine disclosures. What we tell our clients to focus on:

  • The numbers on the closing disclosure match what you were told at loan estimate
  • The legal description on the deed matches the title commitment
  • The transfer affidavit is filed with the city assessor within 45 days
  • You walk out with copies of everything, including the title policy

When it is worth calling a real estate attorney

Most Dearborn closings are routine. The ones that are not tend to share a few features. An older home with a complicated title chain, an estate sale, a land contract conversion, a contested inspection, or a deal where the buyer is putting down significant cash and wants someone independent of the title company reviewing the file. A flat-fee attorney review of the purchase agreement and title commitment runs a few hundred dollars and almost always saves more than it costs.

Our Real Estate Law practice handles residential closings across Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and the rest of Wayne County. Bring your purchase agreement and your title commitment and we can usually identify, in a short review, anything in the file that needs to be cleaned up before you sign.