Title Insurance

 

Title Insurance is just that, insuring you of a clean defect free title to a property.  Title Insurance is paid with a one time premium and customarily is split 50-50 between the buyer and seller.  We cannot express strongly enough the need and value of title insurance to keep buyers and sellers out of harms way.  Below are links to reputable title companies, both offer 1031 exchange intermediary services, and both have the knowledge and ability for forward & reverse 1031 exchanges.

 

 

 

 

Need For Title Insurance

Buying real estate is certainly an important investment. The soundness of that investment is largely dependent upon the condition of the title to the land because what you buy is not land, but the title to it.

Land is both permanent and immovable. No other property has a useful life that compares with it. Owners die, the new ones take over; the title itself can be sold, exchanged, borrowed upon, or given away - but the land itself goes on forever. Its appearance may change, but its location never will.

Because of these factors there is a completely different set of laws and procedures governing real estate. These laws and practices are so numerous and complex that it is impossible to be certain that there is no defect in the title which would impair your right to use the land.

For example, there are many possible defects in titles that may be so well hidden that even the most careful examination of the records cannot discover them: defects arising from fraud, forgery, insufficiency of deeds or other documents, persons of unsound mind, missing heirs, widow's dower, rights of divorced persons or a child born after the making of a will.  These and many other circumstances can arise to impair the title to your property and your investment in it.

These risks are recognized by financial institutions that lend money on real estate as security. They can't afford to assume the risks and they require a title insurance policy for their protection.

But it is only for their protection! The mortgagee's policy issued on your property will not protect you.

It leaves you unprotected because -
(1) It is issued to the mortgagee or lending institution and it is issued only in the amount of the mortgage. It does not cover the full purchase price (which would include your down payment).

(2) As you make payments reducing the amount of the mortgage outstanding, the protection offered to the mortgagee by the title insurance policy is reduced accordingly. Your increasing equity in the property means that your exposure to the financial loss increases, too.

Now is the time for you to protect yourself. There is a premium rate advantage offered if you invest in an owner's policy at the same time the mortgage policy is issued. And, there is no recurring premium to pay for title insurance. You pay only the one premium for the policy - and the coverage continues indefinitely, even extending to your heirs for as long as they have any interest in the property.

An owner's title insurance policy will assure that you:

  • - are protected against financial loss which you may suffer because of concealed title defects that cannot possibly be discovered by title examiners.
  • - are protected against human errors of title examiners and others that may cause you financial loss.
  • - are protected by the knowledge, skill and "know-how" of title insurance experts who base their decisions on an exhaustive search of your title and whose broad objective is to eliminate guesswork and the probability of loss.
  • - have a written guarantee that Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation will undertake, at its own expense, to defend your title in all legal actions or proceedings alleging the title to be other than as insured.
  • - have a definite insurance contract indemnifying you , according to its terms, agains loss or damage due to title defects and backed by the known assets and reserves of Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation.
  • - have the protection of one of the nation's largest title insurance companies.
  • - will have no recurring premium to pay for title insurance. Remember, you pay only the one premium for the policy and the coverage continues indefinitely, even extending to your heirs for as long as they have any interest in the property.
For your peace of mind, don't settle for less than full protection. Make certain you, too, are protected with an owner's title insurance policy from Lawyers Title Insurance Corporation - then, for all practical purposes we say, "the land is yours."

Info courtesy of Lawyer's Title Insurance Corporation of Kansas