Of all the paperwork in a real estate closing, the deed itself gets the least attention – everyone is focused on the loan documents, the settlement statement, the inspection report. But the deed is the one document that determines what protection you, the buyer, actually have if a title problem surfaces after closing. In Virginia, not all deeds are created equal, and the difference can matter enormously.

Three Levels of Protection, Not Two

Sellers and their counsel will sometimes offer a Special Warranty Deed and describe it as standard. It isn’t the strongest option available, and a buyer should understand what it leaves out before agreeing to it.

Under Virginia law (Va. Code §§ 55.1-354 through 55.1-362), a deed’s warranty language does real legal work – the words the deed uses determine exactly what the seller is promising and to whom that promise runs.

A Special Warranty Deed gives the buyer only one promise: that the seller will defend the title against claims arising from the seller’s own acts or from persons claiming through the seller. It says nothing about what happened to the property before the seller owned it. If a lien, boundary defect, or break in the chain of title was created by someone three owners back, a special warranty deed leaves the buyer with no recourse against the person who just sold them the property.

A General Warranty Deed closes that gap. The seller warrants and defends title against the claims of all persons whatsoever – not just problems the seller created, but any defect anywhere in the chain of title, going back as far as the defect exists. That is a meaningfully broader promise, and it is the reason general warranty deeds are the norm in most arm’s-length residential and commercial resales.

English Covenants of Title add a further layer that a bare general warranty covenant doesn’t provide. Instead of a single blanket promise to “warrant and defend,” a deed with English covenants of title (Va. Code

§§ 55.1-356, 55.1-359 through 55.1-362) breaks the seller’s obligations into six distinct, independently enforceable covenants:

• Seisin – that the seller actually owns an indefeasible fee simple estate in the property.
• Right to convey – that the seller has the legal authority to transfer it.
• Quiet possession – that the buyer’s use and enjoyment of the property won’t be disturbed.
• Freedom from encumbrances – that the property is free of liens, easements, and other claims not disclosed.
• Further assurances – that the seller will sign whatever additional documents are needed to perfect the buyer’s title.
• No act to encumber – that the seller hasn’t done anything that would burden the title.

Why the Combination Matters

Pairing “general warranty” with “English covenants of title” isn’t redundant – the two phrases protect the buyer along different axes, and together they cover more ground than either alone. “General” tells you who the seller is answerable to: the whole world, not just the seller’s own conduct. “English covenants of title” tells you how many separate promises you’re getting, and that distinction has real practical teeth. Several of the English covenants – seisin, right to convey, and freedom from encumbrances – are “present” covenants that are breached, if at all, the moment the deed is delivered. That means if an undisclosed lien turns up, the buyer can act on it right away, without first having to be evicted or sued to establish a breach. Under a bare warranty covenant (general or special, without the English covenants language), the buyer typically has to show an actual or constructive eviction – someone successfully asserting a superior claim – before there’s anything to sue on. Waiting for that to happen is not a position any buyer wants to be in.

The Bottom Line for a Purchaser

A General Warranty Deed with English Covenants of Title gives a Virginia buyer the fullest protection the law recognizes: a promise that runs against defects from anywhere in the chain of title, not just the seller’s own tenure, delivered as a set of separately enforceable covenants rather than one all-or-nothing warranty. It shifts risk squarely onto the party best positioned to know what problems might exist – the seller, and the title insurance and prior owners standing behind that seller – rather than leaving the buyer to absorb a defect that predates the sale.

Special warranty deeds have their place – they’re standard, and often unavoidable, when the seller is a bank disposing of REO property, a trustee, an estate, or a corporate seller unwilling to warrant a chain of title it never controlled. But when a buyer is dealing with an individual seller in an ordinary purchase, there is little reason to accept anything less than a General Warranty Deed with English Covenants of Title. It should be a specific, negotiated term in the purchase contract – not an afterthought left to whatever form the closing attorney happens to have on hand.

This article provides general information about Virginia real property law and is not legal advice for any particular transaction. Buyers should consult counsel before finalizing contract language governing the form of deed.