Special warranty deed
A special warranty deed is a deed that conveys land with a covenant of special warranty, under which the grantor and the grantor's heirs warrant and defend the property only against claims of the grantor and persons claiming by, through or under the grantor. In Virginia the words with special warranty create that covenant.
Inside the circle: the grantor and anyone claiming through the grantor
Picture the claims that could ever be made against a tract's title, then draw a circle around the ones that run back to the person selling it. A special warranty covers what falls inside that circle. Everything outside it is not part of the promise.
The Code of Virginia draws the circle in two statutes. Va. Code 55.1-356 deems the words with special warranty, in the granting part of a deed, to be a covenant that the grantor will warrant specially the property conveyed. Va. Code 55.1-355 says what that covenant does: it has the same effect as if the grantor and his heirs and personal representatives had covenanted to forever warrant and defend the property for the grantee and those who come after. The statute's closing words set the limit:
against the claims and demands of the grantor and all persons claiming or to claim by, through, or under him.
Va. Code 55.1-355
Inside the circle are the grantor's own claims and the claims of anyone whose right comes by, through or under the grantor. Outside it is any claim that does not trace through the grantor at all. The words that decide which side a claim lands on are by, through or under, and whether a particular claim traces that way is an attorney's reading of the record.
| Words in the granting clause | Deemed a covenant that the grantor will | Defends against the claims of | Statutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| with general warranty | warrant generally the property conveyed | All persons | Va. Code 55.1-356, 55.1-354 |
| with special warranty | warrant specially the property conveyed | The grantor and all persons claiming by, through or under the grantor | Va. Code 55.1-356, 55.1-355 |
The difference between the rows is the third column, whose claims each covenant defends against. A general warranty deed runs the same promise against every claimant; the special warranty keeps it to claims that trace through the grantor. A quitclaim is a third form built on release words rather than a warranty covenant, and how it compares with the general warranty is set out in quitclaim vs general warranty deed.
Carroll County's posted 2026 tax-sale terms name this deed
When the Carroll County Treasurer's page was read on September 13, 2026, one set of terms it posted for a 2026 auction of tax-delinquent real estate, a sale subject to Circuit Court approval, named the deed the land would convey by.
All properties will be conveyed by Special Warranty Deed, subject to easements and covenants of record and rights of persons in possession.
Terms of sale posted on the Carroll County Treasurer's page, 2026
The terms also list three things the land stays subject to: easements of record, covenants of record, and the rights of persons in possession. Sale terms name the deed; what the deed delivered at a given sale actually promises is written in that deed, and reading it is an attorney's work.
This is an example, not a rule. It shows one posted set of terms on one date; terms for another sale, even one listed on the same page, or a later one, can read differently, and nothing in them says every tax sale or every county uses this deed or gives it the same terms. How land comes to a tax sale in the first place, and whether land with back taxes can be sold before it gets there, belongs to selling land with a lien or back taxes.
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Questions about this term
Does a special warranty deed still convey the land?
Yes, it is a deed, and in Virginia an estate of inheritance or freehold in land is conveyed by deed or will. The words with special warranty are deemed a covenant by the grantor, and that covenant limits the promise about the title to claims of the grantor and those claiming by, through or under the grantor. What a particular deed conveys and excepts comes from its description and an attorney's reading of it.
Does a special warranty answer for a claim that arose before the grantor owned the land?
Not by its words. Va. Code 55.1-355 limits the covenant to the claims and demands of the grantor and all persons claiming or to claim by, through or under the grantor. A claim that does not come through the grantor, such as one that traces to an earlier owner, falls outside that promise. Whether a particular claim traces through the grantor is an attorney's reading of the record.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Va. Code 55.1-355: covenant of special warranty Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 55.1-356: words with general warranty and with special warranty construed Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 55.1-354: effect of covenant of general warranty Code of Virginia
- Va. Code 55.1-101: when a deed or will is necessary to convey an estate Code of Virginia
- Treasurer page: terms of sale for tax-delinquent real estate (as posted September 13, 2026) Carroll County, Virginia