Why title insurance?
Homeowner's insurance covers fire and wind. Flood insurance covers water. Title insurance covers the one thing no inspection can find: problems with the property's past.
Title is the right to own — not just the house
When you buy property you're acquiring its title: the legal right to possess and use it. Claims by other parties can limit that right and cost you real money. Unlike other insurance, which covers future events for an annual premium, title insurance covers defects that already exist on the day you close — and you pay for it once.
Two policies, two jobs
Lender's policy
Required by nearly every mortgage lender. It protects the lender's interest, in the amount of the loan, for as long as the loan is outstanding. It does not protect you.
Owner's policy
Protects your equity, in the amount of the purchase price, for as long as you or your heirs own the property. When a lender's policy is issued at the same closing, the owner's policy is usually available at a reduced simultaneous-issue rate.
What the premium buys
Most of what you pay is the work done before the policy is ever issued: searching the public records, examining the chain of title, and clearing problems before closing. Common issues we find and fix:
- Errors in names, legal descriptions or wording in prior deeds, wills and trusts
- Unpaid mortgages, judgments, code liens and tax liens
- Easements for roads and utilities that limit how you can use the land
- Pending lawsuits or probate affecting the property
- Defective notary acknowledgments
What no search can find
Some hazards don't appear in any record — a forged signature on a prior deed, an unknown heir, a document signed under an expired power of attorney, a clerical error in the county index. If one surfaces after closing, your owner's policy pays to defend the claim, correct the title, or compensate you for the loss.
Want a number?
Tell us the sale price or loan amount and we'll send a written estimate of title and closing costs.