What Realtors Should Know about Owner’s Title Insurance

What Realtors Should Know about Owner’s Title Insurance

Protecting Your Clients

Owner’s Title Insurance is often misunderstood by real estate buyers at closing, yet it is tremendously valuable. As a realtor, you are an important advisor to your clients; you are in the position to help them understand the great value of Owner’s Title Insurance and the dangers of not having it.

If you are a real estate agent, then you know that buying a home can be an overwhelming experience for many of your clients. Residential real estate buyers can easily feel confused and frustrated by the huge piles of paperwork they are required to sign. In addition, all the fees associated with the closing of a real estate transaction can sometimes be a big surprise even to an experienced real estate buyer.

What exactly is Owner’s Title Insurance?

Owner’s Title Insurance is a policy that protects the property rights of homebuyers. For the same reasons that banks require a lender’s insurance policy, homebuyers obtain Owner’s Title Insurance to protect themselves against legal claims to the property they are buying.

How Owner’s Title Insurance Protects Your Clients

Say, for example, one of your clients recently purchased a new house directly from a builder; however, the builder failed to pay the roofer, who then filed a lien against the property. Typically, this is not revealed to the buyer until it is too late. Without Owner’s Title Insurance, your client would be responsible for paying this existing debt with the roofer—meaning he or she would be paying the roofer out of his or her pocket instead of purchasing something nice for their new house, like furniture, for example. This is just one example of how Owner’s Title Insurance can protect homebuyers from significant risk.

These are some of the title problems your clients may encounter:

Liens against the property that serve as security for the payment of obligations, including:

• Mortgage liens,
• Federal tax liens,
• Judgment liens for unpaid court judgments,
• State and local liens for failure to pay real estate taxes or assessments,
• Liens for recovery of child support payments, and
• Liens to secure payment for property improvements.

Easements that were created by contract, including:

• Rights of way for utilities, and
• Rights acquired by neighbors because of a fence infringement.

Claims emerging out of bankruptcy.

Building or use restrictions contained in recorded plats, deeds or agreements.

These are just some of the many reasons why obtaining Owner’s Title Insurance is crucial when buying or refinancing a house. Title Insurance gives you peace of mind that your property rights are protected against any problems from the past the property may hide.

Enduring Value of Owner’s Title Insurance

One of the greatest benefits of Owner’s Title Insurance is that it protects homebuyers financially for as long as they (or their heirs) own the home they purchased. For a low, one-time fee (which is 0.5% of the purchase price, in average), homebuyers can rest assured, knowing they are protected from inheriting any existing debts or claims to their new houses.

CFPB and State Regulations

When it comes to Title Insurance costs, each state government regulates its own. In addition, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulates settlement and closing practices, which can significantly impact Title Insurance.

Work with a Title Company – Work with Marina Title

Our title company is owned and operated by Real Estate Attorneys who share your passion for Florida real estate and we can help you enhance the home buying experience for every single one of your clients. Our Real Estate Attorneys know what it takes to succeed in the demanding but rewarding Florida real estate market, and will do everything within their power to help you get to the top while you and your clients remain protected.

To schedule a consultation or learn more about our services, call us today (305) 901-5628 or send us an email to [email protected]. Our list of satisfied clients is long and grows every day. Let us add you to it!