What is Title Insurance?
A title insurance policy can protect homeowners and commercial property owners against various losses, such as title defects you didn’t know about at the time of purchase, encroachment issues, errors in surveys, fraud, and other title issues that could impact the policyholder’s ability to sell in the future. Policies also include the “duty to defend,” meaning the title insurer will cover legal expenses if the policyholder’s title interests are challenged.
Title insurance policies can also be purchased to protect the financial institution protecting a mortgage and the lender on title from title claims that would put their interest at risk.
What is Title Fraud?
Title fraud is when a criminal steals an individual’s identity and, through the use of forged or stolen documents, represents themselves as the true owner of their victim’s property. By impersonating the true owner, they then attempt to sell the property or even apply for a new mortgage against it.