One thing you’ll hear repeated often here at Foote Title Group is how we “insure your ownership.” It’s one of the core services we offer to our MVPs, and it’s one of the most important services we offer.
Foote Title Group insures your ownership by offering you an Owner’s Title Insurance Policy. A title insurance policy is not required when you purchase a new property, but we will strongly encourage you to buy one. What does a title insurance policy from Foote Title Group do?
This policy ensures that no one can come back and make a claim against your ownership of your property. These claims can cost you a lot of money and a lot of heartache – and they can result in your losing ownership of your property.
It’s easy when you’re buying a new home to think, “This is great! I’ll own this wonderful piece of property that I’ve saved so long for. The seller seems really nice. They certainly paid off all their debts, and all of the records on the home are clear. I’ll never have a problem with my ownership.”
And then along comes a missing heir, an unpaid contractor or government agency, or someone else who claims they should have ownership of your property. It happens all the time. In fact, we were listening the other day to Les Brown, an international motivational speaker and positive mentor. He recounted the story of the first home he bought for his mother. His mother was poor, and she adopted seven children and raised them all on a shoestring budget.
When Brown became successful, he wanted to buy his mother a home so she could leave the bad neighborhood where she lived. So, he bought his mother a house, but he didn’t do his research and make sure the title on the property was cleared. It wasn’t, and a previous owner came back and made a claim against the house. Brown and his mother lost their ownership, and she had to move back to where she had lived before.
It can happen to anyone. You need title insurance because you’re spending an awful lot of money to buy your new property, whether you’re taking out loans for some or all of it or paying for it outright. In any case, you have an ownership interest in the property. This increases as you make payments on the mortgage and your equity increases. You want to make sure no one can come back and make any claim against your ownership and take away your home and the equity you have built.
Your mortgage lender will require that you purchase a Lender’s Title Insurance Policy that protects the lender’s interest in your home. You should have the same protection! Title insurance protects your current ownership against things that happened in the past. It is based on the value of your home, and unlike other insurances, there is no deductible for after you purchase it.
Choosing to buy title insurance is the first step. The second is to make sure you’re buying it from a reputable company. You should choose which company handles your closing because that is the same company that will insure your ownership through title insurance. Your title insurance is worth nothing if the company goes out of business because of illegal activity or poor business practices. Here are some things to look out for:
- Does the company have a good reputation?
- Do they have high standards?
- What is the company’s record of customer service?
- How long have they been in business?
- What is their reputation for clearing title issues when they surface in a title search?
Take the time to research closing companies before hiring someone. You’re not just hiring someone to handle the details of your transaction and run your actual settlement. You’re hiring a company that insures your ownership for the long term. We’d love to tell you about Foote Title Group’s experience, reputation, and history. Give us a call today to learn how Foote Title Group can insure your ownership!
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