Protecting Your Home with Title Insurance

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Purchasing a home is likely the largest investment you will make in your lifetime. So before you close, you need to know that no one else has a claim to the property.

A title company does all the research to insure that a property has clear title. Making sure that a property is clear of all legal encumbrances is the job of a title insurance 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 company performs an extensive search on the property's title history. Through its research, the title company can almost always find any title problems and have these problems cleared-up before you close on the property.

Because Real Estate Law is so complicated, you need an expert to make sure that all previous transactions have been correct, so you don't end up with legal problems or a problem selling your property. Your title insurance owner's policy will describe the property and outline the limitations on your ownership. It will also set forth the title company's responsibilities should any claim covered by the policy terms arise. Title insurance covers the following:

• Contested title — This usually happens when someone who owned or even lived in the home before you claims to still hold an interest. In this case, the title company will defend the title and will cost you nothing.
• Defective title — "Defective title" covers any number of problems with the title to your home. It can even include a "contested title". Other examples of title defects include problems with legal access to the property, easements that make the property less usable, unusable, or unsaleable. Any number of other complex problems define "Defective title" or "Clouded Title." The title company will discover these problems, or should they miss them, insure your loss up to the amount of the policy.

At Harbor View Lending* a DBA of Megastar Financial, we answer questions about this process every day. Call us: (207) 571-8034.