With such a diverse law firm behind you, you are certain to feel protected when dealing with property that is going to exchange hands. But what type of property has titles? And what issues can you come up with that may require a title insurance lawyer in Scranton, PA?
The first type of title insurance that is most commonly purchased is an owner’s policy. This protects the new owner of the property, and the second type is the lender’s policy, which protects the lender.
The title insurance protects the buyer and the lender against potential loss or liability if there is something missing in the documentation or the title transfer process is done wrong. Securing title insurance is standard when dealing with a real estate transaction. There are different types of insurance you can purchase, aside from the basic two mentioned above. You are required to purchase title insurance once, and it remains in effect until the property is sold or you choose to refinance.
What Does a Title Insurance Lawyer Do?
When you want to buy a home, you need a lawyer to help you obtain title insurance, and to help you ensure that the home you are trying to buy is legally available for sale. Title searches are conducted in the standard real estate transaction to help avoid issues in the purchase, and this is another part of what your lawyer does.
Your lawyer is going to research and ensure the property you want is available for sale, ensuring there are no errors in the records that could cause trouble later. Your lawyer will also look for heirs who are estranged or undisclosed to ensure there’s not an issue of who should have ownership of the house. Once it is deemed clean, the seller is deemed to have the legal right to sell, and the transaction can move forward.
A title search is going to look for:
- Current status of ownership
- Current owner
- Limitations of the owner’s property rights (think mortgages, easements and liens)
Once again, title insurance is going to protect you from errors that may come up during the sell or after. A title search can come back clean and then later someone comes forward as an heir, claiming the home and estate was theirs, not the person that sold it to you. In this instance, you are fully protected because the so-called-heir was not available on the paperwork and did not come forward until after the sale, but if they had come forward during the sale your lawyer would have helped you to navigate that situation.
Reach out to Hoegen & Associates, P.C. for your title insurance needs today.
