Protections Title Insurance Will Never Offer

  Title insurance does an important job. But it is a narrow one. Many of the risks most buyers worry about (or should worry about) live entirely outside its scope. This chapter is about defining where title protection ends. Title Protects Ownership, Not Use This is the most important boundary to und

“Clean Title” Is Not the Same as Simple Ownership

  In real estate practice, “clean title” is shorthand. It means the title company is willing to insure the transfer of ownership based on what appears in the public record. It means there are no known defects that would invalidate the seller’s right to convey the property. That is an important thres

All About Easements

  Do easements make you anxious? If you take nothing else from this post, take this: the existence of an easement is not a defect. Most residential properties have them. Most owners live with them without ever thinking about them. Your goal as a buyer is not to locate a property without any easement