The home which you’re preparing to buy (or the land on which the home was built) was most likely owned by several other people before you. If there was ever a problem with the property title, it could cause you trouble.  

Avoid ownership concerns down the road by understanding problems that may occur with the property title and how to protect your property.

Title Problems

Problems with property titles include forged signatures, unpaid real estate taxes, other liens on the property, undisclosed heirs and errors or omissions in deeds.

Property Title Search

To uncover problems with the property’s title, have a search done after your sales contract has been accepted.  If any problems are found with the title, they can be fixed before you close on the property.

Owner’s Title Insurance

Sometimes there are title problems that could not be found in the public records or are unintentionally missed in the title search process.  Owner’s title insurance covers you for any claims and legal fees that arise out of problems with the title on your property.

Specifically, owner's title insurance protects you from challenges to your legal ownership of real property resulting from liens, encroachments of mortgage property onto the neighboring property, encumbrances, taxes due, mechanics liens and other matters.  The policy will defend the title against lawsuits or reimburse for actual monetary loss up to the policy amount.  

Paying for Owner’s Title Insurance

Title insurance is paid for by a one-time fee at closing.  The policy remains in force as long as you or your heirs retain interest in the property. 

Liz Boucher is the Branch Manager of the Coldwell Banker Larchmont office which specializes in both residential and commercial real estate. Liz has been in real estate sales since 1998. She is an associate broker and has been managing the Coldwell Banker office since 2006. You can contact her at 914-834-7100 or at  liz.boucher@cbmoves.com