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Title insurance Q&A

What will standard title insurance cost?

Standard Owner’s Title Insurance premium is based on your purchase price. Enter your purchase price and answer a few other questions here to obtain an instant quote for the cost of both standard and enhanced owner’s title insurance.

What would enhanced insurance cost?

Enhanced Owner’s Title Insurance premium is based on your purchase price. Enter your purchase price and answer a few other questions here to obtain an instant quote for the cost of both standard and enhanced owner’s title insurance.

How many claims do you see made against title insurance policies each year, or what percentage would you say?

Matters arising post-settlement covered by the terms of an owner’s title insurance policy occur in approximately 5% of all transactions that we close. Poor record-keeping by local government represents a good portion of these matters which results in such matters as unpaid taxes (tax liens) (i.e., prior years’ taxes not properly reported by the governmental authority). Other common matters include non-terminated lines of credit and previously unreleased deeds of trust (mortgages) of prior owners, mis-indexed judgments/liens against prior owners, unpaid condo/HOA dues, seller fraud (e.g., imposter spouses, acquiring/drawing on/of lines of credit immediately prior to closing), and forgeries/unauthorized deed transfers in the chain of title.

What percentage of your clients buy enhanced vs. standard?

It’s approximately 50/50 for enhanced v. standard.

What percentage of your clients waive/decline owner’s title insurance coverage?

Less than 1% of homebuyers decline owner’s title insurance coverage.

I’ve read the descriptions of the two types of insurance on your website and I’m still trying to determine if it’s worth it for me to buy owner’s title insurance. Am I insuring against the possibility of losing my home or against the legal fees I might have to pay to get the title cleared? Do you have more details/ fine print on the two policies than what is on the website?

You are insuring against the potential of both (title failure and legal fees to defend title).

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