Title Insurance Protects Your Home Investment
Buying a home will likely be the largest investment you make in your lifetime. Before you close, you will want to know that no other individual or entity has a right, claim or lien to the property.
Determining that your rights and interests to the property are clear is the business of a title company.
You pay the title insurance company a single premium which includes the cost of verifying clear title and covers you in case some fault is later discovered in the title.
The title insurance company searches the property's title history. The title insurance company can usually find any title problems and clear up these problems before you close on the property.
Real Estate law is extraordinarily complex. Title companies make sure that all the T's are crossed and all the I's are dotted so you don't end up with a clouded title and legal problems. Your owner's policy will describe the property and outline any recorded limitations on your ownership. It will also cover what the title insurance company is responsible for. Title insurance usually covers:
- Contested title — Someone, usually a previous owner or occupant, claims they still own the property or have not given up their claim. If this happens, the title insurance company will defend your title at no expense to you.
- Defective title — This is a general term for a legal problem with the title that cannot be corrected and includes "contested title" above. Other examples of title defects include problems with legal access to the property, easements that make the property less usable, unusable, or unsaleable. Many other complicated problems define "Defective title." The title insurance policy will protect you from these errors if the title company doesn't discover them.
America's Money Source can walk you through the pitfalls of getting a mortgage. Call us at (407) 898-7559.