Grab RSS Feed...by Kiley Black
You as the borrower must purchase a title insurance policy for your mortgage holder. As a buyer, you deserve the same protection.
A Title is the legal evidence, of right, that a person has to the ownership and possession of land. It is possible that someone other than the seller has a legal right to the property you’re buying. There can be any number of title problems that remain undisclosed even after the most careful search of public records. These hidden “defects” are very dangerous and sometimes are not discovered for months or even years after you purchase your home.
In these instances of title problems, you could be forced to spend substantial money on a legal defense to protect your rights. An owner’s title insurance policy helps protect you against losses and defects and provides legal defense for coverage risks. Your lender only requires that you purchase a loan policy. However, this policy only ensures the lender has a valid, enforceable lien on the property. It does not protect you, the new owner of the property.
An Owner’s Title Insurance policy, on the other hand, is designed to protect you, the buyer, from title discrepancies.
Some of the areas protected under an Owner’s Title Insurance Policy are:
- Someone claiming an ownership interest in your title
- Leases, contracts or options affecting your title
- Someone claiming to have rights affecting your title due to forgery or impersonation
- Someone having a right to limit your use of the land
- Zoning violations
- Subdivision law violations
- Improvements that encroach into an easement
- Building permit violations
- Covenants, conditions and restrictions
- Lack of vehicular and pedestrian access
- Supplemental assessments arising as a result of construction or transfer prior to the policy date
- Damage to your house caused from someone with easement rights
- Someone refuses to buy your land because your neighbors’ structures are on your land
