A Beginner’s Guide to Title Insurance

Title insurance is important to protect your property rights.

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Why do I need Title Insurance?

Owning real estate is one of the most precious values of freedom in this country. You want the assurance that the property you are buying will be yours. Other than your mortgage holder, no one else should have any claims or restrictions against your home.

Title insurance is issued after a careful examination of the public records. But even the most thorough search cannot absolutely assure that no title faults are present, despite the knowledge and experience of professional title examiners. In addition to matters shown by public records, other title problems may exist that cannot be disclosed in a search. Title insurance eliminates any risks and losses caused by faults in title from an event that occurred before you owned the property.

Title insurance is different from other types of insurance in that it protects you, the insured, from a loss that may occur from matters or faults from the past. Other types of insurance such as auto, life, or health cover you against losses that may occur in the future. Title insurance does not protect against any future faults, but does protect you from risks or undiscovered interests. Another difference is that you pay a one-time premium for a policy that remains effective until the property is sold to a new owner – even if that doesn’t occur for decades.

Read more here: http://www.gomst.com/why-title-insurance/

What is Title Insurance? – Definition & Purpose

A title is a group of lawful rights that includes the right to own, use, lease and sell real estate. However, rights within the title can be challenged due to errors, oversight and neglect. Title insurance provides financial security when claims threaten those rights. It is a unique form of insurance that covers liabilities that may arise from the past as opposed to a catastrophe that may occur in the future.

Purpose of Title Insurance

The purpose of title insurance is to protect buyers and lenders from risks of claims against their rights. Imagine that you purchased a home and received the title from the previous owner. One month after moving in, you receive a notice demanding payment for an outstanding tax bill from the previous year. If the bill is not paid, your home will be auctioned off to satisfy the debt. Although you were unaware of the bill, as the new owner, you are responsible to pay it. The unpaid bill is an encumbrance. An encumbrance is anything that hinders rights within the title. There are voluntary and involuntary encumbrances. Involuntary encumbrances commonly arise from lawsuits resulting in judgments and liens, such as a mechanics lien, which is when a contractor sues a property owner for payment. They could also be caused by clerical errors or fraudulent transfers of title. An example of a voluntary encumbrance is a mortgage. For instance, you agree to allow a lender to place a lien against your property as collateral until you repay the loan.

Read more here: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-title-insurance-definition-purpose.html

What Could Happen If You Don’t Get Title Insurance?

Here’s how things could go wrong. At the most extreme, the seller may knowingly try to sell you a home he or she doesn’t own. There have been instances of renters posing as sellers. However, typical title issues are less worthy of a crime show, but more complicated. For example, the seller might have co-purchased the house ten years ago with a brother he hasn’t talked to since and is unaware that he now needs his brother’s signature to sell. Or a problem might be lurking in the more distant past. For example, the seller might have bought the place from a single woman, not realizing that her ex-husband still co-owned the property and hadn’t signed off on the sale as required. Or the seller might have inherited the house under the terms of a will that — oops — turns out to have been out-of-date and a more recent will leaves the house to someone else.

Not all title problems involve the whole house. For example, liens may have been filed against the house — that is, people or agencies may have, within the public records, legally claimed the right to be paid from the proceeds of the property’s sale, in order to settle the owner’s debt to them. Typical debts include taxes, child support, and contractor’s fees. These liens stick to the house like glue, until the house is sold or foreclosed on.

Read more here: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/title-insurance-buyer-needs-36126.html

Artesian Title -Concierge Title™ Service makes a real difference

Artesian Title provides closings with a concierge touch. Our mobile, licensed “Concierge Closers™” are yours when and where you need them. They come to you when you call. They work to your timetable. They communicate in ways you prefer — They’re ready to answer all your questions and provide every document at a moment’s notice Add that to our weekly email — Peace of Mind Fridays™ — that provides a progress update on the status of your title case and the real differences with Artesian are truly significant.

Building up a business network to refer potential clients’ costs money. Marketing arrangements that share reciprocal agreements cost money. People cost money. The Internet, however, saves us money — every time a customer clicks our Artesian link to get a title quote. Every time we take an online order for title, we bypass the traditional costs of the transaction — bad news for the middlemen. Great news for our clients who get up to a 20% Rebate on their title insurance right off the top!

Read more here: https://artesiantitle.com/