What title insurance actually does for you.
It appears as a line on your closing statement and most people sign it without knowing what they bought. Here is the plain version — what it covers, what it does not, who pays, and what it costs.
If you are buying
Two questions have to be answered before the keys change hands: does the seller genuinely own what they are selling, and is there anything attached to the property that follows it to you?
A defect in the title can restrict how you use the land, cost real money to defend, or in a bad case cost you the property. Our search goes through the public record to confirm ownership is clear before you sign, and the policy stands behind what the record could not show.
You pay the premium once. No renewal, no expiry, no annual bill. The protection lasts as long as you — or whoever inherits from you — hold an interest in the property.
If you are selling
Your job is to deliver clear title on the day. Ours is to find anything standing in the way early enough to fix it quietly — an old second mortgage that was paid but never released, a contractor's lien, a name spelled wrong on a deed in 1994.
We will also help line up an experienced closing attorney and get outstanding liens satisfied before they become a reason to move the date.
- Commitments on time, and correct
- Liens found early, not at the table
- Difficult chains of title untangled
Insurance that looks backwards, not forwards
Every other policy you own covers something that might happen next — a fire, a crash, a hospital stay. Title insurance is the opposite. It covers things that already happened, before you ever saw the property, and that nobody caught in time.
When you take out a mortgage, your lender requires a policy protecting their stake. You can buy a second one protecting yours. That one is optional, and it is the one worth understanding.
“Title” is the legal word for who owns a piece of property. A title insurance policy covers claims on that ownership from someone other than you — the classic example being a construction company that was never paid for work done under a previous owner, and still holds a lien to prove it.
The claim can land at any point. You might own the property peacefully for eleven years before it surfaces. Often the person with the competing right does not know they have it either — an overlooked heir may have no idea a share is legally theirs until someone reads an old will.
Before your loan closes, the lender orders a title search. We go through the public record looking for anything that could undercut your rights or theirs. Three things come up most often:
Liens
A contractor, a tax office or a lender who was never paid can attach a claim to the property. It follows the land, not the person — which is how buyers inherit a previous owner's unpaid bill.
Easements
Someone else's legal right to use land you own. Usually harmless, like a utility corridor along the back line. Occasionally the reason you cannot build where you planned to.
Encumbrances
The wider category: liens and easements, plus zoning rules, recorded covenants and a tenant's right to stay. Anything limiting what you can do with what you bought.
The search reaches further than most people expect: deeds and mortgages, but also divorce decrees, court judgments, tax records and child support orders. Ownership leaves a trail through all of them.
When something turns up — the industry calls these “clouds” on title — we work to clear it. Some are a phone call and a corrected document. Others need the seller to act. A small number are serious enough to end a transaction, which is far better than discovering them a year after you move in.
Where the policy helps — and where it stops
The line is simpler than it looks. Problems that existed before you bought are covered. Problems you create afterwards are not.
Covered
- Errors in the property survey
- Boundary disputes with a neighbor
- Mistakes on the deed itself
- Building code violations left by a previous owner
- Conflicting wills and overlooked heirs
- An ex-spouse who never signed off on the sale
- Forged signatures and forged documents
- Liens from contractors, tax offices or old lenders
- Encroachments across the property line
- Documents recorded incorrectly
Not covered
A title policy is not a general shield around your property rights. In particular it will not cover title problems you cause yourself:
- Not paying the company that replaced your roof
- Falling behind on your property taxes
- Eminent domain — a government taking land for public use
The test to remember: would this have changed your mind about buying, had you known at the time? If yes, that is the territory a title policy is built for. If it started after closing, it is not.
What you actually pay
An owner's policy pays off a lien nobody found, funds the legal defense when somebody claims a right to your property, and settles in cash with a buyer who bought in good faith on a forged deed. Less dramatically, it protects your ability to sell one day — because the next buyer's search will find whatever yours missed.
The lender's policy does none of that for you, which makes it a strange thing to be asked to pay for. The logic: if the property was sold to you fraudulently and you lose it, the lender files a claim to recover the payments they expected. Normally they would foreclose to cover a loss — but if the property was never the seller's to sell, foreclosure is not available to them.
How much
One payment at closing. Nothing recurring. The owner's policy is priced off the purchase price; the lender's off the loan amount. Together they typically run 0.5% to 1.0% of the purchase price — roughly $1,500 to $3,000 on a $300,000 home, according to ALTA.
Worth knowing in the Carolinas: the premium is the same whichever agency you use. Price is not the variable. Who runs your search, how deep they go, and whether they answer the phone in October — those are the variables. Send us the purchase price and loan amount and we will quote the exact figure.
Who pays
The buyer covers the lender's policy as part of closing costs. The owner's policy can be paid by either side on the buyer's behalf — in practice, local custom in your market usually settles it before anyone negotiates.
One thing to ask for: buying both policies at the same time qualifies for a “simultaneous issue” charge, which brings the cost of the owner's policy down. It is not automatic in every conversation, so raise it.
Standard or expanded coverage?
Expanded coverage widens the policy to take in additional risks beyond the standard form. Whether it earns its cost depends entirely on the property in front of you. Call with the address and we will tell you which one we would buy in your position.
Protect your ownership
Buying or selling in the Carolinas? We will keep the title clear and the closing straightforward.