Title Insurance.

Why you need it.

A forgery 50 years ago; a deed executed under duress; bigamy that went unknown; an error by a clerk in the county recorder’s office; a misapplied tax payment…

These are but a few of the hidden “title defects: that could cause you to lose your property. And, even if you don’t lose your property altogether, title problems could make it impossible for you to sell or even give it away.

You don’t want a problem that occurred long before you bought you property to deprive you of ownership or your right to use or dispose of it. You don’t want to pay the potentially ruinous cost of defending your property rights in court. A title insurance policy is your best protection against potential defects which could remain hidden despite the most thorough search of public records.

First American® Title Insurance Company has provided this information to you to help you understand what title insurance is, and why you need it. They have provided a list called, “70 something ways to lose your property”:

1. Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases.
2. Deed by person who is insane or mentally incompetent.
3. Deed by minor (may be disavowed).
4. Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws or given under falsified corporate resolution.
5. Deed from partnership, unauthorized under partnership agreement.
6. Deed from purported trustee, unauthorized under trust agreement.
7. Deed to or from a “corporation” before incorporation, or after loss of corporate charter.
8. Deed from a legal nonentity (styled, for example, as a church, charity or club).
9. Deed by person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized or defective under foreign laws.
10. Claim resulting from use of “alias” or fictitious name style by a predecessor in title.
11. Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence or duress.
12. Deed following nonjudicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed.
13. Deed affecting land in judicial proceedings (bankruptcy, receivership, probate, conservatorship, dissolution of marriage), unauthorized by court.
14. Deed following judicial proceedings, subject to appeal or further court order.
15. Deed following judicial proceedings where all necessary parties were not joined.
16. Lack of jurisdiction over person or property in judicial proceedings.
17. Deed signed by mistake (grantor did not know what was signed).
18. Deed executed under falsified power of attorney.
19. Deed executed under expired power of attorney (death, disability or insanity of principal).
20. Deed apparently valid, but actually delivered after death or grantor or grantee, or without consent of grantor.
21. Deed affecting property purported to be separate property or grantor, which is in fact community or jointly owned property.
22. Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as sole heir of a deceased former spouse.
23. Deed affecting property of deceased person, not joining all heirs.
24. Deed following administration of estate of missing person, who later reappears.
25. Conveyance by heir or survivor of a joint estate, who murdered the decedent.
26. Conveyances and proceedings affecting rights of service member protected by the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act.
27. Conveyance void as in violation of public policy (payment of gambling debt, payment for contract to commit crime, or conveyance made in restraint of trade).
28. Deed to land including “wetlands” subject to public trust (vesting title in government to protect public interest in navigation, commerce, fishing and recreations).
29. Deed from government entity, vulnerable to challenge as unauthorized or unlawful.
30. Ineffective release of proper satisfied mortgage due to acquisitions of note by bona fide purchase *without notice of satisfaction).
31. Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to bankruptcy of creditor prior to recording of release (avoiding powers in bankruptcy).
32. Ineffective release of prior mortgagee or lien, as fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title.
33. Disputed release or prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding.
34. Ineffective subordination agreement, causing junior interest to be reinstated to priority.
35. Deed recorded, but no properly indexed so as to be locatable in the land records.
36. Undisclosed but recorded federal or state tax lien.
37. Undisclosed but recorded judgment or spousal/child support lien.
38. Undisclosed but recorded prior mortgage.
39. Undisclosed but recorded notice of pending lawsuit affecting land.
40. Undisclosed but recorded environmental lien.
41. Undisclosed but recorded option, or right of first refusal, to purchase property.
42. Undisclosed but recorded covenants or restrictions, with (or without) right of reverter.
43. Undisclosed but recorded easements (for assess, utilities, drainage, airspace, views) benefiting neighboring land.
44. Undisclosed but recorded boundary, party wall or setback agreements.
45. Errors in tax records (mailing tax bill to wrong party resulting in tax sale, or crediting payment to wrong property).
46. Erroneous release of tax or assessment liens, which are later reinstated to the tax roles.
47. Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials (not binding local government).
48. Special assessments which become liens upon passage of law or ordinance, but before recorded notice or commencement of improvements for which assessment is made.
49. Adverse claim of vendor’s lien.
50. Adverse claim or equitable lien.
51. Ambiguous covenants or restrictions in ancient documents.
52. Misinterpretation of wills, deeds and other instruments.
53. Discovery of will or supposed intestate individual, after probate.
54. Discovery of later will after probate of first will.
55. Erroneous or inadequate legal descriptions.
56. Deed to land without a right of access to a public street or road.
57. Deed to land with legal access subject to undisclosed but recorded conditions or restrictions.
58. Right of access wiped out by foreclosure on neighboring land.
59. Patent defects in recorded instruments (for example, failure to attach notarial acknowledgment or a legal description).
60. Defective acknowledgment due to lack of authority of notary (acknowledgment taken before commission or after expiration of commission).
61. Forged notarization or witness acknowledgment.
62. Deed not properly recorded (wrong county, missing pages or other contents, or without required payment).
63. Deed from grantor who is claimed to have acquired title through fraud upon creditors of a prior owner.

There is also extended coverage available to protect against such additional defects as:

64. Deed to a purchaser from one who has previously sold or leased the same land to a third party under an unrecorded contract, where the third party is in possession of the premises.
65. Claimed prescriptive rights, not of record and not disclosed by survey.
66. Physical location of easement (underground pipe or sere line) which does not conform with easement of record.
67. Deed to land with improvements encroaching upon land of another.
68. Incorrect survey (misstating location, dimensions, area, easements, or improvements upon land).
69. “Mechanics Lien” claims which may attach without recorded notice.
70. Federal estate or state inheritance tax liens (may attach without recorded notice).
71. Preexisting violation of subdivision mapping laws.
72. Preexisting violation of zoning ordinances.
73. Preexisting violation of conditions, covenants and restrictions affecting the land.

So there you have it. 70+ reasons why you may need title insurance. You may never experience any of the issues listed above, but are you prepared if you do?

Besides, it helps to know that the line item “title insurance” on that long list of items you paid for when you purchased your property really does have value.