Title Insurance – What is it?

Fire insurance protects you against losses from fire. Collision insurance guards you against the cost of a damaged car. Theft insurance – well you get the idea.

When you acquire title, title insurance protects you from defects, liens, or encumbrances on your title, under the terms of the title insurance policy.

To understand why title insurance is essential, we need to consider real estate for a moment.

Ownership of Real Estate

Real estate has always been considered one’s most valuable possession. It is a basic form of wealth that many special laws have been enacted to protect ownership of land and buildings that stand on the land.

You should realize whenever you buy property that the owner who is selling it to you has extremely strong rights, as do his family and heirs. Also, there may be others – in addition to the owner – who have “rights” in the property you are going to buy, perhaps governmental bodies, or contractors, for example.

Some of the things a title search uncovers are any unpaid taxes or mortgages, judgments against previous owners, easements, and many other court actions or recorded documents, which can affect title to real estate.

Protecting You Against Hidden Risks

Protection against loss from certain claims on real estate which cannot be discovered by examination of the public records, relating to land, is the second part to the two-fold benefit which Alliance Title provides.

For example, the title to the home which you have paid for and which you have received a deed – could be threatened or lost by such circumstances as a forgery, confusion due to similar names, or errors in recorded documents. These contingencies will be covered in accordance with the terms of your title insurance policy.

How Does Title Insurance Protect Against These Dangers?

If a claim is made against your title, as covered by your policy, Alliance Title protects you by:

• Defending your title, in court if necessary, at our expense, as to covered matters.
• Bearing the cost of settling the claim if it proves to be valid, in order to protect your title.

Summarizing……. Title Insurance Means:

It is insurance that, if any undisclosed claim covered by the policy arises out of the past to threaten your ownership of real estate, it will be disposed of, or you will be reimbursed, exactly as your title insurance policy provides.

A One-Time Cost?

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.