[jamdon]

Grantee's name is incorrectly spelled on the warranty deed and the deed is filed. The error is not discovered until the property is being refinanced. What process should be used to fix the error (Corrective Deed? And if so is there a GA statute that gives details?) and who should be involved in the process (ie original attorney who created incorrect deed? grantor from warranty deed? etc)? Also, what can be done if original attorney and grantor are not available? Finally, is there a resource (GA statutes, Book, Articles, Web site, CLE class etc.) where this type of question can be researched and answered with confidence?

[LisaB4657]

You should be able to do a corrective deed where the grantor is the person with the incorrectly-spelled name and the grantee is the correct spelling. The consideration would be $10 and in the legal description a statement should be added like "The purpose of this Corrective Deed is to correct the spelling of the grantor's name, which was incorrectly spelled in the Deed dated (insert date), which transferred the property from (insert prior owner's name) to (insert current owner's incorrectly spelled name), and which deed was recorded on (insert recording date and recording information)."

If the property is being refinanced now then there should be a title insurance company involved. You can ask them to draft this Corrective Deed and it can be signed at the closing and recorded with the mortgage documents.

[jamdon]

Lisa B,
My only issue/question regarding your answer is that the Grantor name is an incorrect spelling of the person's name and therefore they don't have acceptable identification for a notary to legally notarize the signature of the misspelled name. My thought is that if they are available, the attorney who originally prepared the WD should redo the WD, add some scrivenor's error language explaining the incorrect spelling, and have the owner/grantor on the WD resign w/ the correct spelling of the buyer's name. The difficult issue becomes what to do if the original attorney or grantor are not available, how do you get around the notarization issue? Thanks for your help and I look forward to your thoughts.
James D

[LisaB4657]

I'm sorry for not making myself more clear in my last response. The grantor's name should be spelled correctly in the Grantor portion of the new deed. The fact that the Grantor spelling in the new deed will be different than the Grantee spelling in the prior deed does not matter. The corrective language within the new deed will explain the discrepancy.

[jamdon]

Thanks Lisa. Makes sense to do it that way if prior attorney and grantor are not available. Sort of a self correcting affidavit on the part of the original grantee, so a bit weak, but in the absence of a better solution probably the only way to go.