Title and Escrow January 22, 2023
What is title insurance? Newspapers refer to it in the weekly real estate sections and you hear about it in conversations with real estate brokers. If you’ve purchased a home you may be familiar with the benefits of title insurance. However, if this is your first home, you may wonder, “Why do I need yet another insurance policy?” While several issues can be raised by that question, we will start with a general answer.
The purchase of a home is one of the most expensive and important purchases you will ever make. You and your mortgage lender will want to make sure the property is indeed yours and that no one else has any lien, claim, or encumbrance on your property.
The Land Title Association, in the following pages, answers some questions frequently asked about an often misunderstood line of insurance - title insurance.
Title insurers work to identify and eliminate risk before issuing a title insurance policy. Casualty insurers assume risks.
Casualty insurance companies realize that a certain number of losses will occur each year in a given category (auto, fire, etc.). The insurers collect premiums monthly or annually from the policyholders to establish reserve funds to pay for expected losses.
Title companies work in a very different manner. Title insurance will indemnify you against loss under the terms of your policy, but title companies work in advance of issuing your policy to identify and eliminate potential risks and therefore prevent losses caused by title defects that may have been created in the past.
Title insurance also differs from casualty insurance in that the greatest part of the title insurance premium dollar goes towards risk elimination. Title companies maintain title plants, which contain information regarding property transfers and liens reaching back many years. Maintaining these title plants, along with the searching and examining of title, is where most of your premium dollar goes.
Buyers and lenders in real estate transactions need title insurance. Both want to know that the property they are involved with is insured against certain title defects. Title companies provide this needed insurance coverage subject to the terms of the policy. The seller, buyer, and lender all benefit from the insurance provided by title companies.
Title insurance offers protection against claims resulting from various defects (as set out in the policy) that may exist in the title to a specific parcel of real property, effective on the issue date of the policy. For example, a person might claim to have a deed or lease giving them ownership or the right to possess their property. Another person could claim to hold an easement giving them a right of access across your land. Yet another person may claim that they have a lien on your property securing the repayment of a debt. That property may be an empty lot or it may hold a 50-story office tower. Title companies work with all types of real property.
Title companies routinely issue two types of policies: An “owner’s policy” which insures you, the Homebuyer, for as long as you and your heirs own the home; and a “lender’s” policy which insures the priority of the lender’s security interest over the claims that others may have in the property.
A title insurance policy contains provisions for the payment of legal fees in defense of a claim against your property which is covered under your policy. It also contains provisions for indemnification against losses which result from a covered claim. A premium is paid at the close of a transaction. There are no continuing premiums due, as there are with other types of insurance.
In essence, by acquiring your policy, you derive the important knowledge that recorded matters have been searched and examined so that title insurance covering your property can be issued. Because we are risk eliminators, the probability of exercising your right to make a claim is very low. However, claims against your property may not be valid, making the continuous protection of the policy all the more important. When a title company provides a legal defense against claims covered by your title insurance policy, the savings to you for that legal defense alone will greatly exceed the one-time premium.
You may not know the owner as well as you think you do. People undergo changes in their personal lives that may affect their title to their property. People get divorced, change their wills, engage in transactions that limit the use of the property, and have liens and judgments placed against them for various reasons.
There may also be matters affecting the property that are not obvious or known, even by the existing owner, which a title search and examination seeks to uncover as part of the process leading up to the issuance of the title insurance policy.
Just as you wouldn’t invest based on a phone call, you shouldn’t buy real property without assurances as to your title. Title insurance provides these assurances.
The process of risk identification and elimination performed by the title companies, prior to the issuance of a title policy, benefits all parties in the property transaction. It minimizes the chances that adverse claims might be raised, and by doing so reduces the number of claims that need to be defended or satisfied. This process keeps costs and expenses down for the title company and maintains the traditional low cost of title insurance.
Article by CLTA
The most important attribute of an agent is that he/she is well connected to the real estate industry.
Buying and selling of mortgages and mortgage-backed securities is called mortgage banking.
Lead poisoning is a serious problem that can lead to adverse health problems.
If you understand your motives, you will be able to better negotiate and to get what it is that you want.
With the burst of the housing bubble and foreclosures, you may wonder if buying a home is still a good idea.
If your goal is principal reduction and saving money, then it is a good plan.
Discounts may also be available if you use the same lender for your refinance loan and your original loan.
Underground heating oil tanks can pose many potential problems to both home buyers and sellers.
For Sale By Owner is a way of selling your home without the use of a professional real estate agent.
With unparalleled industry knowledge, experience, and local expertise, I'm the Alexandria, VA Real Estate expert you've been looking for. Whether you're buying or selling, I can help you get the best deal.