WHAT IS TITLE INSURANCE?
Unlike other kinds of Insurance that require continuous premium payments to protect you against unforeseen future events, Title Insurance is a one-time premium payment that protects against unknown events in the past that would affect the Title to your home.
We start by doing a full and thorough title search of your property. That means that we make sure that every person (from now all the way back until the beginning of your property) that has ever used your prospective property as collateral took care of their debts and removed them from the title of your home.
We check out what’s going on with current debts, too, to make sure that all kinds of possible debts like taxes, municipal items (such as water and sewer bills), and even judgments are paid and removed from public record.
At the time of your settlement, we’ll issue a simultaneous Owner and Lender Policy. Based on the purchase price of your home we’ll collect one premium, but issue two title policies – one for you and one for your lender. (For information about Refinances, see the page “What About Refinancing?”)
Some people think if they’re buying with cash, they don’t need Title Insurance. Or they might think as long as they know and trust their seller, they don’t need title insurance. But here’s why that isn’t true.
It’s our job to dig deep into the history of your property to make sure that you’re making a solid financial investment. There could be unresolved title issues lurking in your new home’s past that even the current owners don’t know about. If just one unresolved mortgage, tax lien, or judgement – from your seller, or the person who owned it before them, or before them, or the Construction Company that built it – is still open and showing up on your title, you won’t be able to get a Home Equity loan, and you might not even be able to sell the property!
But if you have title insurance, then rest easy! You’re covered all the way up to the limits of the policy you’ve purchased. See our FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS page for more information on what kinds of policies you can purchase.
Title Insurance is definitely a worthy investment! If you never think of it again, you won’t regret the peace of mind it will give you. And if you do need it – you’ll be glad you decided to let Stewart Abstract handle your Title Insurance needs!