Phone: (800) 345-9494
    Fax: (800) 343-4294
    Email: ssa@ssaaci.com

WHY DO I NEED TITLE INSURANCE?

Buying a home is, for many of us, the biggest single investment we will ever make. Knowing this, most homeowners provide for their security by purchasing insurance against hazards such as fire, theft and weather damage. But there is another hazard, which can pose an even greater risk to home ownership: Defects in the title to your property can cause you to lose part or all of the investment in your home. Protection from this peril comes in the form of title insurance.

There are two basic types of title insurance protection - one for the mortgage lender and one for the homowner or real estate investor. If a mortgage is to be placed on your new home or if you are refinancing and exitisting mortgage, the mortgage lender will probably require that you purchase title insurance to protect the lender. You, the homeowner, need an owner's title insurance policy to protect your investment. You only pay once, at closing, and we provide the protection to you as well as the lender that lasts as long as you own the property.

In preparation for closing we perform a thorough title search, which is a detailed examination of the historical records conerning a property. Some of the things a title search uncovers are any unpaid taxes or mortgages, judgements again previous owners, easements, and many other court actions or recorded documents, which can affect title to real estate. We find and report such defects in the title to the real estate you wish to buy or refinance, so that these matters can be corrected and cleared up. In the event of a claim, your title insurance policy protects you by defending your title in court if necessary. This is done at the underwriters expense and the underwriters expense and the underwriter bears the cost of settling a claim, if it proves vaild, in order to protect your ownership and title to the property.