5 Things to Understand About Title Insurance

• It protects your ownership right to your home both from fraudulent claims against your ownership and from mistakes made in earlier sales, such as mistake in the spelling of a person’s name or an inaccurate description of the property.
   
• It’s a one-time cost usually based on the price of the property.
   
• It’s usually paid for by the sellers.
   
• There are both lender title policies, which protect the lender, and owner title policies, which protect you. The lender will probably require a lender policy.
   
• Discounts on premiums are sometimes available if the home has been bought within only a few years since not as much work is required to check the title. Ask the title company if this discount is available.
   

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine Online by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved.         www.REALTOR.org/realtormag