06/12/2024
WHAT IS TITLE INSURANCE?
AND DO I NEED IT?
Is it just an unnecessary expense?
Absolutely not! A change in land ownership, requiring a formal transfer of title involves risk that the title may be defective. Title insurance is your guaranteed protection against real estate title losses. Actually, title insurance is one of the best insurance values available. The premium you pay is based on the purchase price of your property. Rates are regulated by the state, and you only pay a one-time premium when you purchase your policy. North Carolina property owners enjoy rates for title insurance premiums that are among the lowest in the nation. This coverage lasts as long as you own your property, and will protect you even after you sell your property.
What is Title Insurance?
A title policy insures the condition of your title or ownership rights to a certain piece of property. Before a policy of title insurance can be issued in North Carolina, a title examination must be conducted under the supervision of an independent attorney licensed to practice law in North Carolina. We believe that this requirement has directly led to North Carolina having one of the very lowest costs in this country, to the owner, for assuring title. The high standards of education and professionalism required of an attorney to be licensed in North Carolina contribute directly to our having a lower rate of claims than most states that do not require attorneys in the process. The attorney carefully researches all relevant recorded documents affecting ownership of the property being examined necessary to determine the status of the title. The attorney will then submit a title opinion to the company. Typically, the title company will then issue a "binder" or "commitment" to the lender and owner, which obligates the company to insure the title as described by the attorney, with certain limitations and requirements. A title insurance commitment describes your property in detail and states what limitations, if any, the final title policy will include when the company issues it to you and your lender. Even the most thorough search will not reveal any "hidden defect" that is not shown on the public records. Such a defect may be a problem caused by an inadequate survey, a clerical error, confusion over names, forgery, fraud, unrecorded claims for improvements or numerous other possible problems. Careful attorneys can not reasonably be expected to discover title problems that are not revealed in the public records. Therefore, the examining attorney is not responsible to you for dealing with these issues when they arise after closing. Without title insurance, you are on your own! Title insurance does not guarantee that title defects do not exist or will never occur. It does insure you against possible losses through certain claims against your title as a result of conditions not revealed on your policy.
www.statewidetitle.com