From the July issue: Late one Thursday afternoon last month, title insurance agent Rafael Castellanos got an urgent call from an attorney whose client needed a title search on a Brooklyn home that was selling three days later in a foreclosure auction.
Title insurance agents — who work with underwriters to provide insurance for buyers to protect against unforeseen problems on the titles of their new homes — typically conduct extensive research to ensure that there are no troubles with a title. The goal is to ferret out and resolve any “clouds,” such as outstanding liens on the title or defects in the chain of ownership, so they don’t come back to haunt the buyer later.
Title insurance gets a bad rap among consumers for the high cost and the fact that lenders typically require buyers to take out policies. But even cash buyers are advised to protect themselves from challenges to their ownership down the line by paying for title insurance from the get-go. [more]
