Title ≠ Titel

A “title” is the legal link between a person who owns property and the property itself (cf. Black’s), so “good title” signifies the legitimate ownership of a thing. The German “Titel”, however, is short for “Vollstreckungstitel”. It is the prerequisite for initiating compulsory enforcement. Vollstreckungstitel are for example court decisions, court settlements or enforceable deeds. So, while there are some similarities in the concept (legal ownership in one case, legal entitlement to recover something on the other hand), the practical meaning of the two terms is rather different.

“Title” in German would be “Eigentumsrecht” and “Titel” in English would be “enforcement order”.