Who Will Handle Your Title Insurance ?
By Leonard D. Schiavone Maybe you are selling your home or a commercial piece of property. Maybe you are refinancing your mortgage or obtaining a business line of credit that will be secured by real estate. No matter the reason, when buying or selling property, at some point you will encounter someone who will ask you about title insurance and may offer to get it taken care of for you. Does it make a difference? No - unless there is a problem. Title insurance can come in many forms. It may be in a limited form such as a title guaranty, or as full coverage which, in the case of a sale, affords protection to seller, buyer and lender. In the case of refinancing, title insurance protects the borrower and the lender against certain losses based on the ownership and ability to sell a particular parcel of property. Your ownership of property is only as good as the interest in title of everyone who owned it before you. Many mistakes can occur along the way, such as not obtaining the signature of a spouse, not having use of an access road, or not having a mortgage or lien satisfied. If a mistake was made in a deed two or three owners prior to your acquisition of the property, you may not be able to sell your property, obtain a bank loan, or even worse, you may find yourself involved in a lawsuit to remedy any problems that may arise. The process starts with a title search, consisting of a thorough examination of the history of ownership of the property. The title examiner searches the records of the county recorder, probate and other civil courts, tax records, maps and any other records that may be relevant to the property. A title report is then prepared, which identifies significant matters and highlights items that may require a closer examination or some type of corrective action in connection with the ownership of the property. This may include the presence of easements, old mortgages and liens, and leases or other transfers. The buyer and lender will review the report and point out items that they will want explained or resolved before they proceed. Metro Land Title Agency, a company owned by members of F&R, has the qualified professionals to conduct a comprehensive search that will identify problems, and the attorneys with the expertise to solve any problems that may have been found. The title company was started more than 25 years ago, and quality service to our clients has remained our goal since day one. Our title examiner, with over thirty years of experience, has a thorough knowledge of the examination process in Ohio, and more specifically the real estate records of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. The skill and diverse experiences of our attorneys make us uniquely capable to deal with the problems that invariably arise in connection with real estate transactions. So when someone offers to get the title work taken care of for you, ask yourself one question – “will it make a difference?” For more information, please contact Attorney Leonard Schiavone at lschiavone@fandrlaw.com.
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