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There are many reasons for obtaining title
insurance. Listed below are a few examples.
Also listed is information that
explains the benefits of an Expanded Homeowner's Policy
versus a Basic
Policy. Click the following link to calculate your policy premium:
Rate Calculator
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Our title policy protects you
against unforeseen defects in title that an abstract or the public
records do not
show and cannot show…nor any attorney’s opinion includes.
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A deed or mortgage in the chain of
title may be a forgery. A deed or a mortgage may have been signed by a
person
under age.
- A deed or a mortgage may have been
made by an insane person or one otherwise incompetent.
- A deed or a mortgage may have been
made under a power of attorney after its termination and would, therefore,
be void.
- A deed or a mortgage may have been
made by a person other than the owner, but with the same name as the owner.
- The testator of a will might have
had a child born after the execution of the will, a fact that would entitle
the child to
claim his or her share of the property.
- A deed or mortgage may have been
procured by fraud or duress.
- Title transferred by an heir may
be subject to a federal estate tax lien.
- An heir or other person presumed
dead may appear and recover the property or an interest therein.
- A judgment or levy upon which the
title is dependent may be void or voidable on account of some defect in the
proceeding.
- Title insurance helps speed
negotiations when you’re ready to sell or obtain a loan. By insuring the
title, you can eliminate delays and technicalities when passing your title
on to someone else.
- Title insurance reimburses you for
the amount of your covered losses.
- A deed or mortgage may be voidable
because it was signed while the grantor was in bankruptcy.
- Each title insurance policy we
write is paid up, in full, by the first premium for as long as you or your
heirs own the property.
- There may be a defect in the
recording of a document upon which your title is dependent.
- Claims constantly arise due to
marital status and validity of divorces. Only title insurance protects
against claims
made by non-existent or divorced "wives" or "husbands."
The Homeowner's Policy
includes the following basic coverage:
- False impersonation of the true owner of the property
- Forged deeds, releases or wills
- Undisclosed or missing heirs
- Instruments executed under invalid or expired power
of attorney
- Mistakes in recording legal documents
- Misinterpretation of wills
- Deeds by minors
- Deeds by persons supposedly single, but in fact
married
- Liens for unpaid estate, inheritance, income or gift
taxes
- Fraud
Additional Benefits of an Expanded Policy:
- Pre and Post Policy Protections: The
Homeowner's Policy coverage protects homeowners against claims arising
both before and after the policy date. The homeowner is covered if
someone else has an interest in or claims to have rights affecting the
title, or the title is defective. Post-policy protection also includes
coverage for forgery, impersonation,
easements, use limitations and
structural encroachments built by neighbors (except for boundary walls
or fences) after the policy date.
- Expanded Access Coverage: The Homeowner's
Policy provides homeowners with expanded access protection
for right of
access to and from the property. Traditional title policies do not
define the type of access a homeowner has
to the property, but the
Homeowner's Policy specifically insures both actual pedestrian and
vehicular access, based upon a legal right.
- Restrictive Covenant Violations: The
Homeowner's Policy protects homeowners against the loss of title to
property because of a violation of a restrictive covenant that occurred
before the insured acquired title.
- Building Permit Violations: The Homeowner's
Policy covers homeowners if they must remove or remedy an existing
structure (except for boundary walls and fences) because it was built
without a building permit from the proper
government office. This
coverage is subject to deductible amounts and maximum limits of
liability.
- Subdivision Law Violations: The Homeowner's
Policy protects homeowners if they can't sell the property or get a
building permit because of a violation of an existing subdivision law.
Homeowners are also protected if they are forced to correct or remove
the violation. This coverage is subject to a policy deductible and
maximum limits of liability.
- Zoning Law Violations: The Homeowner's Policy
protects homeowners if they must remove or remedy existing
zoning laws
or regulations (subject to the policy deductible and maximum limit of
liability). Homeowners are also
protected if they can't use the land for
a single-family residence due to the way the land is zoned.
- Encroachment Protections: Covers homeowners if
forced to remove an existing structure because it encroaches on a
neighbor's land (coverage for encroachments of boundary walls or fences
is subject to policy deductible and
maximum limit of liability). Covers
homeowners when someone else has a legal right to, and does, refuse to
perform a contract to purchase the homeowner's land, lease it or make a
mortgage loan on it because a neighbor's existing
structures encroach
onto the land.
- Water and Mineral Rights Damage: The
Homeowner's Policy provides coverage if a homeowner's existing
improvements, including lawns, shrubbery and trees, are damaged because
someone exercised a right to use the
surface of the land for the
extraction of minerals or water.
- Supplemental Tax Lien: The Homeowner's Policy
protects homeowners if a supplemental tax lien is filed and assessed
against the property because of new construction or a change of
ownership prior to the policy date.
- Map Inconsistencies: The Homeowner's Policy
provides coverage if the map attached to the homeowner's policy
does not
show the correct location of the land, according to public records.
- Continuous Coverage: The Homeowner's Policy
covers homeowners forever, even if they no longer have the title.
The
policy insures anyone who inherits the title because of the homeowner's
death and the spouse who receives the
title after a dissolution of
marriage. The Homeowner's Policy also allows homeowners to transfer
title to their
home into a trust after the policy date and receive
uninterrupted coverage, at no extra cost.
- Value-Added Protection: Traditional title
policies don't increase their coverage as the value of a home increases.
Not so with the Homeowner's Policy. The policy amount automatically
increases by ten percent per year for five
years, up to 150% over the
original policy amount. This automatic increase in coverage is included
at no extra cost.
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