Title Insurance
A Title Insurance Primer
Nothing could be worse than to go out house hunting, find your dream home, going through the loan process, signing all of the papers and then finding out that you have purchased a property that is not legally available for sale. Title insurance can help protect all the parties involved from this unfortunate dilemma.
Title insurance can protect you against loss from any liens or encumbrances that may be in affect at the time of the policy, and further damages that are not excerpted from its coverage.
After a title search is performed, and the public records are also checked
to be certain that the property is not obligated to pay off any debts
or easements, or that there are not any provisions against the use of the property
for any reason, the policy can be enacted. Ownership must be validated
to the best of everyone's knowledge.
Not only does the title insurance policy protect you in regard to the above mentioned conditions it also protects you against certain occurrences not expressly mentioned such as; forgery or fraud, fraudulent identity of the seller, unknown heirs or persons who have no right to sell the property in question.
A few of the most basic policies that are available are:
- Owner's Policies
- Purchaser's Policies
- Mortgage Policies
Note Of Caution: Title insurance is of the utmost importance to your financial security, and you must be certain that all the searches and data collected are true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. Like any other insurance policy, be certain that you have a good and reputable insurer at work for you.
A Title Insurance Protection Primer
As we explained in the previous section, Title Insurance covers those aspects specifically mentioned within the policy and those unknown occurrences due to certain occurrences not expressly mentioned such as; forgery or fraud, fraudulent identity of the seller, unknown heirs or persons who have no right to sell the property in question.
Your typical owner's and mortgage policies are dependent on information
that is available from the recorder's office where your property is situated.
It does not cover items that, upon inspection of the physical property
and structures, would normally be revealed. Further, if anything has not been recorded
officially these aspects will also be lacking coverage. Unrecorded liens,
promises or obligations and easements will all be uninsured as well as
unrecorded rights of way, public access, or claims by people for possession
of the said property.
To further protect yourself and your right to the property you should investigate having what would be termed as extended coverage. Upon an on-sight inspection of the physical premises and land the insurer may grant coverage for those aspects that were not originally evident from examination of only the documents on record.
Issuance Of A Title Insurance Policy
Both the owner of a property and the mortgage owner need to be insured independently. These policies, although separate, can be purchased jointly. By doing so, both the property owner and the mortgage owner will benefit from a lower/joint rate.
After a deed has been issued to a buyer and recorded the owner may apply for title insurance. The policy for a purchaser is most often times issued after the contract has been issued and/or made a matter of record. And, finally, a mortgage policy for title insurance is issued only after the mortgage or deed of trust has been performed and also made a matter of record.
A policy will cover all that is a matter of record prior to the issuance of said policy. After the issuance of the policy, and time elapses, their may be newer documentation relative to federal tax liens and/or assessments, court actions and legal judgments or divorce proceedings that may now have bearing on any of the individuals concerned right to buy, sell or mortgage a property. The buyer has every right to know about such matters of record and to coverage protecting them from any harm due to these new circumstances up to the actual time of purchase.
|
