With all of the hoops that you have to jump through to buy a home, you'd think that would be enough to prove your home is indeed your home. But alas, such is not always the case. A myriad of situations can stand between you and a marketable title—a condition that states evidence of your ownership rights to a particular property.

The purpose of title insurance is to secure your legal claim to the property and protect you against title "defects"—legal rights to the property claimed by somebody else.

Unfortunately, hidden defects can surface even after you've gone through closing, and a myriad of situations can stand between you and a marketable title. With title insurance, the title insurer not only pays the costs if you're ever forced to defend your ownership in court, but covers any financial loss if the title defects can't be settled.

To get a mortgage you'll have to buy a lender's title insurance policy. This protects the lender against any title problems. But to protect your interests, you'll need owner's title insurance, as well.

Use your real estate attorney's title expertise.

Many companies sell title insurance. But a lay title agency (one that's not affiliated with a law firm) only prepares documents for closing and issues your title insurance policy.

A lay title agency cannot:

• Prepare contracts
• Resolve title or inspection issues
• Give you legal advice regarding the content of documents you sign during the closing

Since your ownership rights must be legally protected, a person trained in the complexities of real estate law is best qualified to issue your owner's title insurance policy. That's your real estate attorney. Since the fee for title insurance will be about the same with or without a real estate attorney, it just makes sense to get the added value of an attorney's legal advice and counsel.

Please contact us to arrange for a consultation to discuss your case.