title insurance Archives

March 18, 2024April 25, 2024

Real Property Basics: What Is a Clear Title?

A clear title. The term is commonly used to mean the deed holder can prove ownership, unquestionably. To verify that, a title company can conduct a title search.

Other parties’ claims on the title are called title defects, or clouds on title.

What do these claims look like? They might be mortgage liens, court judgments, contracts with renters, solar contracts, or any agreements to allow access to part of the property. There could be unpaid taxes in the past, claims by relatives involving their rights in foreclosures or inheritances, even liens for fees and fines imposed by homeowners’ associations.

Having a clear title matters to a homeowner. Selling isn’t an option while there are liens or claims against the title. Straightforward enough… But there are some finer points worth knowing.

February 24, 2024April 25, 2024

Can We Record Deeds on the Blockchain?

Blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrency, is a digital recording system, leading innovators to wonder if it could solve challenges in deed recording.

The U.S. deed recording system is tried and true. At the same time, title defects and tangled titles are much too common. Additionally, deed fraud harms vulnerable homeowners..

What if our title system moved to the blockchain? A “blocktitle” system, as Dawson Sanders at the University of Southern California calls it, would transform real estate transactions.

February 7, 2024April 25, 2024

Behind the Scenes of a Home Purchase: What’s Your Title Company Doing?

You joyfully pick up the keys on closing day, and leave the office triumphant, a thick folder from the title company under your arm.

The title company played a starring role in your day. At least it did if a mortgage is involved! Cash buyers need not hire experts to run a search on the home title, because there’s no lender to protect. But even where buyers pay cash, most people don’t have the time to handle their own title searches.

Thus, most purchases typically involve title companies. A title company provides security and confidence. No new homeowner wants to worry about potential issues or discrepancies in the property’s ownership history.

December 13, 2023April 25, 2024

Fannie Mae Was Going to Save Mortgage Borrowers Thousands by Dropping Its Title Insurance Requirement. Never Mind.

The Biden administration was working with loan backers to delete title insurance charges from closing costs. The move would have saved quite a few home buyers hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Noting that the plan had been silently scuttled, the Wall Street Journal said pressure against it came from “an obscure industry.”

The obscure industry is the real estate title insurance sector. It’s hardly obscure in our book. But the Wall Street Journal pointed to the industry’s small population. Only some 155,000 people reportedly work in the title and settlement sector.

In 2023, Fannie Mae was getting ready to test its planned phase-out of the title insurance requirement for mortgage borrowers. Evidently, the aforementioned industry wanted to save itself from further obscurity!

The title insurers pushed back. And Fannie Mae abandoned its test run.

March 13, 2023April 25, 2024

In the News: Struggling and Elderly Homeowners Targeted by Deed Fakery

Imagine a licensed real estate broker — of all people — accused of taking other people’s homes and selling them.

Imagine someone deciding to fake a deed to steal the house of an elderly homeowner who’s ill and in a nursing home.

These are both real stories, now unfolding in Florida.

September 5, 2022April 25, 2024

Can a Quitclaim Deed Be Undone?

A quitclaim deed transfers real estate to a new owner. A properly completed and recorded quitclaim cannot be undone. Here’s why — and what to do next if there’s a problem with the transfer.

July 4, 2022April 25, 2024

I’m Changing My Name. What About the House Title?

Your house title should state your current legal name. Of course, there are other documents that prove your identity. But having the correct name on the title will save steps when you want to sell or take a loan out on your home.

So here’s a brief guide to changing the title to your home after changing your name.

September 1, 2021April 25, 2024

Texans Welcome New Guidance for Quitclaim Deeds

Adverse Possession Also Clarified

Congrats to Texas, where the government just gave a boost to the quitclaim deed! People who receive their homes through recorded quitclaim deeds will now be on firmer ground in the Lone Star State. Here’s what you need to know.

April 21, 2021April 26, 2024

Marriage and the Quitclaim Deed

When is a quitclaim a good way to transfer a whole or partial interest in a home? In a simple transaction among familiar parties. Especially where no money changes hands. No wonder quitclaim deeds are often used between spouses.

Here, we take a look at a variety of ways quitclaims can convey property between partners in marriage.

August 20, 2020April 25, 2024

Buying Property with a Quitclaim Deed in Massachusetts

A Quitclaim? No problem. It’s Common Practice Here — and Safeguarding Your Title Is Straightforward.

Three major Massachusetts real estate deeds are commonly used: the quitclaim deed, the warranty deed, and the release deed. In contrast to most other places, Massachusetts home buyers receive their property through quitclaim deeds. So, we need to delve into the use of the quitclaim deed in Massachusetts.