Buying real estate is an important decision. For most people, it’s the biggest single purchase they will ever make. When you decide to buy a home, you want to be sure the property will be yours and that no one else will have any liens, claims or encumbrances against your home other than your agreed to mortgage.

Title Insurance is not like other forms of insurance. It does not insure against some casualty which may occur in the future, such as auto, homeowner’s or health insurance. Title insurance protects the holder of the policy against things which might have occurred in the past; liens which were never paid off, mortgages which were never satisfied, deeds which were not signed by all parties with a vested interest in the property.

To more fully understand title insurance, think about buying a property without it. How would you be sure that the mortgage was going to be paid off? How would you know that there weren’t additional mortgages, or that the taxes from previous years had been paid? How would you know if there were any judgments against the Seller that had attached to the property or that the swimming pool was not located in an easement? These can be investigated, and that’s what a Title Search and Examination is: it is a search of the public records to uncover information about the property. It’s the first thing a title company does in the process of issuing a title policy.

The actual Policy of Title Insurance is issued approximately 60 days after the closing and the recording of required documents.