Real estate title glossary
What is gap period?
Also called: gap coverage, bring-down search
Definition
The gap period is the time between the date a title search is effective and the date the new deed or mortgage is recorded, when new liens could still attach.
Closings handle it with a bring-down search just before closing and, in insured deals, gap coverage from the title insurer.
How it shows up in a title search
Every title search has an effective date; a HeritageDeed report states when each source was pulled.
Guides that go deeper
- Title Commitment: What It Is, How to Read It, and How It Differs From a Title SearchA title commitment is an insurer's offer to issue a title policy once requirements are met. How to read its exceptions and how it differs from a title search.
- What an Automated Title Search MissesAutomation reads the recorded index fast and consistently. It cannot see unrecorded interests, offline records, or resolve name ambiguity.
- Title Search vs Title Insurance: What Each Actually CoversA title search reports what is recorded. Title insurance pays if that conclusion is wrong. What each covers, who needs which, and when a search is enough.
Related terms
Source: Legal Information Institute, Wex: title insurance. Plain-English summary of general US usage; state law varies, and this is not legal advice.