Title Insurance

Title insurance helps buyers realize their dream of homeownership. A title insurance underwriter stands behind the work done to assure your rights to own your property. For a one-time fee your local Title Company will perform an average of 135 comprehensive steps to assure you (the buyer) and your lender that the seller actually has the right to sell the property and then provide insurance protection for as long as you own the property.

What is a Title?

A title represents the legal ownership of a property, including the rights to possess, use, and transfer it.

It is possible that someone other than the owner has legal a right to the property. If that right can be established, this person can claim your property outright or make demands on you as to its use. If that happens, the premium you paid your title insurer, (the underwriter), will defend and protect your ownership, including defending you in the legal system!

Deed vs. Title

While the title represents the ownership right, the deed is the legal document that transfers the title from one owner to another. 

Title insurance assures that:

The seller actually has the right to sell you the property before you put your money on the table.
The property is transferred to you free of liens or claims of ownership.
The transaction is completed quickly and efficiently.
You’re protected (as is your lender) from fraud.
All problems in the title are cleared before the property transfers to your name.
Restrictions on the use of the property, like easements or rights-of-way, are disclosed to you before you take ownership.
Money entrusted to the agents will be distributed to the proper parties within hours of the closing.
In the event an undetected defect arises later, claims are paid and legal representation is provided (at no further cost to you).

Yes, although few buyers do. Most choose to purchase title insurance from the company their real estate agent, lender or attorney recommends. Buyers often rely on recommendations from real estate professionals because they are working on many transactions each month and have the experience to recommend a competent title insurance agency. However, a smart buyer will do their own research and be sure of their decision.

If you need a mortgage, as most buyers do, your mortgage lender will require this protection for an amount equal to the loan. If you don’t need a mortgage, title insurance is the only way to protect your investment in your property from future claims regarding your title!

Protect and defend you if your title and right to ownership are challenged.
Search public records and help solve certain title defects prior to closing.
Issue a title commitment – description of proposed policy.
Act as an independent central clearing house – collecting necessary documents, following lender’s instructions, making arrangements for proper payments and distribution of funds.
Prepare your Closing or Settlement Statement (HUD 1).
Coordinate and handle closing of the real estate transaction upon request.
Record documents with the proper county.
Issue the title policy.

Using experience, expert skills and extreme attention to detail, and a staff of professionals a title company performs an exhaustive search of public records, for judgments, liens and other potential problems with the property. All of these records are accumulated for not less than 20 years building a tremendously costly but valuable asset for research. For example, there may be unpaid real estate taxes, or someone years ago may have forged a signature in transferring title.

If problems are found, they are resolved prior to purchase to reduce your risk and prepare for the transaction process. Without this research using this valuable asset, your rights to your property could be jeopardized, and your collateral and equity could even be lost. Unfortunately, not all problems with a title are caught in the examination process and even the most thorough search performed by the most experienced examiner may not uncover some obscure detail. Some potential hidden hazards that title insurance protects are:

False impersonation of the true owner of the land
Forged deeds, releases, etc.
Instruments executed under fabricated or expired power of attorney
Deeds delivered after death of grantor or grantee or without consent of grantor
Deeds to or from a defunct corporation
Undisclosed or missing heirs
Misinterpretation of wills
Deeds by persons of unsound mind
Deeds by minors
Deeds by aliens
Deeds by persons supposedly single but secretly married
Birth or adoption of children after date of a will
Surviving children omitted from a will
Mistakes in recording legal documents
Want of jurisdiction of persons in judicial proceedings
Discovery of will of apparent intestate
Falsification of records
Claims of creditors against property sold by heirs or devisees
Deeds in lieu of foreclosure given under duress
Easements by prescription not discovered by a survey
Deed of community property recited to be separate property
Errors in tax records, e.g., listing payment against wrong property
Deed from a bigamous couple
Defective acknowledgments
Federal condemnation without the filing of the notice
Corporation franchise taxes, a lien on all corporate assets
Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials
Administration of estates of persons absent but not deceased
Undisclosed divorce of spouse who conveys as consort’s heir
Marital rights of spouse purportedly, but not legally, divorced

A title insurance policy states that if you, as insured, suffer a loss as a result of title defects, the insurer will reimburse you for loss up to the face amount of the policy and any related legal expenses.

**Title Insurance is not Home Insurance. For helpful information about Home Insurance please visit our dedicated page about Home Insurance.**

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