{"id":497,"date":"2021-04-08T20:53:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T20:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bavagnolilaw.com\/?p=497"},"modified":"2021-09-21T12:59:44","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T16:59:44","slug":"title-insurance-antiquated-or-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bavagnolilaw.com\/title-insurance-antiquated-or-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Title Insurance: Antiquated or Necessary?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you haven\u2019t purchased a home before, it\u2019s likely you haven\u2019t heard of title insurance, so it might come as a surprise that it\u2019s a big industry, with a <\/span>$16.6 billion market size<\/span><\/a>. If you\u2019re in the process of buying a home, whether or not to purchase title insurance is an important decision. Ultimately, you will need to make a choice about whether it\u2019s worth it to you. But unfortunately, there are no easy choices when you\u2019re buying a house<\/span><\/p>\n

Below, I\u2019ll describe what title insurance is, whether you need it, and how an attorney can help. If you are unsure about a potential title issue, it\u2019s always prudent to reach out to a qualified New Jersey real estate lawyer to learn about your rights. Bavagnoli & Bavagnoli has been helping clients with real estate issues for nearly three decades and we may be able to help you as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is title insurance?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Let\u2019s say the wild and stressful ride of purchasing your new home is over. After endless paperwork and coordination with your realtor, lender, and everyone else, you\u2019ve been handed the keys to your home. But a few weeks later, the great grandnephew of a previous owner shows up, claiming that he inherited your house and that your home sweet home is his.<\/span><\/p>\n

It may sound far-fetched, but these are the kinds of disputes that title insurance is designed to protect you against. If you have title insurance, you\u2019re covered. If you don\u2019t, you could face some complex legal problems that potentially lead you to lose your home, not to mention the significant money that you\u2019ve put into the buying process. This is all to say title insurance protects you from unforeseen issues or legal claims against your ownership of the property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, but do I really need title insurance?\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Before a lender will approve a mortgage, a title search is always done. This confirms the legal owner of the property and their right to sell it to you. After all, if the seller isn\u2019t the legal owner and can\u2019t sell the property, the mortgage company will be financially on the hook in the early days of your mortgage. During a title search, a real estate attorney or other party does a thorough search of public records to confirm ownership of the property and flag issues that need to be resolved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For this reason, some say that <\/span>title insurance is unnecessary<\/span><\/a> because it is an antiquated relic of a bygone era. We have much more robust property records today than a century ago, so title disputes are less common today. In most cases, you should be just fine if your real estate attorney did a thorough title search. However, issues ranging from fraud to simple record-keeping mistakes can come up years down the road, well after you close on a house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Title Issues<\/b><\/h4>\n

Without title insurance, a variety of scenarios can arise requiring you to work with a NJ real estate attorney. Some of the most common issues include:<\/span><\/p>\n