Alaska Title Curing Guide: Clearing Defects Before Closing

Most Alaska home sales close without a hitch on title. But when a title search turns up a problem — an old lien, a missing heir’s signature, a fence that doesn’t match the recorded boundary — the deal doesn’t have to die. It has to be cured, and understanding how that process works can save weeks on your closing timeline.

What “Curing Title” Means

A title search, ordered by the title company or closing attorney early in the transaction, checks the public record for anything that could cloud clear ownership: unpaid liens, unreleased mortgages, judgments against a prior owner, probate issues, or boundary discrepancies from an old survey. Curing title means resolving each of these before the title company will issue a clean title insurance policy — the thing your lender requires before funding.

Common Alaska-specific title issues include:

• Unreleased liens from home improvement financing. Contractors who filed a mechanic’s lien or a home improvement lender who never filed a release when the loan was paid off.
• Heirship gaps on rural or family-held land. Property passed down informally across generations, sometimes never formally probated, leaves multiple heirs with an undivided interest — all of whom technically need to sign off on a sale.
• Boundary and access easement discrepancies, especially on larger acreage or remote parcels where the original survey predates GPS-accurate re-surveys.
• Unpaid property taxes from a prior owner that attached as a lien before the current chain of title.

How Each Type Gets Cured

Liens: The title company contacts the lienholder directly, confirms the payoff amount (often with interest and fees added), and either has the seller pay it off at closing from sale proceeds or negotiates a lien release. This is the fastest category to resolve — usually a matter of days once the lienholder responds.

Heirship issues: This is the slowest to cure. If a deceased owner’s estate was never formally probated, the title company may require a quiet title action — a court proceeding that formally establishes clear ownership — before insuring the title. In Alaska, this can take several months, so if you’re buying land you suspect has an informal ownership history, ask early. Some title companies will instead accept an affidavit of heirship signed by all known heirs if the estate is small and uncontested, which is faster.

Boundary disputes: A current ALTA/NSPS survey can resolve most disputes by re-establishing the legal boundary against physical markers. If a neighbor disputes the result, resolution may require a boundary line agreement recorded with both parties’ signatures, or in rare cases, litigation.

Tax liens: Paid directly out of sale proceeds at closing, verified through a payoff statement from the borough or municipality.

What This Means for Your Closing Timeline

If your title search comes back clean, you won’t notice any of this — the title company handles it behind the scenes in the first two weeks after your purchase agreement is signed. If it comes back with a defect, expect one of these outcomes:

1. Quick cure (days): Simple lien releases, minor clerical errors in the recorded deed.
2. Moderate cure (2-4 weeks): Negotiated lien payoffs, obtaining missing signatures from co-owners, re-surveys.
3. Extended cure (months): Quiet title actions, probate completion, contested boundary disputes.

For buyers, this is exactly why a purchase agreement should include a title contingency — giving you the right to walk away or renegotiate if a title defect can’t be cured within a reasonable timeframe. Review your home buying process steps for where the title contingency fits into the overall timeline.

Title Insurance Still Matters

Even after curing known defects, title insurance protects against issues that weren’t discoverable in the public record search — a forged deed decades ago, an undisclosed heir who surfaces later, or a clerical filing error. Lenders require a lender’s title policy; buyers should strongly consider an owner’s policy too, since the lender’s policy only protects the lender’s interest, not yours. If you’re financing through Premier Mortgage (NMLS# 1168048), your loan officer can walk through how title insurance fits into your closing costs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who pays to cure a title defect in Alaska — buyer or seller?

Typically the seller, since they’re the one conveying clear title as part of the purchase agreement. Most Alaska purchase contracts obligate the seller to clear title defects at their own expense before closing, though this is negotiable.

Can I still close if a title defect isn’t fully cured?

Sometimes, if the title company is willing to insure “over” the defect — meaning they accept the risk and issue a policy anyway, often for an additional premium, when the defect is minor and unlikely to result in a claim. Major defects like unresolved heirship or active litigation typically cannot be insured over.

How common are heirship title issues on rural Alaska land?

More common than in most states, particularly on Native allotment land, homestead-era parcels, and land passed informally through families across generations without formal probate. If you’re buying rural acreage, ask your title company about the ownership history early in the process.

Does a quitclaim deed automatically clear title problems?

No — a quitclaim deed only transfers whatever interest the grantor actually has, with no warranty that the title is clear. It can help consolidate ownership interests as part of a cure, but it doesn’t by itself resolve liens or clear a defective chain of title.

How long does a typical Alaska title search take?

A standard title search usually takes 3-7 business days once ordered, though rural parcels with a longer or more complex ownership history can take longer to fully research.