How to Read aTitle Report in New York
A New York title commitment has a specific structure — Schedule A, Schedule B-I, Schedule B-II, and endorsements. Most sellers and buyers have never read one. This page tells you exactly what each section means, what the red flags look like, and what Erie County-specific issues appear in Buffalo title reports that you won’t find anywhere else.
The Title Report vs. The Abstract of Title
A title report (also called a title commitment or title binder) is the title company’s formal commitment to issue title insurance, subject to certain conditions. It is based on the abstract of title — the raw chronological search of Erie County records — but it is organized into a standardized ALTA format that spells out exactly what will be insured and what will not.
Understanding the title report before closing means you know what issues exist, what you are agreeing to accept, and what the title company is requiring you to resolve. Think of a title report as a disclosure document — it tells you everything recorded against the property, good and bad, so there are no surprises at the closing table. Most parties receive the title commitment a few days before closing, read it quickly, and sign without fully understanding it. This page changes that.
In New York State, the ALTA title commitment form is the standard document used by all licensed title companies, including every company on our verified Buffalo title company list. The format is the same; what varies is what appears in the exceptions and requirements based on each property’s specific history.
The Four Parts of a New York Title Commitment
Every New York State title commitment is organized into four sections. Each one serves a different purpose and requires different attention from the parties.
The basic facts of the transaction: the effective date of the commitment, the property address and legal description, the proposed insured (buyer and/or lender), the estate or interest being insured (fee simple ownership in most cases), and the policy amount. Read this section carefully. The legal description must match the property being conveyed exactly. Any mismatch between the legal description in Schedule A and the deed being signed at closing is a red flag that requires correction before funds transfer.
Buffalo-specific: Legal descriptions on older Erie County properties sometimes reference plat maps, lot numbers, or street names that have changed. Verify the current legal description against the actual parcel you are selling.
The conditions the title company requires be satisfied before it will issue the policy. This is the action list. Everything in Schedule B-I must be resolved at or before closing. Typical requirements include: paying off existing mortgages and recording discharges, paying all outstanding taxes and obtaining releases, obtaining estate documents (Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration) for inherited properties, resolving OBI liens, and executing and recording the new deed in proper form.
Buffalo-specific: OBI lien payoffs to the City of Buffalo, City of Buffalo water/sewer bill payoffs, and Erie County in-rem lien releases appear here frequently on older Buffalo properties. Each one must be satisfied with documentary evidence before the title company will close.
The list of matters the title insurance policy will not cover. These are items that appear in the public record or are known to the title company that the buyer is accepting as part of the transaction. Standard exceptions in every New York policy include: rights of parties in possession, facts a survey would reveal, taxes not yet due, and easements not shown in public records. Property-specific exceptions include restrictive covenants, utility easements, and any encumbrances the parties agreed not to cure. Read every exception carefully — you are agreeing to accept whatever is listed here.
Buffalo-specific: OBI citations that were noted but not yet converted to liens may appear as exceptions. Restrictive covenants from original subdivision plats in Lancaster, Amherst, and Cheektowaga commonly appear — these are deed restrictions on use, building setbacks, or room counts that run with the land permanently and cannot be removed from Schedule B-II. Utility easements along older WNY streets are standard Schedule B-II items. On properties in HOA communities throughout Amherst, Williamsville, Orchard Park, and Hamburg, HOA bylaws, assessment liens, and architectural restrictions appear here. Mineral rights, though uncommon in WNY residential transactions, also appear in Schedule B-II when previously severed from surface rights — relevant on larger parcels in rural Erie and Niagara County.
Endorsements expand the title insurance coverage beyond the standard policy form. Common endorsements in New York include the ALTA 9 (restrictions, encroachments, minerals), ALTA 22 (location), and various lender-required endorsements when a mortgage is involved. In cash transactions, endorsements are less common but may be requested by a sophisticated buyer with specific concerns about the property. Each endorsement is priced separately per the TIRSA rate schedule.
Buffalo-specific: ALTA 9 endorsements covering restrictive covenants are common on properties in platted subdivisions in Amherst, Clarence, and Lancaster. Survey-related endorsements address Erie County’s mixed record on lot line accuracy in older neighborhood plats.
What the Title Report Is Really Telling You
The Disclosure Document Framework — Inspired by Fortune BuildersThe simplest way to understand a title report is to treat it as a disclosure document. It is the property telling you its full story — every owner, every mortgage, every lien, every restriction, every claim that has ever been recorded against it. The title company’s job is to surface that story completely and then tell you which parts need to be resolved before title can transfer cleanly.
A title report covers three categories of information: what is being transferred (Schedule A), what must be resolved before transfer (Schedule B-I requirements), and what the buyer is accepting as part of the property (Schedule B-II exceptions). Understanding which category each item falls into is the key to reading any NYS title commitment without confusion.
Not everything in the title report is a problem. Encumbrances — claims or interests in the property outside of the owner’s full fee simple ownership — appear in Schedule B-II but do not always prevent a sale. A utility easement giving National Grid the right to run lines across the back of your property is an encumbrance. It shows up in Schedule B-II. The buyer accepts it. The sale closes. The encumbrance is disclosed, understood, and priced into the transaction. The same logic applies to HOA bylaws, deed restrictions, mineral rights severances, and building setback covenants — these are permanent features of the property that follow it through every future sale.
What actually stops a closing are the Schedule B-I requirements — the active items that must be resolved. Tax liens paid. IRS liens released. OBI payoffs confirmed. Mortgage discharges recorded. Estate documents obtained from Surrogate’s Court. These are the items your attorney works through before closing day — not the permanent features of the property that belong in Schedule B-II.
The distinction that matters: Schedule B-I = things that must be fixed. Schedule B-II = things that are disclosed and accepted. A title report full of Schedule B-II exceptions is not a problem report — it is a thorough one. A title report with unresolved Schedule B-I requirements is what requires attention before closing.
Red Flags in a Buffalo Title Commitment
These are the items in a title commitment that require immediate attention from either the seller or buyer. When you see any of the following in Schedule B-I (requirements) or Schedule B-II (exceptions), do not proceed to closing without understanding exactly what you are dealing with.
Open mortgage with no discharge date — A mortgage appears in the search with no corresponding satisfaction or discharge. The lender may still have a valid lien. Resolution can take weeks if the lender is defunct. See: property tax lien guide
Missing estate documents — Property passed through a death without proper Surrogate’s Court filings. Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration required before closing can proceed. See: Erie County Surrogate’s Court guide
Active lis pendens — A lawsuit is pending against the property. Could be a foreclosure action, a partition suit between heirs, or an estate dispute. The lis pendens must be cancelled or the underlying lawsuit resolved before title can transfer.
IRS or federal tax lien — A federal tax lien filed against the current owner or a prior owner that has attached to the real property. Federal liens require specific payoff and release procedures and often take longer to resolve than state or local liens. See: IRS lien guide
OBI lien from City of Buffalo — City-performed remediation work that was liened against the property. Payoff letter required from the City of Buffalo before closing. Amount may be higher than expected due to accumulated penalties and interest.
Delinquent taxes listed as requirement — Erie County property taxes, City of Buffalo water bills, or school tax arrears appearing as Schedule B-I requirements. All must be paid before or at closing. See: delinquent taxes guide
Quitclaim deed in the chain — A quitclaim deed in the ownership history signals an informal transfer with no warranties. It may indicate a family transfer, a divorce settlement, or an attempt to cure a defect. Requires examination of the context — not automatically a problem, but always worth understanding.
Gap in chain of title — No recorded deed accounts for a transfer between two ownership periods. The most serious title defect. May require a quiet title action or court proceeding to resolve. Timeline is unpredictable.
Easement or restriction limiting use — A recorded easement or restrictive covenant in Schedule B-II that affects what the buyer can do with the property. Could include utility easements, building setback restrictions, or use limitations from original subdivision covenants.
Erie County-Specific Items in Schedule B
Erie County and the City of Buffalo have municipal systems that produce title report items specific to this market. If you are buying or selling in Buffalo and have never seen these items before, they are not unusual — they are standard features of Western New York title work.
City of Buffalo in-rem tax foreclosure searches. Both Erie County and the City of Buffalo maintain in-rem foreclosure proceedings for tax-delinquent properties. A search of these proceedings is a required part of every Erie County title search. If a property was the subject of a completed in-rem proceeding that resulted in a deed to the municipality, the chain of title must reflect that transfer. If the proceeding is active, it will appear as a Schedule B-I requirement.
OBI (Office of Building Inspection) citation search. The City of Buffalo OBI search is a standard component of every Buffalo residential title search. Open OBI citations that have been converted to liens appear as Schedule B-I requirements. Citations that have not yet been liened may appear as Schedule B-II exceptions — a buyer accepting them is agreeing to take the property with those open citations, which may become liens in the future.
Erie County water and sewer arrears. Erie County Water Authority and the City of Buffalo both bill water and sewer separately. Arrears on either can become liens. Schedule B-I typically requires payoff letters from both the ECWA and the City of Buffalo Water Department confirming no outstanding balance before closing.
School tax searches. Erie County properties are subject to school district taxes billed separately from general county taxes. The title commitment requires confirmation that school taxes are current for every district in which the property is located. For properties near school district boundaries, this occasionally involves multiple districts.
Bottom line: A Buffalo title commitment with multiple Schedule B-I requirements is not unusual — it is the expected result of a thorough search on older WNY housing stock. Every requirement can be resolved. The question is whether it is resolved before closing, at closing from sale proceeds, or whether a particular defect requires more time. That is what your attorney and title company are for.
What to Do When You Receive the Title Commitment
Most closings schedule the title commitment delivery 3–7 days before the closing date. That is not enough time to properly review a complex commitment without a plan. Here is the right approach:
Step 1: Have your real estate attorney review Schedule B-I immediately. Every requirement is something that must be done before closing. If any requirement cannot be satisfied in the time remaining, the closing must be adjourned. Your attorney needs to know this as early as possible.
Step 2: Read every Schedule B-II exception and make sure you understand what you are accepting. If any exception is unacceptable — an easement that affects your intended use, a restriction that limits renovation plans — negotiate to have it addressed before closing or walk away.
Step 3: Verify that Schedule A reflects the correct property, the correct legal description, the correct purchase price, and the correct parties. An error in Schedule A must be corrected before closing.
If you are selling your Buffalo property to Nickel City Buyers, we walk through the title commitment with you. We explain every requirement, every exception, and every item that needs resolution. We have done this 300+ times in Erie and Niagara County. There are no surprises at our closing table. Learn more about how we work with WNY title companies ›
How to Read a Title Report NY — FAQ
When will I receive the title commitment before closing?
In New York State, there is no statutory deadline for delivering the title commitment to the parties, but standard practice in Erie County is 3–7 business days before the closing date. If you receive the commitment fewer than 48 hours before closing, ask your attorney to request an adjournment if there are items in Schedule B-I that require verification. Rushing through a title commitment review is a common cause of post-closing problems.
What is the difference between Schedule B-I and Schedule B-II?
Schedule B-I is the requirements list — things that must happen before the title company will issue the policy. These are active items requiring resolution: paying off liens, obtaining estate documents, resolving OBI citations. Schedule B-II is the exceptions list — things that will not be covered by the title insurance policy. These are items the buyer is accepting as part of the transaction. B-I is about what needs to be done; B-II is about what you are agreeing to live with after closing.
Can I negotiate what appears in Schedule B-II?
In some cases, yes. If an exception appears in Schedule B-II that is the result of an unresolved lien or encumbrance — rather than a permanent feature of the property like a utility easement — you can negotiate with the seller to resolve it and have the exception removed before closing. Your attorney can request that the title company remove specific exceptions once the underlying issue is resolved. Permanent features of the property (recorded easements, subdivision restrictions) generally cannot be removed from Schedule B-II because they are legitimate limitations on the property.
What does “subject to facts a survey would reveal” mean in Schedule B-II?
This is a standard exception in virtually every New York title policy. It means the title insurance does not cover issues that a current survey of the property would reveal — encroachments, boundary disputes, fence lines that do not match the legal description, or structures that cross lot lines. If you want protection against these issues, you can order a survey and ask the title company to issue a survey endorsement (typically ALTA 9 in New York). Without a survey endorsement, boundary disputes are not covered by the standard policy.
How does the title report differ from the abstract of title?
The abstract of title is the raw research document — a chronological summary of every recorded instrument in the Erie County chain of title. The title report (commitment) is the title company’s organized analysis of that abstract, formatted into the ALTA commitment structure (Schedule A, B-I, B-II). The abstract is the evidence; the title commitment is the conclusion. Your attorney reviews both. Most parties only see the commitment; the abstract is the underlying work product that supports it.
What if I disagree with something in the title commitment?
Raise it immediately with your real estate attorney. If you believe a Schedule B-I requirement is incorrect, your attorney can contact the title company with supporting documentation. If you believe a Schedule B-II exception is unjustified — for example, a lien that was already paid and discharged but appears in the search due to an indexing error — your attorney can work with the title company to correct it. Do not proceed to closing with unresolved questions in the title commitment. Post-closing title disputes are significantly harder and more expensive to resolve than pre-closing ones.
What are encumbrances and do they prevent a sale in New York?
An encumbrance is any claim, lien, or restriction on a property outside of the owner’s full ownership interest. Encumbrances fall into two categories: those that can be cleared (tax liens, mortgage balances, judgment liens, OBI citations) and those that are permanent features of the property (easements, deed restrictions, HOA bylaws, mineral rights severances). Permanent encumbrances appear in Schedule B-II of the title commitment — the buyer accepts them as disclosed conditions of the property. They do not prevent a sale; they are disclosed as part of it. Clearable encumbrances appear in Schedule B-I as requirements that must be resolved before closing. In WNY, common permanent encumbrances include utility easements along older streets, subdivision covenants in Amherst, Lancaster, and Cheektowaga, HOA restrictions in communities throughout Hamburg, Orchard Park, and Williamsville, and building setback lines from original plat maps. None of these stop a closing — they are features of the property that the buyer is informed of and accepts.
Does the seller see the title commitment?
In most New York transactions, the title commitment is primarily a document for the buyer and lender. The seller’s attorney typically receives a copy and reviews the Schedule B-I requirements to confirm what the seller needs to resolve at or before closing. If you are selling to Nickel City Buyers, our title company shares the commitment with all parties and we walk through every requirement and exception with you before the closing date. There should be no surprises in a well-run Buffalo closing.
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Nickel City Buyers — Cash Home Buyers Who Know Erie County Title Reports Since 2013
Nickel City Buyers, LLC has reviewed and closed on 300+ Erie and Niagara County title commitments since 2013. Located at 3842 Harlem Rd STE 400-339, Cheektowaga, NY 14215. Phone: (716) 557-7005. We walk sellers through every Schedule B-I requirement and B-II exception on every transaction. Serving Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, Amherst, Lackawanna, West Seneca, Hamburg, Orchard Park, Lancaster, Depew, Kenmore, Williamsville, Niagara Falls, Lockport, North Tonawanda, and throughout Erie County and Niagara County. A+ BBB rating. 32 five-star Google reviews. Title Companies Buffalo NY › | Homeowner Resources ›
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