WHAT IS TITLE INSURANCE?

A Word About Real Estate
Real estate has traditionally been a family’s most valuable asset. It is a form of wealth that is protected by many laws. These laws have been enacted to protect one’s ownership of real estate and the improvements located on the land. The owner, the owner’s family, and the owner’s heirs may have rights or claims in and to the property that you are buying. Those who may have an interest in or lien upon the property could be governmental bodies, contractors, lenders, judgment creditors, the Internal Revenue Service, or various other individuals or corporations. The real estate may be sold to you without the knowledge of the party having a right or claim in and to the property. In addition, you may purchase the real estate without having any knowledge of these rights or claims. In either event, these rights or claims remain attached to the title to the property that you are buying until they are extinguished.

The Past Can Determine Your Future
Generally, a person thinks of insurance in terms of the payment of future loss due to the occurrence of some future event. For instance, a party obtains automobile insurance in order to pay for future loss occasioned by a future “fender bender” or for the future theft of the car. Title insurance is a unique form of insurance. It provides coverage for future claims or future losses due to title defects which are created by some past event (i.e., event prior to the acquisition of the property.) These risks are far less obvious than those protected against by automobile insurance, but can be just as devastating. The following information will answer some commonly asked questions about title insurance.

How Does Ticor Title Find Out What Title Risks Exist?
In order to determine the status of title, Ticor Title conducts a diligent search of the public records for those documents associated with the property. Ticor Title then examines those recorded documents in order to determine if there are any rights or claims that may have an impact upon the title to the property. The title search may reveal the existence of recorded defects, liens or encumbrances upon the title such as unpaid taxes, unsatisfied mortgages, judgments and tax liens against the current or past owners, easements, restrictions and court actions. Matters that are discovered in the search can be excepted, resolved or extinguished prior to the closing of the transaction. In addition, you are protected against any loss or damage resulting from recorded defects, liens or encumbrances that are within the scope of coverage of the particular policy issued in the transaction.

What About Hidden Title Risks?
The title to the property that you have purchased could be seriously threatened or lost completely by hazards which are considered “hidden risks.” “Hidden Risks” are those matters, rights or claims that are not shown by the public records and, therefore, are not discoverable by a search and examination of those public records. Matters such as forgery, incompetency or incapacity of the parties, fraudulent impersonation, and unknown errors in the records are examples of “hidden risks” which could provide a basis for a claim after you have purchased the property. The policies issued by Ticor Title protect you against many of these “hidden risks.”

How Does a Title Insurance Policy Protect an Insured Owner?
In the event of a covered matter affecting your title, your insurance policy may protect you in various ways including: (1) Defending your title, (2) Bearing the cost of settling the covered matter, or (3) Paying you for the loss due to the covered matter.

Only One Premium
Unlike other forms of insurance, the original premium is your only cost as long as you own the property. There are no annual payments to keep your Owner’s Title Insurance Policy in force.

21 Reasons For Title Insurance

Buying Property Is A Numbers Business

  1. A fire destroys only the house and improvements. The ground is left. A defective title may take away not the only the house but also the land on which it stands. Title insurance protects you (as specified in the policy) against such loss.
  2. A deed or mortgage in the chain of title may be a forgery.
  3. A deed or a mortgage may have been signed by a person under age.
  4. A deed or a mortgage may have been made by an insane person or one otherwise incompetent.
  5. A deed or a mortgage may have been made under a power of attorney after its termination and would, therefore, be void.
  6. A deed or a mortgage may have been made by a person other than the owner, but with the same name as the owner.
  7. The testator of a will might have had a child born after the execution of the will, a fact that would entitle the child to claim his or her share of the property.
  8. A deed or mortgage may have been procured by fraud or duress.
  9. Title transferred by an heir may be subject to a federal estate tax lien.
  10. An heir or other person presumed dead may appear and recover the property or an interest therein.
  11. A judgment or levy upon which the title is dependent may be void or voidable on account of some defect in the proceeding.
  12. Title insurance covers attorneys’ fees and court costs.
  13. Title insurance helps speed negotiations when you’re ready to sell or obtain a loan.
  14. By insuring the title, you can eliminate delays and technicalities when passing your title on to someone else.
  15. Title insurance reimburses you for the amount of your covered losses.
  16. A deed or mortgage may be voidable because it was signed while the grantor was in bankruptcy.
  17. Each title insurance policy we write is paid up, in full, by the first premium for as long as you or your heirs own the property.
  18. There may be a defect in the recording of a document upon which your title is dependent.
  19. Claims constantly arise due to marital status and validity of divorces. Only title insurance protects against claims made by non-existent or divorced “wives” or “husbands.”
  20. Many lawyers, in giving an opinion on a title, protect their clients as well as themselves, by procuring title insurance.
  21. Over the last 24 years, claims have risen dramatically.

We Hope You Never Have A Title Claim
Americans have the future in mind when they buy a house, and they purchase homeowners insurance to help protect that future. But with homeownership comes the need to protect the property against the past, as well as the future.

Title insurance protects a policyholder against challenges to rightful ownership of real property, challenges that arise from circumstances of past ownerships. Each successive owner brings the possibility of title challenges to the property.

When you purchase real property, rely on Ticor Title to protect your interests. You’ll be insured by a company backed by a long history of successful title operations.

Rely On Ticor Title To Protect Your Investment
Every owner, purchaser and beneficiary, whether by a deed or contract, should have an insured title. The entire investment depends upon the quality of title. If you are buying real estate mortgages, you are paying for a good title and you should see that you have one. If either fire insurance or title insurance is omitted, your security is not complete.

Our title policy protects you against unforeseen defects in title that an abstract or the public records do not show and cannot show…nor any attorney’s opinion includes.

Whether this is your first or fiftieth real estate investment, ask your real estate agent or broker to specify Ticor Title during your transaction.