TITLE INSURANCE

        Title insurance provides the insured with “peace of mind” in knowing that you are receiving good and marketable title to the real estate purchased.  Title Insurance is inexpensive and provides protection against any future challenge to your ownership interests and rights to your property.  A title policy places the title insurance company in the position of defending any special claims against the property covered.  Unlike other types of insurance that offer protection against future possible occurrences, title insurance offers protection against past occurrences which could result in a claim at a future date. Coverage continues in effect for as long as you have an interest in the covered property.

        Specifically, title insurance provides coverage for errors in these public records, hidden defects not disclosed by the public records, missing or unrecorded documents, or mistakes made during the examination of the title to your property. Missing or unknown heirs, frauds or forgery, competency of grantors, tenancy of grantors, conveyances by minors, and a host of other issues cannot be detected by a search. Your owner’s title policy insures that if such an occasion arises, you will be defended, free of charge, against all covered claims and paid up to the amount of the policy in order to settle valid claims. Your lender is aware of these possible defects, and therefore, will require that you purchase a lender’s policy of title insurance to protect their interest in the loan.

        The lender’s title policy will not protect you. It only protects the lender and only in the amount of the loan, which is typically less than the value of the property. In the event of an adverse claim, the lender will ordinarily not be concerned unless its loan becomes non-performing and the claim threatened the lender’s ability to foreclose and recover its funds. As you pay down your loan, the lender’s title policy coverage diminishes. Once your loan is paid off, there is no longer coverage. So long as you are the owner, your owner’s policy, however, remains in effect. The decision to purchase owner’s title insurance is optional; however, the majority of our purchasers do so, and we highly recommend you obtain this coverage.

CURATIVE TITLE WORK

One of Standard Title’s primary responsibilities is to insure merchantable title exits for transactions we close.  To obtain this requirement, our team of professionals often must find solutions to “cure” defects in the chain of title examined.  This detailed and necessary process involves a wide range of apparent title defects, to include:

• Correction of Acts
• Insufficient Legal Descriptions of the Property
• Lack of Authority Demonstrated in Prior Acts of Transfer
• Insufficiency of Necessary Probate and Succession Proceedings
• Unresolved Community Property Issues
• Unreleased Oil, Gas, and Mineral Leases
• Failure to Waive Surface Production Rights in Prior Reservations of Mineral Interests
• Uncancelled Mortgages, Liens and Other Encumbrances
• Adjudicated Property Issues and Unredeemed Tax Sale Deeds
• Improperly Executed Prior Acts of Transfer
• Name Similarities for Judgment Debtors in the Chain of Title

Our team not only recognizes that these defects exist but are pro-active in providing expedient solutions to resolving these problems in order to bring the transaction to closing.  Contact us today if you believe you have a title issue in need of correcting.