A Certificate of Title is a written opinion usually issued by a real estate attorney or a qualified person on the status of a piece of real estate based on an examination of the public record reporting the state of that title.

The certificate does not certify as to matters not of record and affords no protection unless the author was negligent. The certificate of title will list all the history, including conveyances and encumbrances that affect title to a parcel of real property, starting with the earliest existing document and ending with the most recent.