Title insurance policies are an accepted form of protection for buyers of real estate, providing assurance that the buyer is receiving good title. Such a policy insures the rights of an owner, and makes certain that the owner will be able to convey good title when the time comes to...
A title search is a means of determining that the person who is selling the property really has the right to sell it, and that the buyer is getting all the rights to the property title that he or she is paying for. The search process can be undertaken by...
Most home sellers and buyers have been informed that obtaining title insurance will provide them necessary protection over possible title defects; but many remain uncertain about why this is so - or even about what title insurance is. At the Chicago Title and Trust Family of Companies, they believe they...
Like any other insurer, a title insurer may be subject to claims in contract or claims in tort. Contractual claims generally arise either from a title insurance policy or from an insured closing services letter. Tort claims, generally sounding in fraud or negligence usually arise from the defalcation or negligence...
This paper focuses on a specific financial reporting practice that has contributed to the Title insurance industry's failure to communicate the unique characteristics associated with its loss containment activities. The author believes that communication can be enhanced if both parties, the Title industry and its regulators, address and acknowledge the...
Real estate professionals assist in nearly all aspects of the home purchase transaction by serving as a valuable source of information and offering their expertise to both first-time and experienced home buyers. When real estate agents, for example, recommend a title company, they know their reputation and livelihood is on...
A title is a written document that shows ownership of property. It includes the signatures of current owners and a legal description of the property. A title is also known as a deed. Before one closes on a new home, a title examiner will conduct a title search. This is...
If one plans to buy a Chicago property, the sooner one learn about title insurance, the better. For many first time Chicago real estate buyers, the first time they hear about title insurance at the closing of their Chicago property. This paper presents the basics of title insurance for protecting...
Title insurance prevents the property owner from suffering financial loss if, at any time during his ownership of the property, someone comes along who can show that they have full, or partial, ownership of the property instead. Every mortgage lender one is aware of requires title insurance be purchased to...
Title to a property is a record detailing the owners of the property and rights associated with the ownership. Title typically shows a progression of ownership from the first owner to the current one. Title is a fairly simple concept, but when it goes wrong it is a nightmare. That...
When one thinks of GIS, title insurance isn't the first thing that comes to mind. However, many title offices are finding GIS is just what they need to help with their mapping and document management needs. Title plants, data centers that process thousands of land records each day, have found...
Title insurance is generally - associated with insuring a purchaser's or lender's interest in a particular piece of real estate. The right to use an easement is often considered less important than unencumbered title of the insured parcel. An easement, however, can significantly affect the value of the insured parcel.
This paper investigates the practice of rebating in title insurance industry. Since approximately 1997, insurance regulators allege that title insurers began engaging in the illegal practice of rebating by forming captive reinsurance companies that in turn draw rebates from the title insurance companies. These sophisticated schemes are designed so that...
There are two types of title insurance: lender policy and the owner's title insurance. Most lenders require a loan policy when they issue a loan to protect their interest should a problem arise. The policy amount decreases each year and eventually disappears once the loan is paid off. Therefore the...
New homeowners are often taken aback by up-front closing costs such as mortgage and title insurance, attorney fees, recording fees and loan points, which can run into the thousands of dollars. But there is no need to be afraid of these charges. With a little background on their purpose and...
A "monoline" requirement, i.e., the statutory restriction of companies writing a particular line of insurance to writing only that line, occurs today in just three property-casualty lines: title insurance, mortgage guaranty insurance, and financial guaranty insurance. In light of the trend toward the elimination of specialization for all types of...
In an age of special purpose entities, bankruptcy remote entities, check-the-box filings, and securitized real estate, there has been a re-emergence of property ownership by tenancies in common, a throwback to an earlier era. While tenancies in common certainly offer investors new opportunities, they also raise important issues for both...
This paper provides an economic analysis of the monoline restriction for both mortgage and title insurance. The purpose is to evaluate whether or not the monoline requirement continues to represent good public policy. California is used as an important and typical case study. This paper reviews these two industries and...
This paper on title insurance explains the declining interest rate environment throughout 2002 provided a fertile market for mortgage refinancing activity, driving the title insurance industry to its second consecutive year of record-breaking revenues. The most prosperous year in title insurance history occurred despite a dismal economic backdrop in which...
The key goal of this paper is to investigate the conditions under which monoline restrictions represent sensible regulatory policy. This is an intriguing question because multiline insurance structures have the obvious diversification benefit that the firm's capital is available to support claims against any of its lines. Indeed, all states...
