{"id":280,"date":"2011-08-18T01:23:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T05:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/?p=280"},"modified":"2019-10-11T07:34:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:34:23","slug":"title-insurance-a-misunderstood-safeguard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/18\/title-insurance-a-misunderstood-safeguard\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Title Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"title<\/a>
A Consumer Guide to Title Insurance from the Maryland Insurance Administration (insurance.maryland.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The necessity of title insurance has been debated over the years by many home owners. However, foreclosure disputes, between lenders and former home owners, have brought focus on a valuable and often misunderstood protection. Besides the many stories that have been told about how an owner\u2019s title insurance policy has saved or could have saved a home, many home buyers are unaware of how title insurance was conceived. Many have difficulty understanding title insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the American Land Title Association (ALTA.org), title insurance came about as a result of a landmark court case in Pennsylvania in 1868, which found that home seller was not be responsible for a erroneous title opinion. Subsequently, the first title insurance company was formed in 1876 in Philadelphia. The company promoted itself by claiming that they would insure \u201cthe purchasers of real estate and mortgages against losses from defective title, liens and encumbrances\u201d\u2026\u201dThrough these facilities, transfer of real estate and real estate securities can be made more speedily and with greater security than heretofore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like today, title examinations were conducted to ensure that the title was marketable (or defect free). However, prior to the offering of title insurance, property owners were often held responsible for liens and encumbrances left on the title by the previous owner, or when mistakes occurred. Title disputes were often settled in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, title insurance was often a local process. However, the title insurance industry surged along with an expanded housing market after World War II ended. Additionally, the use of lender\u2019s title insurance grew along with the secondary mortgage market; because as the number of nationwide mortgage holders increased, lenders found that title insurance was necessary to protect their interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrasting to the recordation system has been used in most of the United States (in some cases before the formation of the country); many other countries use a land registration. Land registration typically allows a government to determine ownership when property ownership is challenged; property owners usually have no recourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title insurance is a result of our recordation system that continues to this day, where property ownership can usually be determined by conveyance. Although the recordation system relies on transfer instruments that indicate a grantor, grantee, and property description; the system is not perfect. Besides recordation mistakes and claims from unrecorded conveyances; fraud can also occur by recording falsified transfer documents with a complicit or unsuspecting clerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

There are two types of title insurance that are offered: lender\u2019s and owner\u2019s. A lender\u2019s policy is usually required by a mortgage lender and protects the interests of the lender by validating the lender\u2019s validity and enforceability of the mortgage. The lender\u2019s policy is typically issued for the mortgage amount and coverage decreases as the principal is paid down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An owner\u2019s title insurance policy protects the owner\u2019s interest in the property. The policy is typically issued for the purchase price and is usually valid through ownership to cover claims against the title. Policy coverage varies- so check with your title agent for pricing and coverage levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When purchasing a title insurance policy, consult with your title attorney about the policy coverage and limitations. Additionally, A Consumer Guide to Title Insurance is available from the agency that regulates title insurance producers – the Maryland Insurance Administration (https:\/\/insurance.maryland.gov\/Consumer\/Documents\/publications\/titleinsurancebrochure.pdf).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Dan Krell
\u00a9 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original published at https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/18\/title-insurance-a-misunderstood-safeguard\/<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The necessity of title insurance has been debated over the years by many home owners. However, foreclosure disputes, between lenders and former home owners, have brought focus on a valuable and often misunderstood protection. Besides the many stories that have been told about how an owner\u2019s title insurance policy has saved or could have saved … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Understanding Title Insurance”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[405,406,13,52],"tags":[1134,490,926,1180,457,1179],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homebuyer","category-homeowner","category-real-estate","category-title-insurance","tag-fraud-protection","tag-home-buyer-2","tag-home-owner","tag-title-fraud","tag-title-insurance-2","tag-title-lock"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VZLf-4w","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5785,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/5785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}