Title insurance is an insurance statement of the condition of your "title" or ownership of a particular piece of property. It protects you from damages and expenses incurred because of title defects such as:
Title Insurance is the application of the principles of insurance, to risks that exist in all real estate transactions. When purchasing a home, you buy more than the structure itself. You are also buying the land, which has had owners before you. This is known as the “chain of title.” This chain can have defects that can affect ownership, and title insurance protects the buyer against those defects.
What are some of those risks? There are two categories of risk: hidden hazards and human errors. Hidden hazards are defects including forgery, incompetence of the grantor or mortgagor, and unknown heirs, fraud, and impersonation. Human errors are those that will always be with us, i.e., typographical errors, etc.
How is title insurance different from other types of insurance?
The main difference is that most insurance is geared to protect you from potential future problems. Title insurance protects you from things that have already happened but have the possibility of affecting your purchase. Title insurance is designed to protect you from future losses, court battles and legal fees as a result of events that have happened in the past.