What is Title Insurance?
Purchasing a home is likely the most important financial decision you will make. How does one know that the property they purchased has clear title? There are many unknown problems that can be hidden in the history of a property's title.

Title insurance is an insurance policy that guarantees the property’s title is free from the problems of hidden liens and claims. Public records for the property are searched to find problems in the title's ownership and history.
Possible hidden title problems can include:

· Errors or omissions in deeds
· Mistakes in examining records
· Forgery
· Undisclosed heirs
· Liens for unpaid taxes
· Liens by contractors

Title insurance pays to search for problems in a property's title by examining public records. Public records that are routinely searched include:

· Deeds
· Mortgages
· Wills
· Divorce Decrees
· Court Judgments
· Tax Records
· Liens
· Claims
· Maps

By searching the history of the property's title the new owner can be assured of clear ownership to their new property and that no outstanding debts or unknown ownership issues are associated with their new home.

In addition, besides securing a good search on a property's title, title insurance will insure the property owner as long as they own the property. Therefore, if a problem arises at a later date, the title insurance policy will cover legal fees in defense of a claim against the property that is covered under the title policy.

Our firm routinely provides title examination, title searches and title insurance for our clients. The purpose of title insurance is to protect the purchaser of real estate and the holder of mortgage against loss from defective titles, liens, and encumbrances. Protecting a buyer against loss is accomplished by the issuance of a title insurance policy. Since title insurance, as other forms of insurance, is a risk assumption, it is very important that the title insurer eliminate the risk and prevent losses caused by defects in title arising out of events that may have happened in the past.

You can be certain that the examining of title is done under the supervision of a real estate attorney and the issuance of title insurance is but one more service we offer to our clients so that our client’s real estate transactional needs are met and exceeded.

Why Do I Need a Real Estate Attorney in Every Real Estate Transaction?
Buying and selling real estate is a very complex experience and can be unnecessarily expensive. Your real estate attorney can look out for your best interests and minimize risk, to ensure you get a clear title to your new property and help you protect your investment for the future.

Real estate agents and Mortgage brokers are not attorneys and may not be able to foresee legal problems or to structure contracts to avoid litigation or minimize its impact.

Before the closing, your attorney can explain the following:

· Prepare the contract for sale and purchase for your individual needs
· Identify the pitfalls and how to avoid them in the contract for either the purchaser or seller
· Your liability if assuming an existing mortgage
· The effect of any existing mortgage and construction liens
· Alternative means of financing, including the effect of mortgage prepayments
· Where and how to file for homestead exemption
· The seller's liability after the sale
· Pre and Post-contract liability for fire and other hazards.

As part of the job of protecting your interests, your attorney will:

· Obtain a title search, evaluate the status of the title, and require appropriate legal remedies to clear defects
· Prepare or review the Closing Statement and other closing documents, and inform you about any stipulations that affect your interests
· Prepare a bill of sale to cover any personal property such as drapes and appliances that are included in the sale
· Advise you how title should be taken and how this affects your overall business and personal estate
· As required, investigate zoning ordinances and other governmental use restrictions
· Relate the income, estate, and gift tax consequences to your estate
· Check unrecorded municipal liens, including sewer and special assessment liens
· Advise you on what the title policy does not protect against, with emphasis on insurability and marketability.

At closing, your attorney will check every detail, making sure the documents carry out the parties' actual intent as originally expressed in the contract, and meet requirements for a marketable title. This is the most critical part of all, and your attorney's participation is important in helping you protect your investment and your financial security.

At our firm, you can have the peace of mind of having a qualified real estate attorney handle all facets of your real estate transaction. And if a problem does arise with your transaction, or if a problem has already occurred, our firm has the experience to see that the matter gets resolved through amicable means first. If the matter can not be amicably resolved our firm is prepared to litigate the claim to best defend and/or protect our clients interests.