Should We Get Title Insurance?
Should We Get Title Insurance?
70 Something Ways To Lose Your Property
Your Title Insurance Policy protects you against such potential defects as:
- Forged deeds, mortgages, satisfactions or releases.
- Deed by person who is insane or mentally incompetent.
- Deed by minor (may be disavowed).
- Deed from corporation, unauthorized under corporate bylaws or given under falsified corporate resolution.
- Deed from partnership, unauthorized under partnership agreement.
- Deed from purported trustee, unauthorized under trust.
- Deed to or from a “corporation before incorporation, or after loss of corporate charter.
- Deed fro a legal nonentity (styled, for example, as a church, charity or club)
- Deed by person in a foreign country, vulnerable to challenge as incompetent, unauthorized or defective under foreign laws.
- Claims resulting from use of “atlas” or fictitious namestyle by a predecessor in title.
- Deed challenged as being given under fraud, undue influence or duress.
- Deed following nonjudicial foreclosure, where required procedure was not followed.
- Deed affecting land in judicial proceedings (bankruptcy, receivership, probate, conservatorship, dissolution or marriage), unauthorized by the court.
- Deed following judicial proceedings, subject to appeal or further court order.
- Deed following judicial proceedings, where all necessary parties were not joined.
- Lack of jurisdiction over persons or property in judicial proceedings.
- Deed signed by mistake (grantor did not know what was signed).
- Deed executed under falsified power of attorney.
- Deed executed under expired power of attorney (death, disability or insanity of principal).
- Deed apparently valid, but actually delivered after death of grantor or grantee, or without consent of grantor.
- Deed affecting property purported to be separate of grantor, which is in fact community or jointly owned property.
- Undisclosed divorce of one who conveys as sole heir of a deceased former spouse.
- Deed affecting property of deceased person, not joining all heirs.
- Deed following administration of estate of missing person, who later reappears.
- Conveyance by heir or survivor of a joint estate, who murdered the decedent.
- Conveyance and proceedings affecting rights of service member protected by the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act.
- 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).
- Deed to land including “wetlands” subject to public trust (vesting title in government to protect public interest in navigation, commerce, fishing and recreation).
- Deed from government entity, vulnerable to challenge as unauthorized or unlawful.
- Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to bankruptcy of creditor prior to recording of release (avoiding powers in bankruptcy).
- Ineffective release of prior satisfied mortgage due to acquisition of note by bona fide purchaser (without notice of satisfaction).
- Ineffective release of prior mortgage or lien, as fraudulently obtained by predecessor in title.
- Disputed release of prior mortgage or lien, as given under mistake or misunderstanding.
- Ineffective subordination agreement, causing junior interest to be reinstated to priority.
- Deed recorded, but not properly indexed so as to be locatable in the land records.
- Undisclosed but recorded federal or state tax lien.
- Undisclosed but recorded judgment or spousal/child support lien.
- Undisclosed but recorded prior mortgage.
- Undisclosed but recorded notice of pending lawsuit affecting land.
- Undisclosed but recorded environmental lien.
- Undisclosed but recorded option or right of first refusal to purchase property.
- Undisclosed but recorded covenants or restrictions, with (or without) rights of reverter.
- Undisclosed but recorded easements (for access, utilities, drainage, airspace, views) benefiting neighboring property.
- Undisclosed but recorded boundary, party wall or setback agreements.
- Errors in tax records (mailing tax bill to wrong party resulting in tax sale, or crediting payment to wrong property).
- Erroneous release of tax or assessment liens, which are later reinstated to the tax rolls.
- Erroneous reports furnished by tax officials (not binding local government).
- Special assessments which become liens upon recorded notice or commencement of improvements for which assessment is made.
- Adverse claim of vendor’s lien.
- Adverse claim of equitable lien.
- Ambiguous covenants or restrictions in ancient documents.
- Misinterpretation of wills, deeds and other instruments.
- Discovery of will of supposed intestate individual, after probate.
- Discovery of later will after probate of first will.
- Erroneous or inadequate legal descriptions.
- Deed to land without a right of access to a public street or road.
- Deed to land with legal access subject to undisclosed but recorded conditions or restrictions.
- Right of access wiped out by foreclosure on neighboring land.
- Patent defects in recorded instruments (for example, failure to attach notarial acknowledgement or a legal description).
- Defective acknowledgement due to lack of authority of notary (acknowledgement taken before commission or after expiration of commission).
- Forged notarized or witness acknowledgement.
- Deed not properly recorded (wrong county, missing pages or other contents, or without required payment).
- Deed from grantor who is claimed to have acquired title through fraud upon creditors of a prior owner.
AND extended coverage may be requested to protect against such additional defects as:
- 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.
- Claimed prescription rights, not of record and not disclosed by survey.
- Physical location of easement (underground pipe or sewer line) which does not conform with easement of record.
- Deed to land with improvements encroaching upon land of another.
- Incorrect survey, (misstating location, dimensions, area, easements or improvements upon land).
- “Mechanics’ Lien” claims (securing payment of contractors and material suppliers for improvements) which may attaché without recorded notice.
- Federal estate or state inheritance tax liens (may attach without recorded notice).
- Preexisting violation of zoning ordinances.
- Preexisting violation of subdivision mapping laws.
- Preexisting violation of conditions, covenants and restrictions affecting the land.