titleTALK Dear valued Realtors® and valued customers, Abraham Lincoln lost his family home twice due to hidden defects in the title. This would have been avoided with a title insurance policy, an essential part of the transaction that provides protection against such defects. In this newsletter, we explain the fundamental value of title insurance, and the role it plays in safeguarding your most valuable asset. Sincerely, Laura Bowers, Managing Director
The Value of Title Insurance You don’t want problems from prior ownerships to interfere with your rights to your property. And you don’t want to pay the potentially ruinous cost of defending your property rights in court. A title insurance policy is your best protection against potential title defects, which can remain hidden despite the most thorough search of public records and the most careful escrow or closing. For a one-time premium, the title underwriter agrees to reimburse you for loss due to defects existing prior to the issue date of your policy, up to the policy amount. Your policy is in effect for as long as you own the property. Should it be needed, the policy also provides for the cost of legal defense of your title in a court of law. There are more than 70 ways you could lose your property due to potential defects that are not apparent when conducting a title search: 1. Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases.
8. Deed from a legal non-entity (styled, for example, as a church, charity or club).
2. Deed by person who is deemed insane or mentally incompetent.
9. Deed by person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized or defective under foreign laws.
3. Deed by minor (may be disavowed). 4. Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws or given under falsified corporate resolution. 5. Deed from partnership, unauthorized under partnership agreement. 6. Deed from purported trustee, unauthorized under trust agreement. 7. Deed to or from a “corporation” before incorporation, or after loss of corporate charter.
There are more than 70 ways you could lose your property due to potential defects that are not apparent when conducting a title search.
10. Claims resulting from use of “alias” or fictitious name style by a predecessor in title. 11. Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence or duress. 12. Deed following non-judicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed. Continues on Page 2