簡單回答一下，

在市場上for sale 的房子，Title不一定是clean 的， 尤其是short sale;即便是regular sale, 也可能會有lien. 對於title上的lien, 你要查 preliminary report. 可以從任何一家Title 或Escrow Company 去order。一般正常買賣，包括regular sale\ short sale\ REO , 賣家會order並提供給買家。但 Auction要買家自己調查清楚。

任何房地產交易， 最好買title insurance, 你這種情況肯定是買家付費， 大約1000多刀。

下麵是Google來的， 對sheriff sale 解釋的比較清楚，

For Sheriff sale,there are a number of disadvantages to also consider prior to bidding at any sheriff sale:

1. A buyer has to conduct his or her own title search and confirm details on the real estate being considered prior to bidding at the public auction. This can very well represent lost time and money, if the buyer does not win the bid.

2. A buyer will in most cases have to buy a property being auctioned without prior inspection and in "as is" condition.

3. If a property happen to be occupied by a tenant or previous owner, it is the responsibility of a buyer to remove the occupant.