How to review a title commitment step by step

Published 16 October 2026. Updated 16 October 2026.

A title commitment is the title company's written offer to issue a policy, on stated terms. The terms are the part that creates work: what must happen before closing, and what the policy will not cover. Reviewing a commitment well means turning those terms into a short list of actions, each with an owner and a source. This guide walks through that review in the order that tends to save rework.

What a commitment is made of

Forms differ by underwriter and by state, so check the one in front of you. Most commitments follow the same outline.

• Schedule A describes the deal: the effective date, the policy or policies to be issued with their amounts, the proposed insured, the estate or interest being insured, the current vesting owner and the legal description.
• Schedule B, requirements (often Part I) lists what must be done, paid, released or recorded before the policy can issue.
• Schedule B, exceptions (often Part II) lists matters the policy will not cover unless something changes.
• Conditions and notices sit at the front or back and explain how the commitment works. They rarely generate tasks, but read them once per underwriter.

Some agencies call the requirements "Schedule B-I" and the exceptions "Schedule B-II". Use whatever your form uses, but keep the two lists separate in your notes, because they lead to different work.

Step 1: Check Schedule A against the contract

Before you read a single requirement, confirm the deal is described correctly.

1. Does the proposed insured match the buyer, or the lender for a loan policy, as the file states?
2. Does the policy amount match the price or loan amount?
3. Is the vesting owner the person or entity signing the deed? A trust, an estate or a company owner changes the paperwork.
4. Does the legal description match the contract and any survey you hold?
5. Is the effective date recent enough? Anything recorded after that date is not in the commitment.

Errors here are cheap to fix now and expensive to fix after closing.

Step 2: Read the requirements one at a time

Each requirement is an instruction, and most of them fall into a handful of types.

• Pay off and release a mortgage or deed of trust. The current holder is paid at closing, and a release (for a deed of trust, often a reconveyance from the trustee) is then recorded.
• Satisfy a judgment or lien. A recorded judgment against the owner has to be paid and a recordable satisfaction obtained.
• Obtain an association statement. For a property in an association, a statement of assessments and any liens, often called an estoppel or a dues letter.
• Provide documents and affidavits. Identity affidavits for name variances, authority documents for a trust or company, and similar paperwork.
• Search municipal records. Utility, tax or code charges that attach to the property.
• Matters for the examiner's own judgment. A vesting mismatch, a missing signer, a power of attorney. No letter to a third party fixes these.

For each requirement, write down four things: what clears it, who you write to, which recorded instrument it refers to (book and page, or instrument number), and the page of the commitment it came from. If you skip the page, someone will ask for it later.

Step 3: Sort the exceptions

Exceptions are different. Most of them simply stay. An easement for a utility, a recorded restriction, taxes that are not yet due and the public's rights in streets and roads are ordinary items that remain on the policy.

Go through them with two questions.

1. Does this one affect the buyer's intended use or the lender's collateral? If so, read the recorded document itself, not just the one-line description.
2. Is this one something the parties can remove? A standard survey exception or a mechanic's lien exception is sometimes removable with an affidavit or a survey, depending on the underwriter and the state. Check your underwriter's guidance.

Mark the rest as "stays". Writing "stays" is a decision, and putting it on the list shows the examiner did look at the item.

Step 4: Compare the requirements with the search package

Requirements often describe a problem that has already been fixed. A mortgage may have been paid off years ago with the release recorded under a different book and page. A judgment may have been satisfied and the satisfaction filed. Before writing any request letter, check the recorded instruments.

• Is there a recorded satisfaction or release that names the same mortgage, by book and page or instrument number?
• Was the mortgage assigned? If so, the payoff request belongs with the current holder, and the letter should cite both the original and the assignment.
• Was there a partial release? Then the lien may remain on what is left, and the letter should say what you need released.

The detailed version of the first case is in a released mortgage that is still on the commitment.

Step 5: Build the task list

A usable task list is short and specific. A format that works:

Put anything unsettled at the top: an item you could not read, a name you could not match, a reference with a missing page. These are the places an error becomes an insured loss.

Common mistakes at this stage are covered in title curative items and how to clear them.

Step 6: Write the requests and keep a record

Each letter should identify the loan or lien by its recorded reference, state what is being requested and name the closing date. A payoff request asks the lender for a payoff statement good through the closing date. It should not state a payoff figure of its own: the lender supplies the number. Keep a copy, note the date sent and note when the reply arrives.

A short review checklist

• Schedule A matches the contract: parties, amount, vesting, legal description.
• Every requirement has a type, an addressee, a reference and a page.
• Every exception is marked "stays" or has an action.
• The search package was checked for releases, assignments and partial releases before any letter was written.
• Unresolved items are at the top of the list.
• Letters name the recorded instrument and ask for a payoff statement, not state one.

How ClearCurative does this step

ClearCurative takes the commitment as a PDF with selectable text, a Word file or a text file. You can add the prior policy and the recorded instruments of the search package, up to 8 files of 25 MB each. A model reads each file and reports every requirement and exception with its page and a quote. Ordinary code then checks each quote on its page, links requirements to recorded satisfactions, assignments and partial releases, and fills in the letters from checked fields.

You get a task list as a PDF with the page of every item, request letters and affidavits as editable Word drafts, and the full result as JSON. Anything it could not settle is listed at the top of the task list and in the full result. Scanned pages are not read yet: they are listed as not read, so you know which pages to open yourself. A second, stronger AI model reviews every result and lists what is left for you to decide; the drafting model corrects the serious problems the review finds, and code checks every correction. Results are not verified by a person. The letters are drafts that you edit, sign and send. Nothing is sent for you, and the product does not connect to SoftPro.

One commitment is 22 credits, with no subscription. You can sign up and try it.

Questions

How long should a commitment review take?

It depends on the file. A routine purchase with one mortgage and clean vesting is quick. Old liens, assigned mortgages and name variances add real work, so budget for the exceptions, not the page count.

Do I need the prior policy to review a commitment?

Not always, but it helps. A prior policy shows the earlier chain of title and often explains why an old mortgage or easement is still listed. If the file has one, read it next to the commitment.

Who writes the curative letters, the examiner or the closer?

That differs by agency. Some examiners write every request, others hand a task list to the closer or a processor. Whoever owns it, the task list should name the addressee and the recording reference for each item.