American Home Land

A home is the largest purchase most of us make in our lifetime. An Owner’s Policy will protect you if the title examiner misses a previously recorded mortgage on your property during the records search and later the lender who owns the mortgage attempts to enforce it against you. A low, one-time premium is all you pay to obtain the protection and peace of mind of a First American title insurance policy.

The Owner’s Policy protects you against hidden defects in your title to your property including the following:

Liens
Claims against the property or the seller that become the new owner’s responsibility after the sale. (Examples are unpaid mortgages, taxes, sewer and water assessments, bills owed to workers or other creditors, etc.)

Claims to Ownership
For instance, a claim to “marital interest” by the spouse of a former owner or by a child of a former owner who was not mentioned in his or her parents’ wills.

Invalid Deeds
For example, transfer by a previous seller who did not actually own the property, or by a previous owner who was not mentally competent.

Lack of Access
For example, if you would have to cross a private road to get to your property and the owner of the road won’t allow you to do so.

Claims are rare but if one is made against you notify the title insurance company at once, in writing, including copies of all related let-ters and documents.

The title company will then do the following:

Negotiate with the other party to settle the claim

Defend your title in court, if necessary

Satisfy any covered claim for which it is responsible

Pay legal costs incurred in defending the title
An Owner’s Title Insurance policy guarantees that the property you are purchasing is free of undisclosed liens, confusion in the rights of ownership, and other clouds on the title. In short, it guarantees that you own the property for which you bargained.

If you are married you will need to bring your spouse even if they are not in title or on the loan. You will need to bring a form of government issued photo identification such as your Drivers License or a Passport.

If the total amount due from you on the Settlement Statement is less than $1,000.00 a personal check is acceptable, otherwise a certified or cashier’s check is required. If you prefer to wire the funds prior to closing that is also acceptable and we will be happy to provide our wiring instructions upon request.

Real estate has such a great value and is so basic a form of wealth that many special laws have been enacted for its protection. As a result, the owner of land has exceedingly strong rights, as well as the family and heirs of the owner. However, other individuals may also have "rights" in the property. There are mortgage and lease-holder rights, liens due to unpaid taxes, lien claims to those whom the owner owes money, mining or oil rights, and many other interests. Anyone who has such a claim cannot ordinarily be deprived of their interest except by having the claim settled or released. As a owner you may know nothing about these risks, but you are still vulnerable to such claims on your property.

Not at all. A deed is merely an instrument whereby a seller transfers his or her right of ownership (whatever it might be) to you. It is not proof that the person described as the seller is actually the owner. It does not do away with claims or rights others may have in the property. From the deed, you cannot determine what rights, liens, or claims may be outstanding against your title.

Any person or financial institution that lends money on real estate wants that investment protected. Mortgage title insurance assure the lender that the mortgage is a valid lien protected against hidden as well as known defects in the title as insured. Such a policy affords the only way a lender can be certain about the title which may be acquired in the event of a foreclosure. A mortgage title insurance policy protects only the lender's interest in the property, not the owner.

If the former owner had a new sink installed and refused to pay the bill, the plumber may file a Mechanic's Lien claim. This stands as a claim on the property which you, as the new owner, may have to pay in order to clear your title. Similarly, there may be suits pending affecting the property, foreclosures or bankruptcy actions, or any number of claims or legal involvements which may cloud the title until they are properly settled or removed.

If a person is sued and a judgment is rendered against that person, any real estate he or she owns may become security for the debt. This means that he or she cannot sell that real estate and deliver a clear title until the judgment is paid, released, or otherwise satisfactorily disposed of. Further, other suits filed against the owner of real estate, even though not yet decided, may prevent the sale of the property.

Unpaid real estate taxes are a first lien on any real property. If there has been a tax sale or forfeiture or any other objection or protest, it means that there are complications standing in the way of a clear title.

Many such things are possible (the right-of-way for a power line or road, an easement for a driveway, air rights, sub-surface rights), any of which may have been sold or granted to someone else by a former owner. If so, there may be restrictions on the use of your land.

You may buy a piece of property in good faith from a corporation, only to have the validity of the sale challenged by a stockholder who claims it was not properly authorized by the Board of Directors, or that the company was not empowered under its charter or by-laws to sell the land at all. There are further complications possible if the company is in receivership, or if the firm is being dissolved.

An abstract, which is used in some parts of the country, is a history of the title to property as revealed by the public records. Deeds, mortgages, other instruments and legal proceedings which have affected the property through the years are all included in the abstract. If something is revealed in the abstract which might stand in the way of a clear title, it is up to the owner and the owner's attorney to clear it away. If they cannot do this, it must be accepted as a limitation on your right of ownership.