What Is Quieting Title?

Gregory Stanley
Sep 1
3 min read

A quiet title is a legal action in Alabama brought in the circuit court to clear any clouds off the title of real property. (See the recent article on Clouds on a Title.) The process costs about $8000 and takes 4 to 14 months depending on the county.

An individual (not an LLC) can bring a suit in their own name to quiet their title, but unless you have a law degree it is recommended you save yourself time and money and have an attorney that has completed a quiet title handle this for you. Look up Dunning Kruger if you think you know enough to file legal proceedings in Alabama without a law degree.

“Hmmm… can't reach this page”

If you search the internet for “quiet title in Alabama” you will find dozens of articles, most of which are either misleading or just wrong. Check the links in the article and Stop reading if the article is older than 2023, or if it doesn’t cite code sections such as “AL Code 6-6-540,” or if it or if it cites an Act, such as “subject to the quiet title proceedings under Act 2013-249.” These articles are all outdated because the law has changed every year since 2019.

Essentially a quiet title action is designed to ensure marketable title, that is to say the property can support title insurance so it can be sold with a loan: Loans require title insurance, title insurance requires a clear title, quiet titles clear the title.

When do you need a quiet title?

Alabama Tax liens and deeds. In Alabama a tax sale does not remove any encumbrances (clouds) on a title, not one — but tax deeds do grant the right to file a quiet title which may clear other claims and encumbrances on the property.
Heir property is rampant in some parts of Alabama. Some people die without a will, and the heirs do not know or do not want to pay to settle the estate in probate court. As a rule, if a person owns property in their own name and they die, it will require a court to settle the title: Either the cheaper probate court route, or the more expensive quiet title in circuit court.
Parcels can mysteriously appear or disappear when a novice writes a deed. Real estate metes and bounds legal descriptions can be confusing and arcane and that is why the law requires an attorney to draft deeds.
Sometimes the existence of an easement, a deed restriction, or an owners’ association may be left off deeds but these encumbrances “run with the land” and cannot be destroyed outside a court ruling. It doesn’t matter how you got the property; some encumbrances are permanent and will always run with the land.
Roads seem to disappear or appear without county involvement, making their existence ripe for dispute.

Standing – who can bring a quiet title action

“When any person is in peaceable possession of lands” is how the code section cited above begins. Essentially, if you are in possession, you have claimed to own the property and paid the taxes for a certain period of time, (3,10, or 20 years depending) and you are insecure about other claims against the property, and there is no other lawsuit already going on you can quiet title. Just remember, a deed is not effective until its recorded, and if you assessed the property to “representative of the heirs” or some such language, that is how you must quiet the title.

Who do you sue for an "in rem" quiet title?

Everyone. And their cousins. The first step in a quiet title, ejectment, or foreclosure is an analysis of the abstract of title by a professional who can determine every entity that may have a lien, judgment, or other encumbrance and each of these entities must be named a party. Parties are identified by your knowledge of claims and the title abstract.