cloud on title

Noun

cloud on title (plural clouds on title)

1. An encumbrance or claim on a title (ownership) to real property sufficient to interfere with title transfer until the problem has been resolved.
   • "Although the laws of a State cannot affect the equity jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts, when the former afford rules as to what shall be deemed clouds on title, the Circuit Courts of equity, in the exercise of an ancient chancery jurisdiction, may remove such clouds."1856, “Bayerque v. Cohen et al.”, in Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Districts of California, page 113
   • "A cloud on title is an instrument which may be used vexatiously or injuriously against the owner of land, or which may cast suspicion on the validity of his title so as to render his land unsaleable at its full value."1914, Eugene Allen Gilmore, William Charles Wermuth, Modern American Law, page 88