What is Title Insurance?

Why Buy Title Insurance?

My lender has a mortgage policy on my property, isn’t that enough?

Is Title Insurance Expensive?

Will I get Clear Title?

How do you (I) find out what claims exist?

What about undiscovered Claims?

How Does a Title Insurance Policy Protect Against All These Claims?

Why do you need Title Insurance?

How can there be a title defect if the title has been searched?

What protection does title insurance provide against defects and hidden risks?

What about an Attorneys Opinion?

What is Title Insurance?

There are two kinds of Title insurance – a lender’s policy and an owner’s policy. When you purchase an owner’s policy of title, it protects you, the property owner, against problems affecting the title to your property and its marketability. (You probably have several forms of insurance already. And you are probably familiar with insurance coverage on your automobile, life insurance and medical insurance). The lender’s policy protects the lender as the insured policy holder. Without owner’s title insurance, buyers are at risk since they have no rights to make claims under the lender’s insurance policy. Only the owner’s policy protects you in the event of a lawsuit or claim.

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Why Buy Title Insurance?

Title insurance is a one-time premium, paid when you purchase the property that protects you from title defects as long as you or your heirs own the property. The title insurer, Chicago Title Insurance Company, in our case, will defend claims at no cost to you.

When you buy a home, a condominium, any other type of building or even vacant land, you must have a complete search, an examination of the time, done on every aspect of the property. Or you may discover that the property you bought and paid for is not actually yours at all! And even after a complete search is done, you will need protection in the event that some point has been missed in the public record and someone makes a claim on the title to your property. That protection is a title insurance policy from Home Title, Inc. who is underwritten by one of the largest insurers in the country, Chicago Title Insurance Company. Under the terms of a Home Title, Inc. policy, you are protected against risks and insured against loss. If your title as insured is ever attacked, our underwriter, Chicago Title Insurance Company, stands ready to defend it in two ways:

1. If it is necessary to enter a legal defense of your rights under the policy in any suit or proceeding adversely affecting the title as insured, Chicago Title Insurance company employs legal counsel to take such action for you…completely at our own expense.
2. If a loss is sustained, you are protected up to the full amount of your policy, which usually is equal to the full purchase price you paid for the property.

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My lender has a mortgage policy on my property, isn’t that enough?

Any person or financial institution that lends money on real estate wants that investment protected and it is required by law. Home Title, Inc. provides mortgage title insurance policies to assure the lender that the mortgage is a valid first lien protected against hidden as well as known defects in the title as insured.

Unfortunately, this does not protect you in the event of a claim. A mortgage policy protects only the lender’s interest in the property, not the current owner. That’s why Home Title, Inc. provides owners title insurance policies to protect the owner’s interest against any title defects in a piece of property. Only an owner’s title insurance policy protects you. We hope you never have a Title Claim.

Title insurance protects a policyholder against challenges to rightful ownership of property, challenges that arise from circumstances of past ownerships. Each successive owner brings the possibility of title challenges to the property.

When you purchase real property, rely on Home Title, Inc. to protect your interests. You’ll be insured by a company backed by more than 150 years of successful title operations.

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Is Title Insurance Expensive?

The cost of title insurance on a piece of property is very small when compared with the benefit and security it provides. It is a great value for the coverage you receive. And, unlike other forms of insurance, there are no annual premiums to keep the policy in force-you pay only one time when you purchase the property. The original premium is your only cost as long as you or your heirs own the property! The Past Can Determine Your Future

Generally a person thinks of insurance in terms of payment of future loss due to the occurrence of some future event. For instance, a party obtains automobile insurance in order to pay for future loss occasioned by a future “fender bender” or loss or theft.

Title insurance is a unique form of insurance. It provides coverage for future claims or future losses due to title defects which are created by some past event (i.e., an event prior to your acquisition of the property). These risks are far less obvious then those protected against by automobile insurance, but can be just as devastating. Here are some commonly asked questions about title insurance.

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Will I get Clear Title?

It is crucial that you receive clear title to the property when you purchase real estate. In order to insure that you must first be informed of any existing rights or claims that may, in the future, threaten your title and possession to the property. Title Insurance provides you with this twofold protection.

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How do I find out what claims exist?

In order to determine the status of title, Home Title performs a diligent search of the public records for documents associated with the property. We then examine those recorded documents to determine if there are any rights or claims that may have an impact upon the title to the property. The title search may reveal the existence of recorded defects, liens or encumbrances upon the title such as unpaid taxes, unsatisfied mortgages, judgments and tax liens against the current or past owners; or easements, restrictions or court actions. These recorded defects, liens and encumbrances are reported to you prior to your purchases of the property. Once reported, these matters may be accepted, resolved or extinguished prior to your closing and the purchase of the property. In addition, you are protected against any recorded defects, liens or encumbrances upon the title that are unreported to you and which are within the coverage of the particular policy issued in the closing transaction. This is the first benefit you receive from title insurance.

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What about undiscovered Claims?

The title to the property that you have purchased could be seriously threatened or lost completely by hazards which are considered “hidden risks.” “Hidden Risks” are those matters, rights or claims that are not shown by the public records and, therefore, are not discoverable by a search and examination of the public records. Matters such as forgery, incompetency, or incapacity of the parties, fraudulent impersonation, and unknown errors in the records are examples of “hidden risks” which could provide a basis for a claim after you have purchased the property. In order to protect you against this possibility, Home Title provides title insurance coverage for such claims. This is the second benefit you receive from title insurance.

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How Does a Title Insurance Policy Protect Against All These Claims?

If a claim is made against your insured title, Chicago Title Insurance Company protects you by:

1. Defending your title, in court if necessary, at no cost to you, and
2. Bearing the cost of settling the case, if it proves valid, in order to protect your title and maintain your possession of the property. Title Insurance Protects Your Asset.

Title insurance gives you the assurance that possible clouds (defects) on the title to the property you are purchasing – which can be discovered from the public records – have been called to your attention and such defects can be corrected before you buy. Also if any undiscovered claims covered by your policy arise out of the past to threaten your ownership, it will be disposed of, or you will be reimbursed exactly as your title insurance policy provides.

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Why do you need Title Insurance?

To protect possibly the most important investment you’ll ever make – the investment in your home. With a title insurance policy, the company will reimburse you for loss in the event someone asserts a claim against your property that is covered by the policy. For far less then expensive lawsuits, an Owners Title insurance policy is the best protection you can get.

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How can there be a title defect if the title has been searched?

Title Insurance is issued after a careful examination of the public records. According to national statistics, title companies find problems in 25% of their title searches, such as unsatisfied prior mortgages, improperly signed documents, undisclosed heirs, etc. But even the most thorough search cannot absolutely assure that no title hazards are present, despite the knowledge and experience of professional title examiners.

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What protection does title insurance provide against defects and hidden risks?

Title insurance will pay for defending against any lawsuit attacking your title as insured, and will either clear up title problems or pay the insured’s losses. For a one-time premium, an owners’ title insurance policy remains in effect as long as you, or your heirs, retain an interest in the property.

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What about an Attorneys Opinion?

An attorney’s opinion is an opinion of the quality of the title, based on a review of the public records. You are not purchasing insurance against hidden risks and you do not benefit from the fact that the underwriter will defend your right to the property at no additional cost to you, and or bear the cost of settling a claim, if necessary.

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