Adoption Agriculture Alimony Alt. Death Wrongful Employ. Subscribe to our Consumer Legal'zine. When purchasing a home, a buyer will want to acquire good, marketable and insurable title.
Title insurance protects the homeowners investment from title defects.
Title insurance is not to be confused with homeowners insurance, which insures contents and provides liability coverage. When a purchaser buys real estate, a title search is ordinarily performed to determine whether the seller really owns the property and to discover any liens that have been placed on the property. An insurance company that has issued a title insurance policy will hire an attorney, at no cost to the homeowner, to obtain documents, signatures and releases that are necessary to clear title. The attorney may be required to file a lawsuit to quiet title, that is, to obtain a court determination that the homeowner's title is good and superior to any other claims against the property. In the event the chain of title includes a forged deed, a homeowner may lose the property.