STANDARD VS HOMEOWNER'S TITLE POLICIES, WHICH IS BEST FOR YOU?

Dear Friends,

I post these like clock work, but last Friday I decided to wait until today because I attended a "Title and Escrow" training offered by the San Diego Association of Realtors or SDAR. These training courses are held for us to stay abreast of today's market trends and practices, with the title of the course being the topic covered.  The most common trend, we found, is that in short sale or REO purchase the seller selects the Standard instead of the Homeowner's Title policy, which has less coverage for the buyer!

Most Standard Title Polices cover the following:

• Someone else owns an interest in your title
• A document is not properly signed
• Forgery, fraud, duress, incompetency
• Defective recording of a document
• Unmarketability of title
• Lack of a right of access to and from the land

Most Homeowner's Title Polices cover the following:

• All of the above, plus...
• Mechanic's lien protection
• Forced removal of residential structure--encroachments
• Forced removal of residential structure--restrictions
• Forced removal of residential structure --zoning
• Cannot use land for Single Family Residence due to zoning or restrictions
• Unrecorded liens by the homowner's association
• Unrecorded easements
• Others have rights arising out of leases, contracts or options
• Pays rent for substitute housing
• Plain language
• Building permit violations--forced removal
• Subdivision law violations
• Zoning violations---forced removal
• Boundary wall or fence encroachment
• Restrictive covenant violations
• Post-policy contract or lease rights
• Post-policy contract or lease rights
• Post-policy forgery
• Post-policy easement
• Post-policy limitations on use of land
• Post-policy encroachment by neighbor other than wall or fence
• Enhanced access--vehicular and pedestrian
• Damage to structure from use of easement
• Street address is contract
• Map shows correct location of the land
• Exercise of mineral rights
• Sale fails due to neighbor's encroachments
• Living trust coverage
• Coverage for spouse acquiring through divorce
• Automatic policy increase up to 150%
• Forced removal due to building setbacks
• Discriminatory covenants
• Insurance coverage forever

Now that was a lot to digest so call me to discuss.  And of course, all this information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed, let's make sure your transaction is covered properly!!!

Namaste.