Title insurance protects you from common, hidden risks.
Title insurance is a contract to indemnify against losses arising through defects in the title to real estate. If the title is insurable, the company guarantees against loss due to any defects in title not specifically set forth in the policy. It also pays all expenses in defense of any lawsuit attacking the title as insured.
What title insurance protects against.
Some of the most frequent, hidden risks are:
- Forged signatures
- False impersonation
- Instruments executed under expired or revoked powers of attorney
- Delivery of a conveyance after the death of the grantor
- Homestead rights of a spouse
- Undisclosed heirs
- Deeds by minors or persons of unsound mind
- Deeds by a corporation without proper legal authority
- Fraud or Duress in obtaining signatures
Many of these hidden hazards might not be revealed as a result of a routine title examination,
However, they are covered under the terms of a title insurance policy.
The title company will defend the property owner against an attack of their rights and cover the cost of any settlement, including attorney's fees.