Title Insurance can be very confusing. Here is some quick and useful information to help you better understand title insurance.
- Most people have never heard of title insurance
- Most people don’t know what title insurance is
- Title insurance only applies to ownership of real estate
- Not everyone who owns real estate has title insurance
- Title insurance does not protect from damage (i.e. fire) to your real estate
- Title insurance protects from claims against your real estate and your ownership
- If you have title insurance, it is probably because you borrowed money from a lender to buy the real estate
- The purchase of the title insurance policy arranged by the realtor or the escrow company and not by you
- You paid a one-time premium when you bought the policy
- The title insurance policy was expensive
- You received a title insurance policy from the title company
- You do not know the name of the title insurance company
- You have never heard from the title insurance company again
- You received no yearly reminders, bills, or birthday cards from the title insurance company
- The title insurance company may have gone out of business without you knowing
- You may have lost or mislaid your policy
- Your title insurance policy expires if you sell the real estate to another person
- Some title insurance policies expire if you transfer your real estate to your living trust
- You find this out by reading the title insurance policy or by contacting the title insurance company
- If the policy expires because of your living trust, the title insurance company will issue an endorsement (for a fee) to keep the title insurance policy in effect
- Though the risk of having a claim against your property is small, you do not want to be without title insurance if a claim is made
- When searching for your policy, you want to find your owners policy and not a lenders policy