Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Does Anyone Here have Home Title Insurance?

I heard a commercial about that. Being retired that's the last thing I need. Has anyone even heard of someone hacking the title on their home and borrowing a bunch of money against it.

What do they actually do? Do any of you have that title insurance? I guess it's about $15 a month.

Do you even think about it happening?

Interesting topic I would also like to hear opinions on this. Waist of money?

Scam

Any lending institution who loans based on a fraudulent application is on the hook.

I thought so.

It is a scam. Save your money. I'm not a mortgage broker, but I am a Realtor. The commercials are very misleading.

I'm not sure that's the case. The money is gone long before anyone finds out the title and application are fraudulent.

Seems to me it's similar to someone stealing your identification.

It stikes me as an answer looking for a problem. Like algores carbon credits scam.

I may be wrong....

About all those title protection sellers do is notify you when it happens. There are some counties that will notify you if any suspicious activity goes on. Just have to be vigilant and check your deed online every so often.

They don’t want the property, they want to take a second mortgage and grab the cash. A permanent freeze your credit might help, since no lender would approve a new line of credit without contacting you. It’s not a bad idea anyway, you can unfreeze it temporarily if you need to.

Would or does this involve lowyers?

In our part of the world Title Insurance is a guarantee that no one or party from the past can come forward at a later time and claim your property.

It happens.. We have it here, but it's a free service from the county..

I have it.
Mineral rights to my property are owned going back to the turn of the last century.
Should some entity want to come dig under my house or buildings I'm covered with replacement cost.

Scam.

Most likely anyone who purchased their home with borrowed money (mortgage) in the last 20 years has title insurance. It has been industry standard to issue owner's and lender's title insurance at closing for some time. Almost all lenders require it now, and a closing company or attorney issues it at the time you buy or refinance. However, the title insurance protects only against title issues that existed at the time the policy was issued. It covers things like encroachments, boundary disputes, easements, old liens or mortgages that were never satisfied, a gap in title somewhere back, unpaid medicaid liens from an old owner, etc. It does not cover anything that happens after the policy is issued. It is a heavily regulated industry and a relatively cheap way to know you are getting what you pay for when you buy property. Any claim that title insurance protects against future claims or identity theft is a scam.

I feel like we're talking about two different things in this thread.

Title insurance is standard in all states, except Iowa if I remember correctly and insures you as the owner, and your lender if any, in the event that the person who sold real estate to you didn't have clean title to the property himself. Those things can and do happen but infrequently, and this isn't a scam. That title insurance is on the hook to defend your title to the property, clean it up if necessary or pay you or your lender in the event a superior claim to your dirt arises.

The radio ads for "title lock" or whatever purport to "protect" you against people who fraudulently file documents to make it look as if they own your property, and then the fraudsters supposedly borrow against that, leaving you to foot the bill. I am unaware of that happening at all, let alone a wave of it, and I think that buying "title lock" is a scam.

It's usually snuck in during closing.I noticed it on mine and start asking about it. Like a one time fee of 900 bucks with the closing attorney. The house we just bought had a title issue in the past, so I reluctantly went with it. Other than that, my buddy who is owns hundreds of properties and manages many others, says only do it if purchasing foreclosures.

+1, First paragraph is the local Title Companies in nearly every town. Second is a scam.

Yes,
I have Title Insurance. It was part of my loan package. It was a one time fee.

Yeah but around here that's taken care of during the title search when you buy the property.

Agreed. It's a scam. I don't think they can steal your property unless you've signed such a document.