Title Insurance

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What is Title Insurance? Should I purchase it?

What is a Land Title?

What is an Abstract?

Where can I purchase Title Insurance?

The property you purchase is probably the most expensive investment you will make in your lifetime. The title search of the public records may not uncover a defect in the title to the property. Title insurance is a one-time premium insurance policy you may purchase at the closing of your real estate transaction. It protects you, the owner, for as long as you own the property. It protects you against defects that may not have been discovered by the examination to the title of the property. These defects may include:

• Tax liens against the former owner that may not be recorded before closing.
• Liens for unpaid income and estate or inheritance taxes.
• Mistakes that were made in recording legal documents.
• Missing heirs.
• Documents that were forged pertaining to the property.

Title insurance protects you against the unknown facts concerning the property that no one is aware of and will pay for defending you against any lawsuit concerning the title of the property. Title insurance will take care of clearing the title and will pay any loss to you the insured. Eric Sappenfield is an issuing agent for First American Title Insurance Company and Mississippi Valley Title Insurance Company.

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A land title is the evidence, or right, which a person has to the ownership of land. You should always look the title over carefully before buying, checking for certain defects that may make the land unmarketable. Perhaps someone other than the current owner holds a legal right to the land. That person could claim rights to the property itself, or even make demands as to how you use the property.

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An abstract is a history of the land records in regard to the title of a particular tract of land.  In essence, it is a summary of the previous owners and material records affecting the title of a piece of real estate. Since the abstract is merely an "overview" of the recorded documents, it does not guarantee your rightful ownership of any documented item. There may be unrecorded or improperly recorded interests in your property that are not revealed in an abstract. Therefore, the abstract may be correct while the title itself is still defective or imperfect. In some locals, this is called a title search.

What can make a land title defective?
Some cases of the defects include:

• Fraud:False claims of ownership; forged deeds, wills, or signatures; false representation and records; illegal acts of trustees, guardians, and administrators of the property.
• Human Error:Errors in copying, indexing, and recording of the destruction of records.
• Improper Deeds and Wills:Deeds by person of unsound mind or by minors; deeds delivered after death or without the grantor's consent; invalid, suppressed, or erroneous wills; missing heirs; or unsettled estates.
• Liens and Other Rights: Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income, property, and gift taxes; homestead rights; community property rights; irregular court proceedings; court opinion reversals; lack of court jurisdiction; and defective foreclosures.

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Title Insurance can be purchased through our office at anytime. Contact our office for a premium quote.

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